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Slav Defense
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Slav Defense
The Slav Defense is a chess opening that begins with the moves:
The Slav is one of the primary defenses to the Queen's Gambit. Although it was analyzed as early as 1590, it was not until the 1920s that it started to be explored extensively, although Steinitz played it in the 1886 World Championship. Many masters of Slavic descent helped develop the theory of the opening, including Semyon Alapin, Alexander Alekhine, Efim Bogoljubov, and Milan Vidmar.
The Slav received an exhaustive test during the two Alekhine–Euwe World Championship matches in 1935 and 1937. Played by 11 of the first 13 world champions, this defense was particularly favored by Max Euwe, Mikhail Botvinnik, and Vasily Smyslov. More recently, the Slav has been adopted by Viswanathan Anand, Vassily Ivanchuk, Joël Lautier, Nigel Short, and other top grandmasters, including use in six of the eight games that Vladimir Kramnik played as Black in the 2006 World Championship.
The theory of the Slav has become very extensive and well-developed. The Slav is often distinguished from the related Semi-Slav Defense by Black avoiding or delaying the move ...e6, which is instead played early on in the Semi-Slav, though transposition to the Semi-Slav from the Slav is common.
The Slav can be entered by many move orders. The possibilities include other lines with 1.d4 d5, such as 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 c6; from the Indian Defence (1.d4 Nf6), such as via 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 d5; from the Zukertort Opening (1.Nf3), such as via 1...d5 2.c4 c6 3.d4 Nf6; and others.
Black faces two major problems in the orthodox line (with 2...e6) of the Queen's Gambit Declined (QGD):
The Slav (besides the Semi-Slav) addresses these problems. Black's queen bishop is unblocked; the pawn structure remains balanced. Also, if Black later takes the gambit pawn with ...dxc4, the support provided by the pawn on c6 (and possibly ...a6) allows ...b5 which may threaten to keep the pawn, or drive away a white piece that has captured it, gaining Black a tempo for queenside expansion.
On the other hand, Black usually will not be able to develop the queen bishop without first giving up the center with ...dxc4, developing the bishop may leave Black's queenside weak, and the thematic break ...c5 incurs the loss of a tempo.
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Slav Defense
The Slav Defense is a chess opening that begins with the moves:
The Slav is one of the primary defenses to the Queen's Gambit. Although it was analyzed as early as 1590, it was not until the 1920s that it started to be explored extensively, although Steinitz played it in the 1886 World Championship. Many masters of Slavic descent helped develop the theory of the opening, including Semyon Alapin, Alexander Alekhine, Efim Bogoljubov, and Milan Vidmar.
The Slav received an exhaustive test during the two Alekhine–Euwe World Championship matches in 1935 and 1937. Played by 11 of the first 13 world champions, this defense was particularly favored by Max Euwe, Mikhail Botvinnik, and Vasily Smyslov. More recently, the Slav has been adopted by Viswanathan Anand, Vassily Ivanchuk, Joël Lautier, Nigel Short, and other top grandmasters, including use in six of the eight games that Vladimir Kramnik played as Black in the 2006 World Championship.
The theory of the Slav has become very extensive and well-developed. The Slav is often distinguished from the related Semi-Slav Defense by Black avoiding or delaying the move ...e6, which is instead played early on in the Semi-Slav, though transposition to the Semi-Slav from the Slav is common.
The Slav can be entered by many move orders. The possibilities include other lines with 1.d4 d5, such as 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 c6; from the Indian Defence (1.d4 Nf6), such as via 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 d5; from the Zukertort Opening (1.Nf3), such as via 1...d5 2.c4 c6 3.d4 Nf6; and others.
Black faces two major problems in the orthodox line (with 2...e6) of the Queen's Gambit Declined (QGD):
The Slav (besides the Semi-Slav) addresses these problems. Black's queen bishop is unblocked; the pawn structure remains balanced. Also, if Black later takes the gambit pawn with ...dxc4, the support provided by the pawn on c6 (and possibly ...a6) allows ...b5 which may threaten to keep the pawn, or drive away a white piece that has captured it, gaining Black a tempo for queenside expansion.
On the other hand, Black usually will not be able to develop the queen bishop without first giving up the center with ...dxc4, developing the bishop may leave Black's queenside weak, and the thematic break ...c5 incurs the loss of a tempo.