All the variations dealt with in this database are quite ambitious for White. In the spirit of Hedgehog, Black wants to play a long game with many pieces and very complicated positions. Marin avoids variations with early exchanges and offers a fighting repertoire.
He played this position during his long career, and he feels the arising positions very well.
Armed with his explanations, analyses, and novelties, you should be able to face each opponent.
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With this database, GM Mihail Marin marks the beginning of a new ambitious opening project - Marin's solution to 1.Nf3. The repertoire is divided into three databases. We can say that the so-called Hedgehog Setup is the cornerstone of the repertoire. Of course, in his repertoire databases, the author also deals with White's attempts to sidestep the Hedgehog. These systems are covered in Part 3, while Parts 1 and 2 are dedicated to the subtleties of the Hedgehog System.
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With Yates Variation and Anti - Marshall, White wants to avoid long, forced and heavily analyzed main lines. His task is to minimalize Black's choices and to reach a playable position, where chess understanding is more important than memorization.
This very common opening approach is used by Magnus Carlsen with a great success.
Renier is sharing his ideas in 12 chapters - eight of them are for Yates Variation, and four are for Anti - Marshall.
The database ends with 12 test positions.
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Nowadays the Moscow variation is extremely popular, and one of the reasons is the current World Champion Magnus Carlsen. His approach to the chess has changed the way of thinking for many - not to strive for advantage in the opening, but get an easy play with a logical development of the pieces. Don't be mistaken though - Magnus Carlsen may play off-beat variations but he does know them really well. Right now pretty much all of the top level players who choose 1.e4 play a decent amount of the Moscow variation as well.
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The current database completes GM Mihail Marins' Catalan project. This time, he focuses on Black's attempts to avoid the Catalan.
After 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3, the author deals with two highly popular moves - 3...Bb4+ and 3...c5.
True to his approach, in this database, Marin advocates positionally sound but not necessarily fashionable lines. That makes the suggested repertoire valuable from a practical point of view. By following Marin's recommendations, we have good chances to surprise our opponents.
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GM Mihail Marin continues with the examination of the theoretical subtleties of the Catalan. The current database contains 1 article about the typical Catalan Endgame, 12 theoretical chapters, and 20 Test positions.
After reading the current database, the reader will learn how to deal with Black's absolute main line against the Catalan. The author provides a number of important novelties.
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The theoretical importance of the Catalan is obvious to anyone who is following the recent theoretical developments. Nowadays, you will hardly find a top player who does not have the Catalan in his repertoire. Being always on the top of the wave, Modern Chess team decided to start a project concerning this fashionable opening.
GM Mihail Marin is the perfect author when it comes to a positional opening like the Catalan. Moreover, it is important to point out that Marin is playing this opening for almost 30 years.
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In his first database for Modern Chess, Brazilian IM Renato Quintillano is analyzing two of the most aggressive Black's choices against 1.e4 - The Pirc Defence and The Modern Defence. The author provides us with quite an interesting repertoire, not only rich in ideas, but also in new concepts of play in these setups. In the database, you can find some very sharp lines and a lot of endgame positions, which the author analyzed in depth.
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In the second part of his repertoire against 1.c4, GM Boris Avrukh deals with the systems based on 2.g3 and 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.g3
Against these two move orders, we cannot reach the Reversed Dragon with Bc5 which was discussed in Part 1.
Of course, you can still play Reversed Dragon by employing the main line with Nb6. Nevertheless, Boris doesn't like the fact that White has too many possible options.
As always, Avrukh chooses a very aggressive repertoire. Systems after 1.c4 e5 2.g3 c6 and 1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.g3 Bb4 are positionally unbalanced and very complex.
Avrukh did a fantastic job by providing the readers with a variety of novelties and sometimes even with new concepts of play.
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French Defence is a tough nut to crack. This opening has a reputation for being a very good counter-attacking weapon. It was used with success by almost all the great players at the past and nowadays. Since the arising middlegames are extremely complex, usually, all three results are possible.
Above-mentioned considerations explain why the choice of weapon against the French Defence is so important when we play 1.e4.
In the current database, IM Renier Castellanos suggests a positional repertoire against the French which is based on the so-called Tarrasch Variation.
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