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.
new: Fritz 20
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.
YOUR PERSONAL CHESS COACH - Whether you’re taking your first steps into the world of club chess, or already playing at a tournament level: with FRITZ, you can train more efficiently, intelligently and with a more personalised approach than ever before. FRITZ is more than just a chess engine – it’s a training revolution! Whether you’re taking your first steps into the world of club chess, or already playing at a tournament level: with FRITZ, you can train more efficiently, intelligently and with a more personalised approach than ever before.
The Hyper-Accelerated Dragon is fast, from the very first moves, your bishop heads to g7, seizes the long diagonal, and turns into the most feared piece on the board.
It rewards players who love initiative and clear attacking plans.
€39.90
The Chebanenko Slav in 60 minutes by Leonid Kritz
Review by GM Dejan Bojkov
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.
YOUR PERSONAL CHESS COACH - Whether you’re taking your first steps into the world of club chess, or already playing at a tournament level: with FRITZ, you can train more efficiently, intelligently and with a more personalised approach than ever before.
The Hyper-Accelerated Dragon is fast, from the very first moves, your bishop heads to g7, seizes the long diagonal, and turns into the most feared piece on the board.
It rewards players who love initiative and clear attacking plans.
The Hyper-Accelerated Dragon is fast, from the very first moves, your bishop heads to g7, seizes the long diagonal, and turns into the most feared piece on the board.
It rewards players who love initiative and clear attacking plans.
The Hyper-Accelerated dragon is fast, from the very first moves, your bishop heads to g7, seizes the long diagonal, and turns into the most feared piece on the board.
It rewards players who love initiative and clear attacking plans.
“Mate is great!” – Tactical training with Oliver Reeh, “The 8th rank” – Andy Woodward analyses his game against Magnus Carlsen from TePe Sigeman 2026, “A modern Nimzo-Indian” – Andrei Volokitin introduces readers to "his" system and much more!
Chess is a concrete game. There is no way around training your calculation skills. Improve your visualization, pattern recognition and learn calculation techniques such as reciprocal thinking with this course.
This compact course is designed specifically for practical play. Instead of overwhelming you with endless theory, it focuses on the critical lines, typical plans, and recurring tactical ideas.
Slav and Semi-Slav Powerbase 2026 is a database and contains a total of 11 766 games from Mega 2026 or the Correspondence Database 2026, of which 1136 are annotated.
€9.90
We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, analysis cookies and marketing cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies. Here you can make detailed settings or revoke your consent (if necessary partially) with effect for the future. Further information can be found in our data protection declaration.
Pop-up for detailed settings
We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies, analysis cookies and marketing cookies. You can decide which cookies to use by selecting the appropriate options below. Please note that your selection may affect the functionality of the service. Further information can be found in our privacy policy.
Technically required cookies
Technically required cookies: so that you can navigate and use the basic functions and store preferences.
Analysis Cookies
To help us determine how visitors interact with our website to improve the user experience.
Marketing-Cookies
To help us offer and evaluate relevant content and interesting and appropriate advertisement.
