Three Openings, One Philosophy — A Practical Repertoire by GM Pier Luigi Basso
Conventional wisdom treats a tournament repertoire as a construction project measured in months — one opening, then another, each with its own forest of theory to clear.
GM Pier Luigi Basso built this bundle on the opposite premise. He chose three openings — one against each main first move, plus a weapon for White — not for how exotic they are, but for how cleanly they connect and how quickly a player can put them to use.
The sharpest expression of that idea is the Express Najdorf. Instead of the classical 5...a6 with its weeks of preparation, the repertoire takes the direct 5...e5!? — a route into a full Sicilian that can be learned in well under ninety minutes.
Three openings, one method
What ties the bundle together is a single working principle: you are not memorising variations, you are learning to handle three recurring structures, and that understanding transfers from one game to the next.
Against 1.e4, the Najdorf with 5...e5 was recommended to Basso by GM Andrea Stella as the quickest reliable way into the opening. Against 1.d4, the Queen's Gambit Accepted meets the ambitious 3.e4 with 3...b5!? — a sound, combative line organised around an early exchange sacrifice.
With White, the Catalan Siege converts the 4...dxc4 ...c5 main lines into an endgame where the edge rests on the fianchettoed g2-bishop rather than on forcing lines.
Map of variations
As Black against 1.e4 — Express Najdorf 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5!?
- 6.Bb5+ Nbd7 7.Nf5 a6 — 6.Bb5+ contests the light squares, 7.Nf5 goes after d6; 7...a6 puts the question to the bishop
- 8.Bxd7+ Qxd7 — the main line
- 8.Ba4 b5 — keeping the bishop, where ...a5 can chase it further
- 7.Nde2 and other knight retreats — answered comfortably with ...Be7 and ...0-0
- 5...a6 — the classical Najdorf, shown for context as the theory-heavy alternative the repertoire avoids
As Black against 1.d4 — Queen's Gambit Accepted with ...b5 1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.e4 b5!?
- 4.a4 c6 5.axb5 cxb5 6.Nc3 a6! 7.Nxb5 axb5 8.Rxa8 Bb7 — the exchange sacrifice with full, lasting compensation
- 6...Qb6 — the heavily analysed queen sortie that, at best, fights for a draw, and the reason Basso prefers 6...a6
As White — Catalan Siege 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.g3 dxc4 5.Bg2 c5 6.O-O Nc6 7.dxc5 Qxd1 8.Rxd1 Bxc5
- 9.Nbd2 c3! 10.bxc3 O-O 11.Ne1!? — the new recommendation; the endgame where the g2-bishop quietly outweighs its counterpart
Inside the course
- 14 chapters with video instruction
- 30 test positions
- Memory Booster for long-term recall
- To-Go Version of every chapter
- Multilingual PGN — English, German, French, Spanish
The practical edge
Three openings, one philosophy, a weekend of work — and structural understanding that stays with you long after the lines are learned. Add this bundle to your library and start playing all three at the board.
This bundle was originally developed by GM Basso as part of his broader work at SuperChessPrep.