Courses (261)

When GM Baadur Jobava introduced his 1.b3 system to the elite chess world, skeptics questioned whether such a humble first move could truly challenge modern preparation. The answer came not through theory, but through practice—Jobava himself dismantled grandmasters who underestimated the system's venom. Now, with Part 2 of 1.b3 According to Jobava Refined, Jobava and co-author GM Pier Luigi Basso deliver the missing piece: a complete arsenal against 1...g6, 1...c5, and every other non-1...e5 response. This isn't a supplement—it's the strategic completion of a fully weaponized repertoire.

For decades, GM Alexey Dreev has treated the Caro-Kann not as a “solid defense,” but as a dynamic strategic weapon. In collaboration with GM Pier Luigi Basso, he now completes Black’s repertoire against the Advance Variation with a deeply prepared and principled solution to the most critical setup: the Short System.
After
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nf3 e6 5.Be2,
White reaches a structure that has long been considered one of the most uncomfortable tests for Black. The plan is clear: consolidate the center, restrict counterplay, and gradually squeeze.
Dreev’s answer is equally clear — and uncompromising: 5...h6!?

Every tournament player who answers 1.e4 with 1...e5 knows the frustration: you've prepared the Ruy Lopez to move 30, studied the Italian's nuances for months, even memorized critical Berlin endgames—and your opponent plays 2.Nc3, 2.d3, or worse, the King's Gambit.

What should be a theoretical duel becomes a test of general principles against an opponent who knows their setup cold while you're navigating unfamiliar terrain. GM Pier Luigi Basso and GM Vladimir Malakhov's Arsenal for 1...e5 Players solves this problem by providing a complete, systematic antidote to White's most popular deviations from the main paths.

There is a principle in same-colored bishop endgames so deceptively simple that it often goes unspoken in theoretical texts: fix your opponent's pawns on the color of their bishop, and place your own on the opposite color. It sounds almost too general to be useful. And yet, game after game at the highest level, the player who internalizes this asymmetry — not merely knows it, but feels it — is the one who converts or survives when the clock pressure mounts. This is the starting point of Bishop Endgames – Essential Knowledge for the Practical Player, a new course by GM Felix Blohberger and GM Pier Luigi Basso.

When GM Baadur Jobava first proposed analyzing 2...a6 in the French Defense, GM Pier Luigi Basso was skeptical. As an author committed to sound opening repertoires, Basso initially dismissed the move as too radical for serious consideration. He gave himself one hour to refute it. An hour later, convinced by concrete analysis rather than assumptions, he agreed to co-author this course. The result is a complete system that weaponizes psychology and precise move-order subtleties to neutralize White's theoretical advantage before the game truly begins.

The Catalan is a positional opening, yet its subtlest battles are decided by a single tempo. When Black plays 4...Bb4+ before retreating the bishop to d6, White's bishop lands on d2 instead of staying on c1. This seemingly modest difference—one extra tempo with an already developed piece—creates a web of tactical and strategic nuances that separate preparation from improvisation. GM Alexey Dreev and GM Pier Luigi Basso's Play the Catalan - Part 4 completes their comprehensive White repertoire by addressing precisely these modern defensive setups that have become the weapon of choice for elite players in recent years.

When Baadur Jobava plays 1.b3, he's not looking for a quiet game. The Georgian grandmaster has spent years transforming this seemingly modest first move into a weapon that forces opponents to navigate uncharted territory from move one. Together with Italian GM Pier Luigi Basso, Jobava now presents 1.b3 According to Jobava Refined - Part 1, a course that challenges the very notion of what a "sideline" can achieve. The central philosophy is simple but powerful: why memorize 30 moves of theory when you can create practical problems immediately? When Black responds with the ambitious 1...e5, White doesn't retreat—White strikes with 4.Bb5 and 5.f4, turning the position into a battlefield where understanding trumps memorization.

Nimzowitsch described the French Advance as a system of "blockade and squeeze." Botvinnik refined it. Petrosian made it his own. Karpov turned it into a weapon of precision. And yet, more than a century after the structure's first serious theoretical treatment in 1911, elite players are still discovering new ideas in positions defined by White's pawn on e5 and Black's formation on e6 and d5. That is not a coincidence — it is the mark of a genuinely deep structure. French Advance Pawn Structures – Expert Strategic Understanding by GM Vladimir Malakhov and GM Pier Luigi Basso is built on exactly that premise: that understanding why plans work is more valuable than just memorizing what they are.

The Queen's Gambit Declined has always been a fortress of classical chess—solid, principled, and theoretically demanding. But what if you could sidestep the theoretical marathons of the countless variations while maintaining all the strategic richness? GM Szymon Gumularz and GM Pier Luigi Basso propose exactly that: 4...Nbd7, a flexible system that deliberately avoids the main theoretical highways while delivering complex, ambitious middlegames.

The course's distinguishing feature lies in its approach to White's entire spectrum of fourth-move options. While 4.Nc3 can be White's most irritating try, demanding precise handling, Dreev introduces a revolutionary new idea that neutralizes it completely. The trendy 4.g4 receives a fresh practical solution. Modern systems like Rapport's 6.h4!? in the 4.Nd2 lines are met with concrete responses. Even the ambitious 4.c4, leading to the modern 4...e6 5.Nc3 Bb4, is explored with flexible, independent thinking that challenges established approaches. Each variation receives treatment proportional to its practical importance, organized from most frequent to rarest.