Sam Shankland - Chessable Lifetime Repertoires: The Semi-Slav (Botvinnik Update)

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[White Introduction]

[Black Introduction]

[Result *]

1. d4

{ Welcome to my repertoire against 1.d4 ! My goal with this course was to provide a long lasting, first rate opening repertoire based on arguably the best defense to 1.d4. The Semi-Slav has been played by every single World Champion in the modern era, and has been a mainstay in elite chess perennially. I have employed it myself many times throughout my own career, and I have played many of the lines that I recommend throughout the course. I have not knowingly left anything out. With opening theory becoming more and more advanced every day, it is more critical than ever to be well-prepared and get out of the opening with an okay position. Players of all levels find themselves walking a fine line where they have to balance between choosing objectively good and sound openings and choosing openings that are easy to remember, understand, and dont have a ton of forced variations to memorize. In a perfect world, Black could choose an opening that required nearly no memorization, quickly got him a decent position, and offered counterchances very early in the game. Unfortunately, such things dont exist, and anyone who tells you otherwise is a con artist. But I think I have found a sweet spot with my proposed repertoire. I chose an absolute first rate opening, and I managed to do so in a way that keeps long variations to a minimum. Are there some ? Yes, this is unavoidable. But there are a lot fewer than one might expect for such a heavily studied and combative repertoire. My general philosophy when choosing which lines to recommend was that if I believed there was an easy solution to Whites chosen line, I gave it. Particularly against the non-critical lines, I prioritized ease over ambition, contenting myself with comfortable equality and chances to play for more with a few simple moves that dont require much memorization to a huge amount of theory to try to show a small advantage with Black, when a misstep could lead to disaster. But if I did not believe an easy solution equalized, I always chose the more complicated one that I believed was objectively best. This is especially true in the critical lines, where White is making a serious attempt to fight for an opening advantage. In addition, I made sure to address every piece of chess literature I could find recommending 1. d4 on the first move for White. Opening books and online databases/courses have come a long way in the last decade, and across many different websites, platforms, and publishers. Unsurprisingly, as a result, a lot of players from club level to grandmaster are using these resources and playing the recommended lines in their own games. As such, I considered it a top priority to make sure my course was well equipped to meet each and every recommendation I could find. Some proved more challenging to meet than others, and unsurprisingly the more recent ones and the ones recommending mainlines tended to be the most difficult, but Im still very satisfied with what I came up with. I made sure to call each one out by name and author at every point where I left their analysis by proposing a move they did not have covered, so you should know exactly how to play against anyone following a repertoire or book published before 2020. Finally, I made sure to explain the key ideas of my proposed lines as well as I could. Theres no point in getting a good position out of the opening if you have no clue how to play the resulting middlegame, as your position will soon deteriorate with every decision you make. In every game you play, at some point, one of your opponents will play a move I have not covered. It may be at the end of a line after I have already concluded my analysis with an evaluation, or earlier on when they play an inferior move to one I have mentioned, or the least desirable case would be if they find a strong novelty that I had not anticipated (I seriously doubt this will happen against non-grandmasters, but you never know) . In all of these cases, it will be important for you to react well, and part of reacting well is knowing what plans you should employ and when. As such, I made sure to add a lot of text to explain the resulting middlegames as well as I could. Without further ado, lets get started ! The best way to learn any opening is to make sure you are ready against the sidelines first, and I made sure to cover just about anything I could think of White trying on the second through fourth moves before reaching the mainlines. Best of luck ! }

1 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6

{ Some lesser known symbols you might find in this course include: (unclear position) , =+ (Black has a slight advantage) , (Black has a moderate advantage) , -+ (Black has a decisive advantage) , & (with attack/initiative) , N (novelty) and (counterplay) . }

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[White Quickstarter Guide]

[Black Delayed Meran (7. g4 h6): #1]

[Result *]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. Nc3 Nbd7 6. Qc2 Bd6 7. g4

{ Probably this move makes more problems for White than Black. Romantic but poor }

7 h6

{ I like this combative option the best. Black gets a lot of counterplay and has surprisingly few variations to memorize. He has prevented g4-g5 from kicking his Knight away and is ready to play e6-e5 next to blow open the center and punish White for rendering his Kingside unsuitable for castling. }

8. Rg1

{ Definitely the most direct move, but not a great one. White wants g5 and to smash through with Nxf7. What could be more natural ? }

8 e5

{ This is absolutely necessary. Black needs counterplay in the center before White kills him on the Kingside. }

9. cxd5

{ White must accept the challenge. If Black is allowed to close the center again with e5-e4, any hope of an attack will be over and all that will be left in the White position is weaknesses. }

9 cxd5 10. Nb5 Bb8 11. g5

{ White has to play energetically to maintain the balance. If Black is allowed to play e5-e4 unmolested, he will be much better. }

11 hxg5 12. Nxg5 e4

{ Black shuts down the White Queens access to the Kingside, and is one move away from being much better with a7-a6, expelling the b5-Knight and maintaining a fantastic position. White has to be very direct. }

13. Bd2 { White is planning Rc1 and Nc7, but it is not a major problem. } 13

Nb6 { Again, patience. Black will go a7-a6 soon enough. } 14. Rc1 Bd7 15. Nc7+

Bxc7 16. Qxc7 Qxc7 17. Rxc7 Rc8 18. Rxb7 Rc2

{ Whites position is very fragile and on the brink of collapse, since either b2 or h2 will fall next. All of Blacks pieces are poised to join the action. }

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[Event ?]

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[White Quickstarter Guide]

[Black Delayed Meran (7. b3): #2]

[Result *]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Qc2 Bd6 7. b3

{ This move might look unambitious compared to the mainlines, but in fact I actually think it is a dangerous idea. White obviously wishes to put the Bishop on b2, where it will help prevent the freeing e6-e5 advance, while retaining the option to capture back on c4 with the pawn. Play takes a completely different character from the mainlines because d5xc4 is no longer a sensible capture. White will take back with b3xc4, strengthening his central grip and not losing time to a subsequent b7-b5. Still, the move has its drawbacks. Since White is not immediately trying to take control of the whole center, Black has more time to develop his pieces normally. }

7 O-O

{ Now White has to be very careful about how to develop his pieces because he is not yet castled and e6-e5 could be on the way. }

8. Be2

{ This is an attempt to lessen the punch of e5, but concedes having to put the Bishop on e2 instead of d3 von Fishellini,Rufus: This is Whites only serious attempt after 7. b3 because it prevents the generally desirable e6-e5 break. Still, it is not as active a square as d3 and Black has some time to get his pieces out before White can threaten e3-e4. }