Courses (357)

Modern Chess releases the seventh installment in the 1.d4 According to Lucas van Foreest series, authored by GM Pier Luigi Basso and GM Lucas van Foreest. This course addresses White's options against the Queen's Gambit Declined after 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3, focusing on Black's sharpest responses: 4...dxc4 (Vienna Variation) and 4...c5 (Semi-Tarrasch complex).

What makes this course stand out is the move order. Rather than the classical 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6—the Modern Benoni starting point—Jobava advocates 3...g6 first, delaying ...e6 until the position demands it. This subtle shift completely changes Black's preparation burden. By avoiding early commitment, Black sidesteps White's most forcing theoretical lines and enters middlegames where ideas matter more than precise move sequences. The result: a repertoire you can learn in hours, not months, yet one sharp enough to challenge anyone—from club players to elite grandmasters.

When GM Michael Roiz began developing his comprehensive Nimzo-Indian repertoire, he recognized that after 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4, White's fourth move determines the strategic language of the entire game. Part 1 addressed 4.Qc2 and 4.e3, while Part 2 tackled 4.f3, 4.a3, and 4.g3. Yet a critical gap remained: White's most popular choice in contemporary practice, 4.Nf3.
Nimzo-Indian Defense According to Roiz – Part 3 closes this circle, completing the trilogy with a thorough examination of 4.Nf3 and rare alternatives. The centerpiece is the theoretically dense 5.g3 Catalan system, where White's setups blend Catalan structure with Nimzo-Indian tactics.

Carlsbad-with-Be6-142e12738e

GM Luca Moroni and GM Pier Luigi Basso have built their course around a simple premise: the Carlsbad doesn't have to be a theoretical maze. While mainstream theory drowns players in endless c6 variations, this system offers something rare—a practical, fighting repertoire that's easier to learn and delivers better winning chances. The authors noticed that after Caruana's lead, players like Andreikin and Bartel began adopting the line, yet it remains almost completely unknown. That gap between emerging practice and established theory is exactly where this course lives.

For years, 1.d4 players have struggled against one of Black’s most trusted defenses — the Ragozin. Solid, flexible, and endlessly playable, it’s been a favorite of Carlsen, Aronian, Gukesh, and Firouzja. But now, the tide turns. In 1.d4 According to Lucas Van Foreest – Fight the Ragozin, GMs Lucas Van Foreest and Pier Luigi Basso present a complete and modern system built around the critical 6.Bg5, the line that puts Black’s entire setup under both strategic and tactical pressure.

When Adolph Albin first played 2...e5 against the Queen’s Gambit in 1893, he introduced an opening that embodied risk, creativity, and defiance. For more than a century, theory dismissed his idea as a relic of the romantic era—until now. In The Albin Countergambit, GM Baadur Jobava and GM Pier Luigi Basso reveal the discovery that brings this opening back to life: the spectacular and deeply underestimated move 5.a3 g6!!.

When GM Michael Roiz surveyed the modern Nimzo-Indian landscape, he observed that while 4.e3 and 4.Qc2 dominate tournament practice, three ambitious sister systems—4.f3, 4.a3 (Sämisch), and 4.g3—remain strategically interconnected yet theoretically underserved.
Part 2 of his Nimzo-Indian Defense According to Roiz series addresses precisely this gap, offering Black a coherent positional framework across these critical lines. This course doesn’t merely catalog variations—it builds a unified strategic language for navigating White’s most aggressive central setups, from Gheorghiu’s bold 4.f3 to Petrosian’s patient Sämisch approach and the Catalan-flavored 4.g3.

When GM Efstratios Grivas prepared for the 2008 Corus tournament in Wijk aan Zee, he faced a familiar dilemma: how to meet the Slav Defense without drowning in the theoretical quicksand that swallows hours of preparation?
His solution — the modest 4.Nbd2 — delivered instantly, scoring a critical win against German GM Arik Braun.
Nearly two decades later, with adoption by Carlsen, Mamedyarov, Nakamura, Aronian, and Giri, this “sideline” has quietly evolved into a serious weapon.

The Pseudo-Trompowsky — 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bg5 — doesn’t announce itself with fireworks.
At first glance, it resembles a typical positional setup, the kind of position Black faces regularly after 1.d4. But this similarity is deceiving.
As GM Baadur Jobava notes in his introduction:
“At first sight, this looks calm, but that’s exactly why it works.”

The Nimzo-Indian Defense has long been one of chess’s most flexible openings — not because it’s vague, but because of the richness of its strategic options.
In this new course, GM Michael Roiz, together with GM Grigor Grigorov and IM Siegfried Baumegger, demonstrates that true flexibility requires depth — the ability to select systems that fit your style while maintaining concrete control of the position.