In one of the first great chess manuals in the English language, written in the mid-19th century, Howard Staunton devoted almost 300 pages to discussions of 1.e4, but only 13 pages to 1.d4. Despite the huge imbalance in material, he introduced the opening favorably:
The Queen's Gambit is a very sound and instructive method of opening the game; less brilliant, because less hazardous, than the gambits on the King's side, but especially improving to the student, from the nicety and correctness of play on both sides which it demands. - The Chess-Player's Handbook
In this tutorial we'll look at the most popular responses to
1.d4,
known as the Queen's Pawn Opening.
Many of the moves we'll discuss link directly to the About Chess
repertoire recommendations (under 'Essentials > Openings' on the left column of every page).
By following the link, you can see the board as it looks after the move has been played, discover some good continuations, and learn the names that have been given to the various openings.
Like many early writers and players, Staunton considered that the most natural response to 1.d4 was
1...d5.
This was in the same era that considered any response to 1.e4 other than 1...e5 to be an Irregular Opening.
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