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1.d4 - Queen's Pawn Opening
White makes an aggressive claim to the center. At this point, Black must decide how to face White's aggression. Traditionally, the two most popular replies are /1...d5/ and /1...Nf6/, as most other moves tend to allow White a broad center with 2.e4. Allowing the broad center was frowned upon in classical times, but is more of a matter of preference today. Another reason /1...d5/ and /1...Nf6/ are the main replies considered is that many of the alternatives transpose into main lines anyway. One notable exception is the Dutch Defense (/1...f5/), whose character prevents 2.e4 whilst remaining unique. /1...d5/ directly challenges White's plan to establish a broad center. /1...Nf6/ prevents an immediate 2.e4 while maintaining flexibility to play a number of Indian systems or move back into a system typical of /1...d5/.

To play 1.d4 correctly, the White player should learn the basic Queen's Gambit positions, the King's Indian, Queen's Indian, Nimzo-Indian positions, and even some of the Benoni positions. This may seem intimidating to the beginner, but fortunately it is not as difficult as it may sound at first.

Furthermore, there are several practical advantages to becoming familiar with playing 1.d4 as White:
 * 1.d4 openings tend to be more forgiving than 1.e4 openings so far as traps are concerned. Pieces should be mobilized quickly, but it is less common for a natural-looking move to lead to a sudden demise, in contrast to several 1.e4 traps such as the Philidor Defense, Hanham Variation.
 * While there are many transpositions between the different 1.d4 openings, this is true because the underlying strategic goals are very similar. The Queen's Indian has much in common with some of the main variations of the Queen's Gambit Declined — much more so than the typical Caro-Kann has with the French Defense or Ruy Lopez in the 1.e4 world.
 * Even today, at least at amateur levels, the 1.d4 openings are still less frequently encountered than 1.e4 openings.

Statistics

 * Approximate chances
 * White win 38%, Draw 33%, Black win 29%.


 * Estimated next move popularity
 * Nf6 55%, d5 28%, e6 5%, f5 3.5%, g6 3%, d6 3%, c5 1%. Other moves less than 1%.

For a detailed statistical analysis of ten selected 1.d4 openings see:

Munshi, J. 2014. Comparing chess openings part 3, http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2441568

Theory table

 * 1.d4

Other less common moves:
 * 1...c6 usually transposes to the Caro-Kann Defense (following 2. e4 d5) or the Slav Defense (following 2. c4 d5).
 * 1...Nc6 - Queen's Knight Defence
 * 1...b5 - Polish Defence
 * 1...b6 - English Defence
 * 1...e5 - Englund Gambit