Creating a good, sound repertoire that really suits one’s style of play is an important and difficult step for many chess players. If, with the white pieces, it is relatively easier to give the direction of the game and try to take it to positions you are comfortable with, things are a bit more difficult when deciding on a repertoire for black. White is the one who sets the pace, but you can still take the game to roads you are comfortable with. One of the openings that has gained popularity for black against 1.d4, both among amateurs and Grandmasters, is the Dutch Defense.
The Sicilian is one of the most popular openings for black against 1.e4. It is the favorite of many players and the theory inside it has been studied and discussed to exhaustion. Nevertheless, new ideas still resurface from time to time, which only shows how full of resources this defense is. Although many people believe it to be an aggressive opening, the truth is that it is, in fact, an opening for any style of play. There are, of course, many aggressive attacking lines, but there are also quieter ones, suitable for the positional player.
In our previous article, we were showing you a less known idea for black in the Sicilian, castling long in certain positions. This is not the only way you could sometimes surprise your opponent and in this article, we are going to discuss another plan that many times intertwines with the long castling idea we’ve discussed previously. Castling queenside can have a double purpose – first of all, running away from any dangerous attacks on the kingside and center, but it can also be used in an aggressive way when you are preparing counterplay on the kingside.
We live in a time where technology is part of our everyday life and information is easily accessible to everybody, things that are clearly reflected in the development of the chess theory. With the help of computers, many lines have been refuted, while some openings have been demonstrated to be a forced draw. The help we get from the engines is immense, but this is not necessarily a good thing and this is mostly reflected at the club level.
The Maroczy Bind is one of the structures every chess player must study and know how to play with both colors. It is a very popular system that is used against the Sicilian, but it can arise from various move orders, whether you start by 1.e4, 1.c4, 1.Nf3 or even 1.d4.
It can be easily recognized from the presence of two white pawns on c4 and e4 and the trade of black’s c for white’s d-pawn. With this, white is basically trying to control black’s most typical active pawn break, d6-d5.
The Slav is a very popular reply for the black player against 1.d4. There are many lines and set-ups possible for both players, but in this article, we are going to focus on the Semi-Slav and one very common structure that appears in this variation – the a7-b6-c5-d5 pawn formation. First of all, the Semi-Slav is characterized by black’s decision of keeping the light-squared bishop on c8 and playing …e6.
The King’s Indian Defense is one of the most popular replies for black against white’s 1.d4. It is the perfect weapon for the active player who likes to be aggressive and is not afraid of complications. The opening is well-known for the dangerous attacks that black can start on the kingside, which has produced many brilliant games.
The main plan for black is the advance e7-e5, after which white has a choice. If the center is closed with d4-d5, then black usually starts preparing the pawn storm on the kingside.
The Benoni Defense (arises after the moves 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 4.Nc3 ed 5.cd5 d6 6.e4 g6) is one of the most attractive options to play as black for those players looking for a sharp game.
Historically, world champions have employed this defense with great success; most notorious were Bobby Fischer and Mikhail Tal. Other notable Grandmasters that played this mystic defense quite often were Bronstein, Savon, Suba, Mecking, Psakhis, Marin, Topalov and let us never forget Vugar Gashimov who brought it back into modern high level with reasonable results.
The Tarrasch Defence is a neglected one. It had its glory days in the late 1960s when Boris Spassky used it first in his Candidates match against Geller in 1965 and then as a very efficient weapon in his title-winning match against Petrosian in 1969 when he scored 1 win and 4 draws with it.
The second champion of the Tarrasch Defence was another World Champion, Garry Kasparov, who scored phenomenal results with it in the early 1980s.
If Black wants to play for a win he has two general directions to choose from: he can try to equalize first and then outplay his opponent, or he can try to wrestle the initiative from White from the get-go.
I would like to discuss the second option as it is often the preferred one in all-or-nothing situations (though this does not mean that it will give more chances!).