12/28/2011 – The Chebanenko Slav is a line championed by several top players, such as Gata Kamsky, Vladimir Malakhov, Etienne Bacrot, and the author, German GM Leonid Kritz. GM Dejan Bojkov was impressed, "One would expect that a strong GM would hide some of his ideas from his main repertoire, however, this is not the case with Leonid Kritz." Find out more in GM Dejan Bojkov's review.
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Your personal chess trainer. Your toughest opponent. Your strongest ally. FRITZ 20 is more than just a chess engine – it is a training revolution for ambitious players and professionals. Whether you are taking your first steps into the world of serious chess training, or already playing at tournament level, FRITZ 20 will help you train more efficiently, intelligently and individually than ever before.
Some years ago I tried to learn to play the Slav Defense as Black. There was too much material, and I decided to focus only on the Chebanenko line. It did not work well, but this had nothing to do with the opening. Opening tastes depend on the particular style of the player. At that time the leading specialists in the line were G. Kamsky, V. Malakhov, S. Movsesian, E. Bacrot, S.Volkov, Vl.Burmakin, my compatriots Vl.Georgiev and A. Stefanova, and the German GM L. Kritz.
A couple of years ago when working with Antoaneta Stefanova I discovered that the driving forces behind the line were still those players, and that the state of the line is stable. Therefore, when seeing the new 60-Minute video on the Chebanenko Slav, I was quite excited.
One would expect that a strong GM would hide some of his ideas from his main repertoire, however, this is not the case with Leonid Kritz.
A clip from Leonid Kritz's 60-minute tutorial on the Chebanenko Slav
In four clips he shows the subtleties of the line and gives the essential minimum that the Black player needs to survive White’s main plans.
The variations covered are:
1) 5.a4
2) 5.e3 in conjunction with the move 4.Nc3
3) 4.e3, the modern treatment, with the delay of the queenside knight’s development. In this line White usually develops the knight with Nb1-d2, and tries to exert pressure in the center with Nf3-e5 in the proper moment.
4) 5.c5 which was supposed to be the main line some years ago. Here, the suggested plan starts with the move 5…Bf5, in conjunction with the quick Nf6-h5 maneuver. This is a line which Kritz plays regularly as Black.
The explanations of the ideas are presented in a very neat way, and what is more valuable is that at the end of each line, Kritz also points what the future plan of the second player will be. Another good point is the knowledge of the piece strength in each particular line, and the German GM explains which pieces should be left on the board and why.
Certainly, 60 Minutes will not be enough for you to fully understand and learn the Chebanenko Slav, and a lot of additional work will be required. However after seeing the videos you will know in which direction to seek, and which games to study.
In this course, you’ll learn how to take the initiative against the London and prevent White from comfortably playing their usual system by playing 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bf4 Nh5.
London System Powerbase 2026 is a database and contains in all 11 285 games from Mega 2026 and the Correspondence Database 2026, of which 282 are annotated.
The London System Powerbook 2026 is based on more than 410 000 games or game fragments from different opening moves and ECO codes; what they all have in common is that White plays d4 and Bf4 but does not play c4.
In this course, Grandmaster Elisabeth Pähtz presents the London System, a structured and ambitious approach based on the immediate Bf4, leading to rich and dynamic positions.
Opening videos: Open Spanish (Sipke Ernst) and Classical Sicilian (Nico Zwirs). Endgame Special by Igor Stohl: ‘Short or long side’ – where should the defending king be placed in rook endgames? ‘Lucky bag’ with 35 master analyses.
YOUR EASY ACCESS TO OPENING THEORY: Whether you want to build up a reliable and powerful opening repertoire or find new opening ideas for your existing repertoire, the Opening Encyclopaedia covers the entire opening theory on one product.
The Queen’s Gambit Declined Exchange Variation with 5.Bf4 has a great balance between positional play and sharp pawn pushes; and will be a surprise for your opponents while being easy to learn for you, as the key patterns are familiar.
€9.90
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