Against the Réti and King's Indian Attack: free opening course

Key ideas

• Against 2.c4, keep the d5 pawn solid with ...c6 or ...e6, or grab space with ...d4.
• Develop the light-squared bishop before you play ...e6. On f5 or g4 it stays active.
• After ...d4, support the pawn with ...Nc6 and ...e5. Do not push it on to d3.
• Against the King's Indian Attack, meet the e4 push calmly. Keep the tension, or close the centre with ...d4.
• Watch the b7 pawn when your bishop leaves c8. A white queen on b3 likes to attack it.

The 6 variations in the course

• 2.c4 c6 3.e3: the bishop goes to g4: 1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 c6 3. e3 Nf6 4. Nc3 Bg4 5. h3 Bxf3 6. Qxf3 e6 … — Black protects d5 with 2...c6 and develops the bishop to g4 before playing ...e6. After the trade on f3 Black builds a solid chain from c6 to e6. Then Black castles and prepares the e5 break.
• 2.c4 c6 3.b3: the bishop goes to f5: 1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 c6 3. b3 Nf6 4. Bb2 Bf5 5. g3 e6 6. Bg2 Nbd7 … — White plays b3, Bb2 and g3 with two bishops aimed at the centre. Black puts the bishop on f5 first and then builds a solid wall with ...e6, ...Nbd7 and ...Be7. Black castles and gains space with ...h6 and ...a5.
• 2.c4 e6: the d4 push: 1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 e6 3. g3 Nf6 4. Bg2 Be7 5. O-O O-O 6. b3 c5 … — Black plays 2...e6 and develops simply with ...Nf6, ...Be7 and ...O-O. Against the double fianchetto Black plays ...c5 and ...Nc6. Then the d5 pawn moves to d4 and takes space in the centre.
• 2.c4 d4: the space grab: 1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 d4 3. e3 Nc6 4. exd4 Nxd4 5. Nxd4 Qxd4 6. Nc3 e5 … — Black pushes 2...d4 and grabs space. Against 3.e3 Black develops the knight to c6 and takes back on d4 with pieces. Black's queen and pawn on e5 give an active, equal game.
• 2.g3 c5: the big centre: 1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 c5 3. Bg2 Nf6 4. O-O Nc6 5. d3 e5 6. Nbd2 Be7 … — Against the King's Indian Attack Black builds a big centre with pawns on c5, d5 and e5. When White pushes to e4, Black closes the centre with ...d4. Then Black plays on the queenside and White on the kingside.
• 1...Nf6 2.g3: the ...Bg4 set-up: 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 d5 3. Bg2 c6 4. O-O Bg4 5. d3 Nbd7 6. Nbd2 e6 … — Black meets the King's Indian Attack with ...d5, ...c6 and ...Bg4. The bishop develops outside the pawn chain before ...e6. When White pushes to e4, Black stays calm, castles and keeps the pin on the f3 knight.

Traps you will learn (2)

• 2...d4 3.e3 d3? 4.Qb3: the lost pawn — After 2...d4 3.e3 the push 3...d3 looks bold. But the pawn on d3 has no support, and 4.Qb3 also attacks b7. Black loses a pawn and soon another one.
• 3...c5 4.exd4 cxd4 5.Nxd4?? Qxd4: the poisoned pawn — After 2...d4 3.e3 c5 4.exd4 cxd4 the d4 pawn looks free. But Black's queen guards it along the open d-file. If the knight takes, Black's queen takes the knight.

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.