Slav Defense Introduction
Oh no. Chicken_Monster back with some MORE questions.
This time, I need to cover, well, my third favorite opening, the Slav Defense. I should never have told him that it's a good opening for him to play against 1.d4!
Today, we are going to cover
- General Ideas of the Slav Defense
The Slav Defense begins with the moves 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6
Question: Why didn't black take the pawn on c4 on move 2?
Answer: Theory has shown that black can not hold on to the pawn, and after white regains it, he will have 2 center pawns against 1, which is an advantage.
If black takes the pawn, white can even play 3.Qa4+, regaining the pawn immediately. He can also play a variety of moves, such as Nc3, Nf3, e3, and e4.
In the early 1900's, the Queen's Gambit Declined was a popular choice for black. It began with the move 2...e6, but since black's bishop is locked in after that, players began looking for other solutions.
Nf6 is an obvious idea, but after cxd5 white gets a large center, and since black has not had time to develop his bishop to g7 yet, the position is considered favourable for white:
But then, the Slav Defense got widespread popularity. Firstly, black has the idea of taking the pawn, as shown in this line:
White may regain the pawn with a4, (since a6 allows axb5 followed by Nxb5) and if b4 then Na2 (I personally prefer Nce2, but both moves are possible)
The other major advantage for black over e6 is that his bishop is locked in, and in many lines the black bishop develops to f5, the perfect home for it.
Quick warning for aspiring Slav Defense players: NEVER play Bf5 against what I call the Nf3-Nc3 setup.
White hits both b7 and d5, and if Qd7, then Ne5 follows.
Just because I feel like it, I'm actually going to show a great positional win by Capablanca in this line (he actually played that Bf5 line!)
Anyways, against other setups (Nf3-e3 or Nc3-e3) black CAN play Bf5. However, playing it against Nc3-e3 is a gambit, which has only been recently discovered.
Black gets a ton of compensation in this line. We will analyze it in one of my next blog posts.
General Idea for Black:
Black's general idea is to eventually play the e5 break, liberating all his pieces through the opening of the center. White, likewise, has the idea of playing e4.
Example:
Make note of the "Meran" idea I discussed in the above diagram. Here we go...
The Meran Idea:
The Meran Idea is to release the tension in the center with dxc4, and after white recaptures, black plays b5, followed by eventually c5 (after the move a6). If black manages to do this, he is usually better or has achieved equality. The Meran Idea is best seen in this line:
All these ideas will of course be discussed in depth in my next few blog posts--remember, this is only an intro. Looking forward to it! Chicken_Monster, gimme some more questions. I'll have them anwered in a jiffy.
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