Against the Réti

• At a glance

  Against the Réti

  455 games, 56%: four points below your overall score. Your Bh3 system holds up; it's 1…g5, 2.c4 and 2…d4 that cost you.

  18 cards, one idea each. Swipe to move on.

• The big idea

  Against 1.Nf3, White gives you nothing to attack: no central pawn, no stated plan.

• The big idea

  Your usual answer is a clear contract: g6, Bg7, d6, then Bd7, Qc8 and Bh3 to trade off the g2 bishop, the only defender of White's kingside castle, before you launch the h-pawn.

• The big idea

  You pay in time — three bishop and queen moves for a single trade — and you buy a white king without its fianchetto.

• The big idea

  Over 455 games, you score 56%, against 60% across all openings and 57.6% with Black. The main system isn't the problem: 1.Nf3 g6 2.g3 gives 59% over 78 games.

• The big idea

  The points leak elsewhere: 1…g5, played 63 times for 55% and 11.3 points of win expectancy thrown away on move one; 2.c4 against your g6 (11 games, 27%); and 1…d5 2.c4 d4 (13 games, 35%).

• The big idea

  This course keeps your identity. We don't replace Bh3 and h5: we play them in the right order.

• The big idea

  Trade first, push second; pin the Nf3 before pushing h4; and when White plays c4 without castling, take the d4 square before thinking about the king.

• Principle

  Trade first, push second

  Your games: 19× · 68% of points

  The Bh3 is there to remove the g2 bishop. After 7.Nc3, 7…Bxg2 8.Kxg2 brings the white king onto the diagonal and onto the h-pawn's file. Pushing 7…h5 before the trade lets White take on h3 and chase your queen.

• Principle

  The Nf3 guards h4: pin it before you push

  When White declines the trade with Bh1, h4 is defended by the Nf3. 8…Bg4 pins it to the d1 queen, and 9…h4 becomes free: Nxh4 would lose the queen.

• Principle

  No white castling, no target for Bh3

  Against 2.c4 and 3.Nc3, White has neither castled nor fianchettoed. Your attacking plan has nothing to aim at: take the d4 square first with 3…c5.

• Principle

  An advanced pawn on d4 gets supported, not traded

  Your games: 4× · 25% of points

  After 1…d5 2.c4 d4 3.e3, 3…Nc6 or 3…c5 hold the square. 3…dxe3 or 3…e5 hand the center back to White.

• Imbalance

  Your light-squared bishop against his fianchetto

  Your games: 20× · 65% of points

  Your whole system revolves around the Bh3xg2 trade. Without it, the white king can't be attacked; with it, the h-pawn has a target.

• Imbalance

  Time against structure

  Your games: 19× · 68% of points

  Bd7, Qc8, Bh3: three moves for one trade. White uses them to grab the center with c4, Nc3 and e4. In return for that time, you need to get the king onto g2.

• Imbalance

  Black's d4 pawn against White's c4 pawn

  Your games: 13× · 35% of points

  After 1…d5 2.c4 d4, you're playing a reversed Benoni a tempo down. The d4 pawn bothers White as long as it's supported; if it falls, you have no center left.

• The trade-off

  What you gain

  • A plan you know by heart: g6, Bg7, d6, Bd7, Qc8, Bh3 — and 59% over 78 games in the 2.g3 line.
  • The 1.Nf3 player wants a slow game; your h-pawn forces a race on him.
  • Against 1.b3, 1…d5 2.Bb2 Bg4 3.Nf3 Bxf3 is a simple weapon: 10 games, 90%.
• The trade-off

  What you give up

  • Three tempi for a single bishop trade: White takes the center in the meantime.
  • The plan has no target when White doesn't castle quickly (2.c4, 3.Nc3).
  • 1…g5 hands White a 1.4-pawn engine edge from the very first move.
  • Pushing h4 without preparation loses a pawn when the Nf3 guards the square.
• That's all

  Your turn

  These ideas only stick once you play the moves. The chapters make you find the right ones.

  Start chapter 1

Card 1 of 18: Against the Réti

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