The Petroff Defense for Black – Part 1: A Repertoire Built on Elite Praxis
The symmetry that hides a fight
The Petroff has spent decades filed under the wrong heading. Mention it at a club and someone will say "drawn" before the second knight even comes out. Yet it is the opening Caruana, Nepomniachtchi, Aronian and So have trusted in World Championship matches and Candidates Tournaments — the highest-stakes games of their careers, where they needed something they could lean on completely.
That contradiction runs through the whole course. The mirror image after 2...Nf6 looks peaceful, but the modern Petroff is a counterattacking system, not a passive one. GM Baadur Jobava — a player famous for the instinct of chaos and the initiative — makes the case for it openly, and his endorsement carries weight precisely because it is unexpected.
What the repertoire actually argues
The foundation is 3...d6, the thematic move, kept consistent throughout. Jobava deliberately steers you away from the passive 3...Nxe4 lines and toward positions where Black has real winning chances, not just a fortress. Every White try after 2.Nf3 Nf6 is covered: the Exchange-French transposition attempt with 5.d3, the Qe2 "Endgame Variation," the trendy 5.c4, and the full classical main line with 5.d4.
The heart of the course is the Nepomniachtchi system — 11...Bf5, played twice by Ian himself — and the critical 12.Bg5 that tests it. This is the line from the Nakamura–Nepomniachtchi game at the FIDE Candidates, and the course devotes its deepest analysis to getting it right. Two full chapters are spent on this single structure, which tells you where the real theoretical fight lives today.
Map of variations
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 — White's 5th move
- 5.Nc3 Nf6 → Chapter 1
- 5.d3 (Exchange French try) → Chapter 2
- 5.Qe2 (Endgame Variation) → Chapter 3
- 5.c4 Be7 6.d4 d5 → Chapter 4
- 5.Bd3 → Chapter 5
- 5.d4 d5 6.Bd3 Bd6 7.O-O O-O
- 8th-move sidelines → Chapter 6
- 8.c4 c6 9.cxd5 → Chapter 7
- 8.c4 c6 9.Qc2 (positional pawn sacrifice) → Chapter 8
- 8.c4 c6 9.Re1 Bf5 10.Qc2 → Chapter 9
- 8.c4 c6 9.Re1 Bf5 10.Qb3 (Nakamura–Nepomniachtchi, Candidates) → Chapter 10
- 8.c4 c6 9.Nc3 Nxc3 10.bxc3 dxc4 11.Bxc4 Bf5 (Nepomniachtchi system)
- 12.Re1 → Chapter 11
- 12.Bg5 (the critical test) → Chapter 12
What's included
- 12 chapters of theory
- 20 test positions
- Memory Booster
- To Go version of every chapter
- Video instruction
- Multilingual PGN (English, German, French, Spanish)
Completing the repertoire
This is the first of two volumes. The Petroff Defense for Black – Part 2 continues the system that Jobava and Basso build here — pick it up alongside Part 1 for the full picture against 1.e4 e5.
Get the course
The Petroff Defense for Black – Part 1 lays the groundwork for a complete answer to 1.e4 e5 — built on the same lines the world's best players trust when the result matters most. Start here, then pair it with Part 2 to round out the repertoire and play the Petroff against anything White throws at you after 1.e4.