Courses (34)
French Defense for Black - Play the Winawer Variation - Part 1
When GM Baadur Jobava and GM Pier Luigi Basso designed this course, they made a deliberate choice: understanding before memorization. In an era where players rush to learn the latest engine lines in the Winawer, this course takes a different path—one that begins with Karpov-Short 1982 and travels through decades of classical games before arriving at modern theory. The philosophy is simple yet profound: most players know the Winawer's moves, but few grasp its logic. This course bridges that gap.
Labels:
3h and 12min PGN Download Memory Booster Interactive Tests Video Content
French Defense - Arsenal
For decades, French Defense players have faced a peculiar problem: while main lines receive exhaustive theoretical coverage, the sidelines—those early deviations starting as early as move two—often catch them unprepared. A 2.Qe2, a King's Indian Attack setup, or even the archaic 2.f4 can derail your preparation not because these moves are objectively superior, but because they shift the game into unfamiliar territory where your main-line knowledge offers no guidance.
GM Pier Luigi Basso and GM Vladimir Malakhov recognize this gap in French Defense - Arsenal for Black, a course built on a radical premise: sidelines aren't inferior alternatives to be dismissed—they're distinct battlegrounds requiring specific, well-grounded solutions. Rather than offering you superficial "just play normally" advice, this course treats each sideline as a serious challenge worthy of the same analytical rigor typically reserved for the Winawer or Tarrasch.
Labels:
4h and 33min PGN Download Memory Booster Interactive Tests Video Content
Multilingual Database:
French Defense - Practical Solution against the Advance Variation
For decades, the Advance Variation has been a fortress White uses to avoid the theoretical labyrinths of the French Defense. Black's most common responses—5...Qb6 and 5...Bd7—require memorizing countless sidelines and nuances. But what if there was a different approach? GM Baadur Jobava and GM Pier Luigi Basso present French Defense - Practical Solution against the Advance Variation, a course built around the intriguing 5...Nge7, followed by the paradoxical queen maneuver 7...Qa5 and 8...Qb6. This isn't about memorization—it's about understanding a coherent system that leverages piece coordination over theoretical depth.
Sequence: French Defense According to Jobava »
Labels:
2h and 21min PGN Download Memory Booster Interactive Tests Video Content
Multilingual Database:
French Defense - Play the Rubinstein Variation
The French Defense has always stood at the crossroads of strategic complexity and tactical sharpness. But what if there was a way to embrace the French's positional richness while sidestepping the theoretical labyrinths of the Winawer and Tarrasch? This is precisely what GM Alexey Dreev and GM Pier Luigi Basso explore in their comprehensive Premium course—a system where understanding trumps memorization, and classical principles meet modern practice.
The Rubinstein Variation (1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7) represents chess at its most refined. As Dreev emphasizes in his introduction, this is "timeless positional chess—simple in form, yet rich in depth." The authors build their case around a compelling premise: by mastering a single, universal system that works against both 3.Nc3 and 3.Nd2, Black gains a reliable weapon requiring minimal memorization but offering maximum strategic
Labels:
4h and 41min PGN Download Memory Booster Interactive Tests Computer Practice Video Content
Multilingual Database:
French Defense for Black - Exchange Variation and Sidelines
For decades, the Exchange Variation carried the burden of being chess’s great equalizer — the line White chose when seeking a draw, where 3.exd5 exd5 seemed to drain the French of its characteristic tension.
But this reputation has quietly crumbled. Recent years have brought a fundamental shift in understanding: both 4.Bd3 and 4.Nf3 contain genuine venom, while White’s rare second-move alternatives — from the King’s Indian Attack to the Wing Gambit — demand precise knowledge rather than general principles.
Sequence: French Defense according to Roiz »
Labels:
5h and 16min PGN Download Memory Booster Interactive Tests Video Content
Multilingual Database:
Play the French Gambit - Top-Level Repertoire for White
For over a century, the French Defense has challenged 1.e4 players to prove an advantage against Black’s resilient structure.
Yet GM Baadur Jobava and IM Dragos Ceres demonstrate that the answer lies not in quiet maneuvering, but in a bold and principled idea — the French Gambit.
Labels:
2h and 17min PGN Download Memory Booster Interactive Tests Video Content
Multilingual Database:
French Defense According to Moroni - Tarrasch, Advance, and Exchange Variations
GM Pier Luigi Basso and GM Luca Moroni complete their ambitious French Defense project with the release of French Defense According to Moroni - Tarrasch, Advance, and Exchange Variations. This course serves as the essential companion to their previous work, French Defense According to Moroni - Play the Steinitz Variation, providing Black with a complete and fighting repertoire against 1.e4.
Sequence: French Defense according to Moroni »
Labels:
4h and 23min PGN Download Memory Booster Interactive Tests Video Content
Multilingual Database:
Jobava and Jospem's 1.e4 Blitz Repertoire
Modern Chess presents Jobava and Jospem's 1.e4 Blitz Repertoire – Part 1, a collaboration between GM Baadur Jobava and GM Jose Martinez Alcantara examining opening choices suited to rapid and blitz play.
GM Baadur Jobava has maintained consistent performance across time controls, while GM Jose Martinez Alcantara brings extensive online chess experience. Both authors have selected lines they regularly employ in their own games, providing insight into their practical decision-making process.
Sequence: 1.e4 - Blitz Repertoire for White »
Labels:
2h and 44min PGN Download Memory Booster Interactive Tests Video Content
Multilingual Database:
French Defense According to Moroni - Play the Steinitz Variation
The French Defense remains one of the most solid and strategically rich responses to 1.e4, offering Black excellent practical chances in complex middlegame positions. Our new course, developed by GM Luca Moroni and GM Pier Luigi Basso, presents a comprehensive repertoire based on the Classical Steinitz Variation (1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6).
Sequence: French Defense according to Moroni »
Labels:
4h and 2min PGN Download Memory Booster Interactive Tests Video Content
French Defense for Black - Fight the Tarrasch Variation
Modern Chess announces the third installment in GM Michael Roiz's acclaimed French Defense series: French Defense for Black - Fight the Tarrasch Variation. This advanced repertoire course provides a complete strategic framework for Black against 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2, featuring the innovative collaboration between GM Michael Roiz, GM Grigor Grigorov, and IM Siegfried Baumegger that defined the series' previous success.
Sequence: French Defense according to Roiz »
Labels:
4h and 38min PGN Download Memory Booster Interactive Tests Video Content
Multilingual Database: