Réti Opening - Symmetrical Defense (2...g6)
Black meets your fianchetto with ...g6, building a King's Indian setup with ...d6, ...Nbd7, and ...e5. You answer with d4, c4, Nc3, and e4, then play h3 and Re1, planning f3 and Be3. Watch for ...Nc5, which threatens to win your e4 pawn. Meet ...d5 with cxd5, aiming to recapture on d5.
Let's learn the Symmetrical Defense! Black mirrors our setup with a kingside fianchetto. We fianchetto our own bishop to g2 and castle kingside for safety. Let's begin with 1.Nf3.
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Scroll the moves: the board follows.
Key lines
The free lines of this chapter, each one trainable move by move.
- Main Line
… 8... exd4 9. Nxd4 Re8 10. h3 Nc5 11. Re1
- 2...d5
… 2. g3 d5 3. Bg2 c6 4. O-O Bg4 5. h3 Bh5 6. c4
- 2...d5
… 2. g3 d5 3. Bg2 c6 4. O-O Bf5 5. d3 e6 6. Nh4
- 2...d5
… 2. g3 d5 3. Bg2 c5 4. O-O g6 5. c4
- 2...d5
… 2. g3 d5 3. Bg2 c5 4. O-O Nc6 5. d4 e6
- 2...d5
… 2. g3 d5 3. Bg2 e6
- 2...c5
… 2. g3 c5 3. Bg2 Nc6 4. O-O e5 5. e4
- 2...c5
… 2. g3 c5 3. Bg2 Nc6 4. O-O g6 5. c4
- 5...d5
… 5. d4 d5 6. c4 dxc4 7. Na3 c3 8. bxc3 c5 9. Bb2 Nc6 10. Re1 cxd4 11. cxd4 Ne4 12. Qc2
- 5...d5
… 5. d4 d5 6. c4 c6 7. cxd5 cxd5 8. Nc3 Nc6 9. Ne5 e6 10. Nxc6 bxc6 11. Bf4
- 6...Nc6
… 6. c4 Nc6 7. Nc3 a6 8. b3 Rb8 9. d5 Na5 10. Bg5 c5 11. dxc6 Nxc6 12. Qd2
- 6...Nc6
… 6. c4 Nc6 7. Nc3 e5 8. dxe5 dxe5 9. Bg5 Be6 10. Qa4
- 6...c6
… 6. c4 c6 7. Nc3 Nbd7 8. e4
- 7...c5
… 7. Nc3 c5 8. b3
Other chapters
1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 d4 3. e3 c5 4. exd4 cxd4 5. b4 Bg4 6. h3 Bh5 7. Bb2
2...d4 and 2...e6 Lines (after 1...d5 2.c4)
Black meets 2.c4 with 2...d4, then pins your knight with 5...Bg4. Chase the bishop with 6.h3 Bh5, play 7.Bb2, then break the pin with g4 and grab the pawn on d4 with Nxd4. After Bg2, you target Black's undefended b7 pawn. Aim for a slightly better position with a queenside pawn majority.
11 lines1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Qa4+ Nc6 4. Nc3 Nf6 5. e3 Bd7 6. Bxc4 e6 7. Qc2
Réti Accepted and Gurevich System (after 1...d5 2.c4)
Black grabs your c-pawn with 2...dxc4, entering the Réti Accepted. Answer with Qa4+, Nc3, e3, and Bxc4, then castle and jump a knight to b5. Watch out: after 7.Qb3?, Black's ...Na5 wins a bishop. You're aiming for a position with the half-open c-file, while Black holds a queenside pawn majority.
15 lines1. Nf3 c5 2. g3 Nc6 3. Bg2 g6 4. O-O Bg7 5. c4 Nf6 6. d4 cxd4 7. Nxd4 O-O 8. Nc3 Nxd4 9. Qxd4 d6 10. Qd3
Sicilian Invitation and Chigorin Variation (1...c5, 1...Nc6)
Black meets 1.Nf3 c5 with a fianchetto setup, playing ...Nc6, ...g6 and ...Bg7. You fianchetto too with g3, Bg2 and O-O, then strike with d4 and recapture Nxd4. After trades on d4 you centralize with Qxd4, then settle the queen on d3, ready to develop with Bg5. Aim for a position where your queenside pawn majority gives you long-term chances.
15 lines1. Nf3 e6 2. g3 d5 3. Bg2 Nf6 4. O-O Be7 5. c4 O-O 6. b3 b6 7. Bb2 Bb7 8. e3 c5 9. Nc3
Other 1st moves (1...e6, 1...d6, 1...c6, 1...g6, 1...b6, 1...e5, 1...f5)
Black meets 1.Nf3 with other first moves like 1...e6, 1...g6, or 1...b6. Fianchetto with g3 and Bg2, castle, then expand with c4 and b3. Against 1...e6 lines, after 9.Nc3 aim to recapture on c4, play Qe2 and d3, then bring a rook to d1. You get a safe, flexible setup with central control and smooth development.
17 lines
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