A more energetic line begins 6.Ne5 (Krause Attack) where White intends f2–f3 and e2–e4 or Nxc4, perhaps followed by a fianchetto of the king bishop with g2–g3 and Bg2. White's sharpest try against 4...dxc4 is the Slav Geller Gambit, 5.e4. Ruy Lopez 32.2. It is one of the most trusted openings in chess, popular at all levels from beginner to strong grandmasters. In the following video, FM Will Stewart takes a look at the less challenging setups White can try: Secondly, he investigates the critical line that a well-prepared White player can come up with: If you want to enter the mainlines in the variation after 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3, however, you’re well-advised to play the move 4…dxc4. Slav defense is a beautiful and durable opening that is important for any player to know. !reverse say: Text Shit: ... (Purchase a 2 hour Defense Cooldown for 1 Million War Tokens, protects you from all attacks for 2 hours) ... Response/Counter Info; Thot Counter: Counter incremented when the word thot or a … Before continuing, try to solve these 4 puzzles featuring typical tactical motifs that frequently arise from this opening. It has been played by World Champions Max Euwe, Mikhail Botvinnik and Vassily Smyslov, among others, and also by several modern World Champions. First of all, the Slav Defense is considered to be one of the most successful openings and has an excellent score in chess databases. Positional grinding or tactical shoot-outs, whatever's your thing. The Internet Chess Club (ICC) is the longest running, most popular, and best place to play chess on the Internet. As a warning, however, it also needs to be said that there are quite a few variations, transpositions and move order tricks in the Slav Defense. The Semi-Slav defense is among the most popular openings for black against 1.d4. It’s definitely a good starting point for exploring lines after 6.Ne5. However, 4…Bf5 saves you a lot of time studying theory and there is also a good chance that many White players at club level are not familiar with the most ambitious variation. Black usually plays 3...Nf6. Traditionally Black had a choice between 4...e6, the Semi-Slav, and 4...dxc4 before developing the queen bishop, but in the 1990s 4...a6 was introduced, with the idea of developing the queenside without locking in the queen bishop or conceding the center. The Slav Defense is a strong opening for club players, and you should consider giving it a go to expand your horizons. Also check out the games of GM Boris Avrukh, GM Alexey Dreev, and GM Alexander Morozevich. Nowadays, many top players use Slav Defense and it’s one of the openings that I like to use. Black's queen bishop is unblocked; the pawn structure remains balanced. This helps us to keep track of the jungle of variations. Of course, there are numerous plans that may help Black to activate his light-squared bishop later in the game. It’s tough to name a single biggest expert in the Slav Defense as almost all of the world’s best players have played the Slav Defense or at least experimented with it. If you want to know how to study chess openings the right way, read this detailed and easy-to-scan guide, Click here to get instant access with 50% off, Best Chess Openings for Beginners: The Definitive Guide, How to Learn Chess Openings – The Definitive Guide, Chess Openings for Black – The Ultimate Guide To Win With Black, Calculation Masterclass with IM Erlend Mikalsen, Attacking Play Manual with IM David Fitzsimons, Top 5 Tried-And-True Chess Defenses For Black, Chess Video Training Guide: From Chess Beginner to Expert, Free Online Chess Websites Certain To Improve Your Game, Master The King’s Gambit with GM Marian Petrov, characterized by the moves 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6, named after players from Slavic countries who contributed many ideas to the development of this opening, played by many strong GMs of the past and present (featured in plenty of World Championship Matches), Not comfortable playing with the Black pieces? Both e5 and b6 become important pawn breaks for Black. Black needs to make a decision here. The current Champion, Magnus Carlsen, played the opening in his match with Sergey Karjakin in 2016. Breyer variation 32.5. Nf3 Nf6 4. The move 4.g3 leads to a relatively rare and harmless sideline which Black does not need to fear. Yet, as we’re recommending a rather classical Slav Defense repertoire, we’ll stick to the move 4…Bf5 here, bringing the bishop outside the pawn chain and leading to the Schallopp Variation. Join, play, watch, learn and earn money too when you invite your friends to join ICC! While it is true that the Slav is a solid opening, that isn’t to say that it is an opening weapon simply used to make a draw. You can study these variations separately and add them to your repertoire as you go along. Semi-Slav. The Schallopp Variation of the Slav Defense retains one major drawback – White can obtain a dangerous initiative by playing a flexible move order that exploits the fact that with an early …Bf5, Black is giving up protection of his b7-pawn. With 5.a4, White acts against ...b5 and prepares 6.e4 and 7.Bxc4. Vladimir Kramnik, for instance, used the Slav Defense in six of his eight games with Black during his World Chess Championship match against Veselin Topalov in 2006. Click here to get instant access with 50% off. 3...Bf5? In the Slav after 4...dxc4, white plays 5.a4, and Black can't defend the c4 pawn with 5...b5 (6.axb5 cxb5 7.Nxb5 Qa5+ 8.Nc3 for example). The Slav Defense is a really solid way for Black to play while retaining realistic winning chances. The Czech Variation can be considered the main line. Let’s now take a look at some classical and recent games in which Black showed how to play the Slav Defense against decent opposition: The first game we’re going to look at was a dramatic game from the World Chess Championship 2006 between Vladimir Kramnik and Veselin Topalov. Secure .gov websites use HTTPS. More recently the Slav has been adopted by Anand, Ivanchuk, Lautier, Short, and other top grandmasters, including use in six of the eight games that Vladimir Kramnik played as Black in the 2006 World Championship (in the other two, he played the related Semi-Slav Defense). Black can try either 6...Nbd7 7.Nxc4 Qc7 or 7...Nb6 or 6...e6 7.f3 Bb4, when 8.e4 Bxe4 9.fxe4 Nxe4 is a complex piece sacrifice with the possible continuation 10.Bd2 Qxd4 11.Nxe4 Qxe4+ 12.Qe2 Bxd2+ 13.Kxd2 Qd5+ 14.Kc2 Na6. since after 4.cxd5 cxd5 5.Qb3 White wins a pawn. The Slav Defense is a popular response to the Queen’s Gambit, and is characterized by the moves 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 Rather than accepting the gambit right away with 2…dxc4 or playing the more traditional 2…e6, black uses the c-pawn to reinforce the pawn on d5 in the Slav Defense. This has the disadvantage of White's queen being somewhat exposed on c2. Black should not play 4...Bf5 because White will gain the advantage with either 5.Qb3 or 5.cxd5 followed by 6.Qb3. Some of them were Alekhine, Bogoljubow, and Vidmar. White’s bishop on g2, in contrast, usually bites on granite on the h1-a8 diagonal as Black has the solid b7-c6-d5 pawn chain. It’s true that it’s not immediately obvious how Black can create major imbalances against the Exchange Variation if he definitely wants to win. Chigorin defense 32.6. If you want to become an expert in your chess opening, it is a wise decision to regularly check the games of the world’s leading experts in the chess opening. Petroff's defense 32.1. White can also try the following alternatives: Black often plays 3...Nf6 but 3...Bf5 is considered to be an easier equalizer. The same applies to the repertoire presented in this article. 4 Play the Semi-Slav Bibliography Books: Burgess: The Slav, Gambit 2001 Cox: Starting Out: 1.d4! These games are call slow for a reason, and often can lead to “boring” play. The most common continuation is 3...Nf6 when 4.Nf3 transposes to the main line. Vishy Anand used the Slav Defense in several World Championship Matches against Kramnik in 2008, Topalov in 2010 and Gelfand in 2012. For many 1.d4 players, the Slav Defense presents an impenetrable wall, too tough a nut to crack. iChess LLC All Rights Reserved. Yet, it’s only fair to mention that White has quite an effective setup after the moves 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bf5 5.cxd5 cxd5 6.Qb3 which gives him a slightly better position. The pressure on Black's center prevents 3...Bf5? The focus is on a general understanding of the resulting middlegame and endgame positions. Be careful not to miss the forest for the trees! In this move, Black surrenders fighting for the center and instead opts to let White have it. It’s a super-solid opening that, played right, is really tough to break down. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. The main idea of this opening becomes clear when we take a closer look at the main problem that comes with playing the Queen’s Gambit Declined with Black. D10-D15 - Queen's Gambit Declined Slav defence: 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 . Therefore, Black does not need to fear this line and does not need to know too much theory here. Moreover, with an early …e6 in the Semi-Slav, Black voluntarily boxes in his light-squared bishop (which he later develops on the long diagonal with …b7-b5, …Bc8-b7, …a7-a6 and …c6-c5).