Against the Bird, Larsen, Polish and Grob: free opening course

Key ideas

• Against flank openings, take the centre with pawns. Then develop and castle quickly.
• Against the Bird, set up with ...d5, ...Nf6, ...g6 and ...Bg7. Then play ...c5 and ...Nc6.
• When a white bishop sits on b2, guard e5 and watch the g7 pawn. A knight on f6 blocks that diagonal.
• In From's Gambit, look for the queen check on h4. White must answer the gambit with Nf3.
• Against the Grob, take the g4 pawn. Guard d5 with ...c6 and develop the knight to f6 before you defend b7.

The 6 variations in the course

• Bird: 1...d5 with 3.e3: 1. f4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. e3 g6 4. b3 Bg7 5. Bb2 O-O 6. Be2 c5 … — Black meets the Bird with ...d5, ...Nf6 and ...g6. The g7 bishop fights the b2 bishop, and Black gains space with ...c5 and ...Nc6. After the trades on e5 and g7 the game is level.
• Bird: 1...d5 with 3.g3: 1. f4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. O-O O-O 6. d3 c5 … — White plays a reversed Leningrad set-up with g3 and d3. Black plays ...c5 and pushes the d-pawn to d4 to gain space. After the knight trade on e4 Black develops the bishop to f5.
• From's Gambit: 1...e5: 1. f4 e5 2. fxe5 d6 3. exd6 Bxd6 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. d4 O-O 6. Bg5 Re8 … — Black gives a pawn to open lines. After 4.Nf3 Black castles, takes the e-file with the rook and pins the f3 knight. Black has active pieces for the pawn.
• Larsen: 1.b3 e5: 1. b3 e5 2. Bb2 Nc6 3. e3 Nf6 4. Bb5 Bd6 5. Nf3 e4 6. Nd4 Nxd4 … — Black takes the centre with ...e5 and ...Nc6, then plays ...Nf6 and ...Bd6. Against Nf3 the pawn push to e4 gains space, and Black castles with an easy game.
• Polish: 1.b4 e5 2.Bb2 Bxb4: 1. b4 e5 2. Bb2 Bxb4 3. Bxe5 Nf6 4. Nf3 O-O 5. e3 d5 6. Be2 c5 … — Black takes the b4 pawn. After White takes on e5 the knight on f6 blocks the bishop's line to g7. Black castles, takes the centre with ...d5 and ...c5, and is ahead in development.
• Grob: 1.g4 d5 2.Bg2 Bxg4: 1. g4 d5 2. Bg2 Bxg4 3. c4 c6 4. cxd5 cxd5 5. Qb3 Nf6 6. Qxb7 Nbd7 … — Black takes the g4 pawn and guards d5 with ...c6. When White's queen goes to b3, Black plays ...Nf6 and gives the b7 pawn. Black develops fast and takes the centre with ...e5.

Traps you will learn (3)

• From's Gambit: 4.Nc3 Qh4+ and mate — In From's Gambit White must play 4.Nf3. After a natural move like 4.Nc3 the queen checks on h4, and the bishop mates on g3.
• Watch out: 3...Nc6 4.Bxg7 — After 3.Bxe5 the bishop looks at g7 and the h8 rook. Black must block with the knight on f6. The natural 3...Nc6 loses the rook.
• Grob: 7.Bxd5 Rb8 wins a piece — After 5...Nf6 6.Qxb7 Nbd7 White's queen is far away. If White grabs the d5 pawn with the bishop, the rook hits the queen from b8. The bishop on d5 is lost.

How the opening courses work

Each course teaches an opening in a few main variations. For every move you read why it is played, which other moves are good, and which tempting moves are mistakes and why. Each course also shows the traps of the opening: the ones you can set and the ones to avoid.

After a lesson you play the moves yourself in a drill. The lines you learn go into your review, which brings them back when you are about to forget them (spaced repetition). 30 line courses add many short lines per opening, a few new ones a day, and every named opening, more than 3,800 lines, has a lesson of its own.