Chess Opening Theory/1. d4/1...d5/2. c4/2...c6/3. Nf3
Slav Defence | |
---|---|
Position in Forsyth-Edwards Notation (FEN) | |
Moves: 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 |
Slav Defence
[edit | edit source]3.Nf3
[edit | edit source]With the most common move in the Slav, 3.Nf3, White develops their knight and exerts more control over the e5-square. Similar to 3.Nc3, black should avoid 3...Bf5 as 4. cxd5 cxd5 5. Qb3 effectively wins a pawn. However, unlike 3.Nc3, 3...dxc4 should also be avoided as white is better after 4. e3 and 5. a4 since white will win back the pawn as the Knight on f3 is not vulnerable to a b5-b4 pawn push. As such, black only has 2 main responses.
3...Nf6 is Black's by far Black's most common reply, and play from white typically transposes into a semi-slav with 4. Nc3, although some unique lines exist such as 4. e3 ("Slow Slav") where Nc3 is delayed or not played at all.
3...e6 is occasionally seen, and play typically transposes back to 3...Nf6 variations, with some exceptions.
3...a6 is also a solid option for black, albeit rarely seen. Play typically transposes to the main line of the Chebanenko variation of the slav, although white can opt for a catalan-style setup with 4. g3 instead.
Theory table
[edit | edit source].
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3
3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | Eval | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Semi-Slav Defence | ... e6 |
Nc3 Nf6 |
e3 Nbd7 |
Bd3 dxc4 |
Bxc4 b5 |
∞ |
... Nf6 |
Nc3 e6 |
See above line | ||||
Slav Accepted | ... ... |
... dxc4 |
a4 Bf5 |
e3 e6 |
Bxc4 Bb4 |
+/= |
... dxc4 |
e3 b5 |
a4 e6 |
axb5 cxb5 |
b3 Bb4+ |
+/− | |
... Bf5 |
cxd5 cxd5 |
Qb3 Nc6 |
e4 dxe4 |
Ne5 Nxe5 |
+/− | |
Slav, Chebanenko | ... a6 |
Nc3 Nf6 |
c5 Nbd7 |
Bf4 Nh5 |
Bd2 Nhf6 |
+/= |
References
[edit | edit source]- Kasparov, Garry, & Keene, Raymond 1989 Batsford chess openings 2. ISBN 0-8050-3409-9.