Top-Level Repertoire against Slav Defence
After his highly successful course Ambitious Repertoire against the English Opening, IM Krishanter comes up with another fascinating project - Top-Level Repertoire against the Slav Defence.
The initial position of the course arises after 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3
This is a complete repertoire for White that covers also the Semi-Slav Defence. In this course, you will find many new ideas and concepts in well-known positions. An important part of these discoveries were made during the collaboration between IM Krishnater and the super star Vidit.
The course consists of 20 theoretical chapters, 15 interactive test positions, a Memory Booster, and a Video Version (4h and 16min Running Time).
Preview by IM Kushager Krishnater
In this course, I present a complete repertoire for White against the Slav Defence and the Semi-Slav Defence. My suggestions are quite testing and fresh, and were a result of my work with some elite GM's. I have recommended fresh & practically dangerous tries almost everywhere.
Let's take a look at my suggestions against the Slav Defence.
Against the Slav Defence, I recommend 4.e3, the slow system. We prevent the threat of ...dxc4. Although this is not the sharpest of the lines, it remains quite testing. White has a strategic advantage due to the extra space in the centre.
Black's main continuation is 4...Bf5. Before that, however, we shall take a look at the alternatives.
The continuation 4...Bg4 is one of the old main lines. This is supposed to be quite solid. The main line goes 5.Qb3 Qb6.
At this point, I suggest the extremely rare 6.Nh4. This is a typical idea in the Slav Defence. White is stopping Bxf3, and preparing h3. We want to meet the natural 6...e6 with 7.h3 Bh5 8.g4 Bg6 9.Nxg6 hxg6 10.Bg2 where White keeps good practical chances to extra space and the pair of bishops.
The system with 4...g6 used to be quite popular, but white keeps a small edge in several ways. This is the so-called Schlechter Variation in the Slav Defence. I recommend going for the simple and strong 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.Be2 0-0 7.0-0 Bg4
This was the big main line. However, White keeps a risk-free edge after 8.cxd5 cxd5 9.Qb3 b6 10.h3
Very often in Slav Defence, Black includes the move ...a7-a6. For instance, the immediate 4...a6 is one of the two lines where we take advantage of the fact that we haven't committed our knight.
In this position, my suggestion is 5.Nbd2!? Bf5 6.Nh4 Be4 7.Qb3 with a risk-free edge.
After 4...e6 we can transpose to Meran with 5.Nc3, but I also cover 5.Nbd2 which gives a slightly better version of the Meran.
Let's get back to the main line starting with 4...Bf5.
The first important crossroads arises after 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nh4!?
This is an important theoretical tabiya in the Slav Defence. White is looking to win the pair of bishops. Black has two main moves here. The most challenging seems to be 6...Be4. Black is trying to provoke f2-f3 before retreating the bishop to g6. The alternative 6...Bg6 is the other main line. Since Black doesn't provoke f3, we go for plans with Qb3. The main line goes 7.Bd2 Be7 8.Qb3!? Qc7 9.Nxg6 hxg6
Here, I recommend going for 10.cxd5 exd5 11.h4!? Concrete analysis shows that it's not easy for Black to neutralize White's initiative.
Let's get back to the main line featuring 6...Be4. At this point, I suggest 7.f3 Bg6 8.Bd2
After taking on g6, we are planning to proceed with Qc2 and 0-0-0. The following couple of moves are quite typical for this line of the Slav Defence - 8...Be7 9.Nxg6 hxg6 10.Qc2 Nbd7 11.0-0-0 a6
This is an important tabiya in the Slav Defence. Obviously, all the deviations are covered as well. Black's main idea is to proceed with ...dxc4 followed by ...b7-b5 and ...c6-c5. My suggestion here is 12.Kb1!? which was a novelty before Vidit managed to win two important games. White has great practical chances.
The second part of the database is dedicated to the Semi-Slav Defence arising after 4...e6 5.Nc3
This is the initial position of the Semi-Slav Defence. Black has plenty of possibilities here. Let me take you through the directions in all of them.
It goes without saying that the main move is 5...Nbd7. Nevertheless, the alternatives deserve serious attention as well.
An interesting line is 5...a6.
This is a very solid option, and was quite the hot topic a few years ago. Here, I recommend going for the strategically ambitious 6.b3 Bb4 7.Bd2 Nbd7 8.Bd3 0-0 9.0-0
This is an important tabiya in the Semi-Slav Defence. According to my analysis, White can fight for a slight edge here.
Another interesting option is 5...b6
This is how the new engines like to handle the Semi-Slav Defence. The main position of interest arises after 6.Bd3 Bb7 7.Qc2 Nbd7 8.0-0 Be7 9.Rd1
The critical test. We are keeping an eye against the threat of ...c6-c5. In this line, I suggest an interesting novelty allowing White to fight for an advantage.
Another big crossroads in the Semi-Slav Defence is being reached after 5...Nbd7 6.Qc2 Bd6 7.Be2 0-0 8.0-0 dxc4 9.Bxc4
At this point, Black's most popular move is 9...b5. Another big main line is 9...a6 after which I recomment for a very fresh way of playing with 10.Ng5 intending Ne4 with a complex position.
After 9...b5, the main line goes 10.Be2 Bb7 11.e4 e5 12.dxe5 Nxe5 13.Nd4 Neg4
Now, I suggest the rare 14.Nf5. With a huge initiative coming up next. There are only 15 games here, but White scores a whopping 75%. Black should play very precisely in order to maintain the balance.
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