Thanks for all the responses. 

I don't have a computer with a DVD player any more, so the Chessbase stuff just isn't useful, other than the one Kasparov disk that people say can be watched on a TV. From reading reviews of that online, a few people said it was entertaining, but not the most instructive, in terms of sticking to the topic at hand and giving a good overview of the QGD. So I'm probably going to skip that for now.

I'll take a look at the YouTube stuff. 

Since there doesn't seem to be a good introductory DVD for TV, I'm thinking I may just go with a book instead. I usually prefer videos as a way to jump in and get started on an opening before doing the serious book study, but I'm not totally opposed to books. 

Looking at the options out there, Starting Out: Queen's Gambit Declined by Neil McDonald caught my eye, just because I've read some of his other books, and I like his writing style. I remember when I read his Starting Out book on the Dutch, I learned some stuff about middle games, besides getting a good intro to the opening. As a Starting Out book, it wasn't the deepest opening analysis, but it was enough to get me started playing the opening, and I bought more detailed references later, which is what I'm looking for on the QGD now.

ReneDescartes wrote on 12/16/16 at 20:04:00:


I can confirm this. It is the best chess DVD ever made by chessbase - it can play as a normal video on your telly.

For some reason despite this brilliant breakthrough chessbase have decided to regress to the cave man age ever since and we have never been treated to anything comparable.

Fromper wrote on 12/16/16 at 03:56:34:


I was going to reply with a suggestion of Garry Kasparov's classic Chessbase series on the QGD but then OP mentioned TV/DVD and CB does not play on TV/DVD. So that also rules out the Daniel King and Sam Collins stuff.
And Chess 24 material, as I understand, are not  downloadable ......
St Louis Centre Youtube channel has an amazing collection but it is not systematic.
There is of course the Damian Lemos and Co material (Empire Chess) which are playable on TV/DVD but some ChessPubbers are none too impressed.
There are also the older Chess.com videos and ChessFM videos, and the even older Foxy videos by Andrew Martin Co.

I think videos/DVD has a limited utility. To get the relevant amount of explanation, best to turn back to books and read them thoroughly and to the end. I suggest the classic Matthew Sadler and John Watson's Mastering Openings vol 2.

Kasparov's introductory video on the Queen's Gambit is supposed to be superb. I've seen the sample, which looks great.

Maybe this one? https://youtu.be/Ghs5zNkv4SU

Chessbase has two recent DVD's on it, maybe their sample/intro videos can be useful too.
Sam Collins:
https://youtu.be/yW5bImJKGeg
Daniel King:
https://youtu.be/oE1Fp3Z8q00

Also Kasparov made a 3-DVD series a while back "how to play the Queen's Gambit" but is in fact about the QGD:
https://youtu.be/oCC5ZyzsA3c

Disclaimer: I haven't watched any of these! But St Louis lectures are always good. Not sure about the "Contents" videos on Chessbase.