Openings

Queen’s Gambit Accepted is one of the black’s most popular choices along with QGD and the Slav defense. It is not considered to be a true gambit, since the “sacrificed” pawn can be easily recaptured. White gets the advantage of space and a strong center, while black tries to obtain the queen’s side counter-play.

Queen’s Gambit Declined is a very popular variation of the Queen’s Gambit in which black declines the pawn sacrifice offered by white. Move 2…e6 supports the central pawn and releases the dark-squared bishop. Black obtains a solid position, but gives white some edge in the center as well as making light-squared bishop passive. In some […]

Keres Variation Against Sicilian Defense: Paul Keres was a legendary Grandmaster from Estonia. He was one of the strongest players in the world when he was in his prime. Keres had several chances to become a world champion, but for some strange reason, he couldn’t achieve the highest chess title. His name then became associated […]

Caro-Kann Defense is black’s asymmetrical response to 1.e4. It is a very solid opening and it tends to yield the quiet and positional type of games. Straight from the opening black gets a superior pawn structure which may lead to a more favorable endgame. It is popular on both club and professional levels. Today we […]

Catalan game is an opening that combines Queen‘s gambit and Reti in one. Catalan was employed by many strong players including ex-world champions Vladimir Kramnik as well as Vishy Anand. It is also popular on the club level and maybe a good opening choice for many. Here are some of the best games on This […]

Robert Fischer on the Spanish Opening: A chess player needs to constantly keep looking for new ideas for his opening choices, for future games preparation, or simply for the sake of improving. These new ideas are not always in the Super Elite tournaments but hidden in the past, in the history of our great world […]

King’s Indian and Vadim Zvjaginsev is a very well-known Grandmaster from Russia. He has never been over 2700 or in the spotlight of big events but he’s the kind of player that’s always there, keeping a stable rating over 2600 for many years and producing interesting games in every tournament he plays. Zvjaginsev is well […]

Bartel’s Fresh Idea in The Najdorf Defense: Opening theory advances at super-speed nowadays. One idea is played today, and tomorrow players from all around the world already have an eye on it and the engines running in order to find antidote and improvements. It’s hard to be original these days; however, Grandmaster Mateusz Bartel demonstrated […]

The Sicilian defense is always the top concern for every 1.e4 player. It’s black’s most popular response and probably the most dangerous for white. Lately, many top players are employing a common approach against the Sicilian: instead of seeking advantage in the complicated main lines, they are using more and more the sidelines, trying to […]

King’s Indian: In this new age of chess where you need to keep an open mind towards the openings and be smart to sidestep your opponent’s preparations, it is useful to be aware of every sideline in the most popular openings.