The Dynamic Anti-Réti: 2...c5
Taking the center the Réti leaves behind
The Réti is an opening of restraint. Rather than plant a pawn on the fourth rank, White fianchettoes the bishop, holds back d4, and pressures the center from a distance — hoping Black commits too early. Against that patience, genuine counterplay is hard to come by, and most of Black's ambitious tries invite exactly the kind of positional squeeze the setup is built to produce.
In The Dynamic Anti-Réti: 2...c5, GM Mahammad Muradli turns that philosophy around. After 1.Nf3 d5 2.g3, Black plays 2...c5, claiming space and taking control over the d4-square. Then comes the move that gives the repertoire its identity: 3.Bg2 f6!?, preparing ...e5 and a broad classical center before a single piece has left the back rank.
It looks provocative, and that is the idea. The move has fewer than a hundred games in the online database, so most opponents will meet it for the first time over the board. Few will know that after 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 e5 6.Nb3 Ne7, Black is comfortable — the ...d5/...e5 center intact, the modest knight on e7 defending the d5-pawn with a solid position.
What sets the course apart
The repertoire is built around one rare concept and then tested against everything White can throw at it. Muradli covers the immediate central breaks with 4.c4 (including the pawn sacrifice 5.b3), the King's Indian Attack treatment with 4.O-O — a natural try for anyone who plays this structure with the White pieces — and the direct central challenges with e3 and Nc3. Black is never left improvising against an unfamiliar move order.
The author and his reasoning
Muradli's stated aim is a practical surprise weapon: aggressive answers to quiet systems like the Réti are welcome but not easy to find, and this is a line almost no one prepares for. What makes it more than a one-game trick is that the resulting positions hold up under scrutiny — Black gets real central space, not a gimmick that evaporates after accurate play.
This follows a productive run of Black repertoires from the same author. After Slav Defense – Full Repertoire for Black and The Catalan with 4...Be7 for Black – A Reliable System, Muradli now turns his attention to 1.Nf3 and the Réti complex.
Map of variations
1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 c5 3.Bg2
- 3.c4 and other rare third moves → Chapter 1
3...f6 4.d4
- 4.e3 and rare options → Chapter 2
- 4.O-O, the King's Indian Attack setup → Chapter 3
- 4.c4 dxc4 5.Qa4+ and 5.Na3 → Chapter 4
- 4.c4 dxc4 5.b3, sacrificing the pawn to open lines → Chapter 5
4...cxd4 5.Nxd4
- 5.e3 and rare side options → Chapter 6
5...e5 6.Nb3 Ne7 7.O-O
- 7.Nc3 and other rare options → Chapter 7
7...Nbc6 8.Nc3
- 8.e4 and rare sidelines → Chapter 8
- 8.a4, gaining space on the queenside → Chapter 9
8...Be6
- 9.a4 → Chapter 10
- 9.Nc5 → Chapter 11
What's inside
- 11 chapters
- 20 test positions
- Memory Booster
- To Go version of every chapter
- Video instruction
- Multilingual PGN (English, German, French, Spanish)
Give the Réti a problem of its own
If you want a Black answer to 1.Nf3 that sidesteps theory and hands the surprise to the other side of the board, 2...c5 is a line worth adding to your repertoire — and a rare chance to build the kind of center the Réti is supposed to undermine, one that doesn't crack.