Courses (71)

This course presents a complete Black repertoire after 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6, covering the Kalashnikov (4...e5) against the Open Sicilian, 3...g6!? against 3.Nc3 to avoid the Maroczy Bind, 3...d6 against the Rossolimo, and 3...Nf6 against the Alapin. The repertoire is built around recurring strategic ideas rather than forced lines, keeping Black's position dynamic and double-edged across all major White systems.

The Scotch Gambit arises after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4, where White prioritizes development over immediate pawn recovery. The course provides a complete repertoire for White against Black's main responses, including 4...Nf6 5.e5, the sharp 4...Bc5 5.Ng5 line, and 4...Bb4+. Each variation is treated as a practical weapon against opponents prepared for the Italian or the Ruy Lopez.

When Bobby Fischer and Dragoljub Velimirović wanted to fight the Classical Sicilian, they reached for 6.Bc4, the Sozin. The bishop aims straight at Black's kingside, and decades later it remains the most important alternative to 6.Bg5. GM Alexey Dreev's answer is immediate. After 6...Qb6 7.Ndb5 he plays 7...Bg4!?, a move Vladimir Kramnik tried only once, back in 1996. It is rare, it is sound, and in Dreev's own words, your opponent will be surprised.

GM Sina Movahed’s The Open Sicilian: A Complete Attacking Repertoire for White offers a practical, classical answer to the Open Sicilian, recommending lines like 6.Be2 against the Najdorf and 7.Bg5 in the Sveshnikov to keep the initiative while avoiding heavy modern theory. Covering all major Black replies, the 16-chapter course emphasizes clear plans and learnable positions, with premium features including test positions, video instruction, and multilingual PGNs.

The Queen's Gambit Accepted carries a slightly misleading name. Black takes on c4, but the pawn is rarely the point. The real bargain is time and space: White is invited to build a broad centre, and Black's entire strategy is built around challenging it before it becomes too strong. That paradox, giving up the centre in order to attack it, is the leitmotif of The Modern Queen's Gambit Accepted: A Dynamic Repertoire for Black by GM Mitrabha Guha. After 2...dxc4, Black's typical plan is ...c5 and, at the right moment, ...cxd4. If White recaptures with the e-pawn, the isolated d4-pawn can become a long-term target. If White recaptures with a piece, the position opens up with roughly equal chances.

The Queen's Indian Defence is a classical opening, usually valued more for its solid positional foundation than for its fighting potential. IM Deboushnik De's new repertoire keeps that foundation but adds novelties, ambitious ideas and aggressive lines that let Black fight for the initiative. The central idea goes back to Aron Nimzowitsch. His 4...Ba6, aimed straight at the c4-pawn, turns a developing move into a question White has to answer immediately. The repertoire is built around that question, and around a broader principle: Black's setup should be decided by what White has already committed to.

For GM Alexey Dreev, the Sicilian has never been a phase but a lifelong choice. He has played 1...c5 throughout his career, and among all its branches he considers the Classical Variation the most healthy one. His reasoning is simple. Black develops naturally, fights for the centre and plays for a win, without the volume of forced theory that surrounds the Najdorf. What the Classical demands instead is understanding. The Rauzer: There Is No Way Around It Anyone who plays 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 knows which move comes next most often: 6.Bg5, the Richter-Rauzer Attack. As Dreev puts it, a Classical Sicilian player will meet it in every second game. That is why Part 1 of this repertoire is devoted entirely to 6.Bg5. Black answers with 6...e6, the classical main line. It requires real knowledge, but it gives a repertoire built to last, one that can be played against any opponent.

For decades, the Symmetrical English was valued above all for its solidity. Black mirrors White's development, and the question has always been when, and how, to break the symmetry. GM Mitrabha Guha gives a clear answer. In the modern main line, 1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.g3 g6 5.Bg2 Bg7 6.d4 cxd4 7.Nxd4, Black plays the surprising 7...h5!?. The point is concrete. Black provokes h2-h3, and that pawn will often end up hanging. A mirror-image opening turns into a fight with a clear target.

This course, Part 2 of The Modern Caro-Kann, offers a complete Black repertoire against the Advance Variation, built around GM Szymon Gumularz's ambitious 7...c4!? in the Short System, which keeps pieces on the board and plays for a win rather than settling for a theoretical endgame. Across 15 chapters, it provides concrete answers to every major White setup after 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5, guided by the principle that Black should never settle for equality when a fighting alternative exists.

Every French player knows the moment. You brace for the theoretical fights of 3.Nc3, and instead White slides the knight to d2 or simply trades on d5. These are not attempts to refute your opening — they are attempts to drain it of life. The Tarrasch and the Exchange are the practical player's tools: low theory, low risk, and built on the quiet hope that Black will grow bored, passive, or both. GM Andrea Stella and GM Pier Luigi Basso built this fourth and final part to reject that bargain. Their repertoire takes the two lines French players meet quite often and reframes them as positions Black plays for a win — not through wild complications, but through a chain of deliberate second choices that keep tension exactly where the mainlines offer symmetry.