Openings

Italian opening, also known as Giuoco Piano (Italian for “quiet game”) has always been under the shadow of the ever-popular Ruy Lopez as white’s main weapon against 1…e5. One of the reasons for this is that the positions arising from the Italian are far less complex than the ones that can arise in the Ruy […]

King’s Indian Defense: The four pawns attack is one of the most aggressive lines against the King’s Indian Defense. From a very early stage in the opening white grabs a considerable amount of space, hoping to put black in a crammed position. The drawback of this system is that sometimes white finds himself overextended and […]

Different Openings: Many chess players get stuck on certain opening lines and never move on to something else. In many cases, these ones are not even the best bet for the player. They only play it because their coach suggested it, or they have friends who play the same lines or maybe they saw it […]

King’s Indian defense is not everyone’s cup of tea. The closed positions that arise from this opening, the large space advantage given to white voluntarily, and the race of attacks on opposite wings are elements difficult to dominate. However, the truth is that it is a fantastic defense and a very useful resource to have […]

Semi-Slav is one of the most popular variations of Queen’s Gambit Declined. It can be reached by various move orders. Black builds a pawn triangle, c6-d5-e6 and with …dxc4, …a6 and …b5 mobilizes his queenside pawns. The light-squared bishop is placed on b7, once the diagonal is opened after …dxc4.

French Defense has always had a reputation of being a rock-solid choice against 1.e4, leading very often to closed positions full of central pawns in which both sides have a very clear game plan. Black attacks the base of the pawn chain on the queen-side or undermines the most advanced pawn (e5) by playing f6.

Sicilian Dragon: This Variation is one of the most popular and important lines in the Sicilian defense. It is also considered to be one of the sharpest and most aggressive openings. This opening was played by many great chess players including Bird, Pillsbury, Paulsen, Kasparov, Topalov, and many more. This is also a must-know for […]

Czech Benoni Defense is one of the weapons black can use to fight 1.d4. This defense is suitable for those looking to get their opponents into a closed, strategical position with chances for all three results. In this Czech Benoni the second player is not looking for a “sound position” close to equality, but aiming […]

Openings for White: Nowadays, when the flow of information is open for everyone and theory is so deeply developed in the most popular openings, the move 1…g6 as a response to 1.e4 has become trendier. The main reason is “to avoid” theory and get the first player into a complicated position where he is forced […]

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.