1.Nf3 d5 2.g3: The Complete Repertoire – Part 4
When White Borrows Black's Ideas
There is a particular satisfaction in playing your opponent's own setup back at them, a tempo up. Part 4 pushes that idea into lines where White takes up structures that usually belong to the defender, with the extra move already in hand.
Two examples run through the volume. One is the Pirc structure, where Black answers with ...g6, ...Bg7 and later ...e5. The other is the ...d5/...Nc6/...Bf5 treatment that Baadur Jobava has long recommended for Black — reached here after 1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 Nc6 3.d4 Bf5, a Jobava London with colors reversed.
After 1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.O-O e5 5.d3, Stella observes that the position is almost a Reversed Pirc. Black is objectively fine, but the extra move changes the practical picture, and the authors have found fresh ideas to pose problems exactly where theory promises Black an easy life.
Closing the Map
This is the last part of a four-volume project. The first three courses answered Black's main roads against 1.Nf3 and g3; Part 4 gathers the independent alternatives that sidestep them — the second-move tries and setups that don't transpose into anything covered earlier.
GM Andrea Stella and GM Pier Luigi Basso treat each of these as its own problem rather than forcing it back into a familiar variation. One of those choices is 4.O-O in the main line. The natural 4.d4 would invite 4...Nf6 and a Fianchetto Grünfeld transposition, a solid and well-mapped equalizer for Black. By castling first and allowing ...e5, White steers play into the reversed-Pirc territory the authors have prepared, where the ground is newer and the tempo counts for more.
Their reasoning stays honest throughout. In many of these lines Black holds the balance by the engine’s numbers, so the value of the volume lies in the new practical ideas — where to deviate, how to make the extra move tell, and which rare-but-sound move order drags a prepared opponent onto unfamiliar ground.
Variation Map
The main defense — 2...g6 (one of Black's best replies; the plan is ...Bg7 and ...e5):
- 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.O-O e5 5.d3 — the Reversed Pirc structure
- 5...Ne7 6.c4 → Chapters 3–5
- 5...Nc6 6.Nc3 → Chapters 6–7
- 4...Nf6 and related sidelines → Chapter 8
Black's other second-move tries:
- 2...Bf5 3.c4 — transposing into the English → Chapter 1
- 2...Bg4 3.Ne5 Bf5 4.c4 — a rare line seen in Theodorou's and Artemiev's practice → Chapter 2
- 2...Nd7 (preparing ...e5) 3.d4
- 3...Nb6 — the main idea, also part of Kazakouski's Black repertoire → Chapter 10
- 3...b5 — a positional try that stops c4 → Chapter 9
- 2...Nc6 (preparing ...e5) 3.d4
- 3...Bf5 — the Jobava London reversed, recommended by Jobava himself → Chapter 12
- 3...Bg4 → Chapter 11
- 3...Nf6 → Chapter 13
- 2...c6 3.Bg2 Nf6 4.O-O e6 — the Triangle system → Chapter 14
- 2...b6 — a rare but modern idea → Chapter 15
Inside the Course
This is a Modern Chess Premium course, built as a complete training system:
- 15 theory chapters with video explanations
- 30 test positions — critical moments with tactical and strategic solutions
- 5 training positions for interactive computer practice
- To-Go version of every chapter — condensed files for pre-game review
- Memory Booster — for long-term recall of key ideas
- Multilingual PGN files — English, German, French, and Spanish
- Full download access — all materials are yours to keep
A Finished Repertoire
Part 4 closes the KIA According to Stella series. With the first three volumes covering Black's main defenses and this one answering the independent alternatives, the 1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 repertoire is now whole — every reasonable reply to White's second move has a home.
If you have followed the series this far, this volume ties it off. If you are meeting 1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 for the first time, it still stands on its own as the answer to everything Black can try beyond the main lines. Either way, the repertoire is complete and ready to play.