When a Sideline Earns a Name
Openings usually take the name of an inventor or a city. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.g3 took the name of a player instead — not because Nodirbek Abdusattorov invented it, but because he made it his own and kept winning with it. Others noticed. Gukesh, Praggnanandhaa, and Rapport picked it up, and what had been a modest third move turned into a recognized way to fight for the initiative against 1...e5. GM Pier Luigi Basso's A Powerful 3.g3 Repertoire against 1...e5 traces how that transformation happened and hands you the ideas behind it.
Understanding over theory
What draws elite players to 3.g3 is not a promise of advantage — Basso is clear about that in his introduction. The move offers something more durable: a natural fianchetto setup, easy development, and flexible positions where a player who grasps the plans will consistently outplay one who has merely memorized lines. Instead of the dense forced theory of the Ruy Lopez or the Italian, White gets a genuine game shaped by understanding. As Basso puts it, study the ideas and trust the plans, and you reach positions you understand far better than your opponent does.
The novelty at the heart of it
The main line runs through 3...Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.Bg2 d6 6.O-O O-O 7.h3 a5, with 7.h3 as the modern touch that clears h2 for the king. This exact position was long judged comfortable for Black; after 7...a5 the consensus held that White had nothing constructive to try. Gukesh overturned that in 2024 with 8.c4, a move that revives the tension and gives White a concrete plan to press. Chapter 1 is devoted to it — and it is the clearest single reason 3.g3 stopped being a curiosity.
Map of variations
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.g3
3...Nf6 4.d3
- 4...Bc5 5.Bg2 d6 6.O-O O-O 7.h3 a5 8.c4 → Chapter 1
- 4...g6, sidestepping the theory → Chapter 3
- 4...d6 → Chapter 4
- 4...d5 5.exd5 Nxd5 6.Bg2, split by Black's dark-squared bishop’s move → Chapters 5–7
- 4...d5 5.exd5 Qxd5 → Chapter 8
3...Bc5, weighed against 3...Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 → Chapter 2
3...d5 4.exd5 Qxd5, rare but serious → Chapter 9
3...f5 rarely seen → Chapter 10
What's inside
- 10 Chapters
- 20 test positions
- Memory Booster
- To Go Version of every chapter
- Video instruction
- Multilingual PGN availability (English, German, French, Spanish)
Completing the picture against 1...e5
The repertoire meets 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 with 3.g3. For Black's other try, 2...Nf6, Basso has already covered the ground with GM Jose Martinez Alcantara in Fight the Petroff – White Repertoire. The two courses were built independently rather than as a set, but taken together they let a White player answer both principal replies after 2.Nf3 with one consistent approach.
Getting started
Work through the structures, trust the plans, and 3.g3 stops feeling like a sideline and starts playing like a complete system — the one the world's best already rely on. Chapter 1 and Gukesh's 8.c4 are the place to begin.
INTRODUCTION BY GM PIER LUIGI BASSO
SAMPLE CHAPTER
SAMPLE VIDEO