How to Play The Slav Defense – GM Damian Lemos

The Slav defense belongs to the group of closed chess openings for Black and occurs after the moves 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6.

The opening was named in honor of several strong players from Slavic countries, including well-known names like Semyon Alapin, Alexander Alekhine and Efim Bogoljubov, who contributed many ideas to its development. It is one of the most trusted openings in chess, popular at all levels from beginner to strong grandmasters. It has been a regular guest in World Chess Championship Matches throughout history.

For many 1.d4-players, the Slav Defense represents an impenetrable wall, too tough a nut to crack. In fact, the Slav Defense is one of the main reasons why plenty of 1.d4-players give up opting for mainlines and try their luck with more surprising sidelines. While it is true that the Slav is solid, that isn’t to say that it is an opening weapon simply used to make a draw. In fact, it carries some hidden bite. On many occasions, for example, Black can capture the White c4-pawn with his d-pawn and defend it with the move …b7-b5, claiming immediately an extra pawn.

In this comprehensive 8-hour Deep Dive course, GM Damian Lemos builds up your knowledge of this powerful opening weapon, demonstrating how to combat each of the main variations in turn.

Chapter Oultine:

Introduction: About this course

• Chapter 1: The 4.Nbd2 Variation (1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nbd2)
• Chapter 2: The Fianchetto System (1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.g3)
• Part 1: 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.g3 – Sidelines
• Part 2: 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.g3 – Mainlines
• Chapter 3: The 4.Qc2 Variation (1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Qc2)
• Chapter 4: The Exchange Variation (1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.cxd5 cxd5)
• Part 1: Introduction to the Exchange Variation
• Part 2: 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.cxd5 cxd5 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.Bf4 Nc6 6.e3 Bg4 7.Be2 (1)
• Part 3: 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.cxd5 cxd5 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.Bf4 Nc6 6.e3 Bg4 7.Be2 (2)
• Part 4: 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.cxd5 cxd5 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.Bf4 Nc6 6.e3 Bg4 7.Nf3
• Part 5: 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.cxd5 cxd5 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.Bf4 Nc6 6.e3 Bg4 7.Qb3 (1)
• Part 6: 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.cxd5 cxd5 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.Bf4 Nc6 6.e3 Bg4 7.Qb3 (2)
• Part 7: 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.cxd5 cxd5 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.Bf4 Nc6 6.e3 Bg4 7.Qb3 (3)
• Part 8: 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.cxd5 cxd5 4.Nf3
• Chapter 5: The 4.e3 Variation (1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3)
• Part 1: (1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 g6 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.Bd3)
• Part 2: (1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 g6 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.Be2)
• Chapter 6: The Two Knights Variation (1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3)