Chess Openings- Slav Defense (Queens Gambit Declined) 

Thanks for the kind words. I know it's not much but I do appreciate that people take time to thank me.

After 11 years I would like to say thanks

after 10 years i would like to say thnx

I think this is one of the easiest ways for a beginner like me to get the ideas behind certain openings. From here, one may continue on with other alternations, but the gist is already clear to him/her from your videos. Thank you!

Kevin you are the best teacher! Perfect pace to follow, and just enough info. Great videos!

I play the queens gambit as white, so this video not only showed me great opening lines for black against it, but more depth to my white opening, Ty

A very good introduction to the slav defense! I learned a couple of things I wasn't aware of.

thanks!

Great video thanks for putting in this analysis on the Slav I just started learning it lots of fun cheers

@Cyrax19880 i'm a HUGE HUGE HUGE fan of the smith-morra and it has become my go to move against the sicilian. It fits my style of play perfectly which is very aggressive. Attacking chess to me is what makes chess fun.

@VDRP since it's a defense, I reversed to give you the point of view from black.

Thanks for posting! Keep up the good work!

Could you cover the Slav Defense: Modern, Bishop's Game please?

this dude is exactly what i need in a teacher

Any chance you can elaborate a little further around 2:27 on the Slav gambit if white does indeed move e4? I didn't quite follow or understand how the game should evolve from there or if you can point me in the direction of any reading around it, would be much appreciated.

Thank you so much for taking ur time and helping others

Thanks for that. Some sound advice there. I have really been struggling against the Queen's Gambit Declined.

Thanks Kevin!! At the end what of black plays Qd7, what are the weaknesses behind this move?

a lot of appreciation for show casing this video ...thanks

Just getting started on chess , I really like playing Queens gambit and have learned more about it in this video. Thanks

Nice overview of this opening, good coverage of 'little' distinctions between White playing Nc3 and e3 as those are important for understanding Black's goals (i.e. getting Bc8 out)

Good video Kevin.Keep it up!

I thought on 9:20 you are supposed to play cxd5 first then Qb3 b/c then there is dxc4?

is it not a good move to play Nf6 instead of c6

At 8:23 how come you don’t move the black bishop to b1 to take out the knight, was this an oversight or am I missing something?

Loved this video (like all of yours, Kevin). I'd really like to see a part-2 to this video showing the differing strategies for black and white when white responds to c4 with the e4 pawn. I'd like to see your thoughts on what to do after black moves the pawn to b5 and what happens if black does something else instead. Thanks!

exelent video it gave me inspiration..viva o Slav...keep them coming

Ah I see what you mean. I'm only a 1600 player slowly getting better, as I'm getting better and playing better players I'm seeing how little subtle things like this can add up to make a big difference in the game. Thanks for your reply.

1:53 why do you take d:c4 after the knight not before?

9:32 how about Qd8-b6 ???

2:19 If white does a4 after that, the best response for black would be bd7?

What we will play if oppenent played Qb3, we should take back bishop??

I've been watching your tutorials for a few weeks now. Did you drink a lot of coffee before you did this one? LOL. Just teasing. I very much appreciate your sharing these. Very helpful and you've really got me back into playing Chess. Thank you!

I need to learn this slav defence so i can you for the tournament

At 9:33, is it also possible to play Qh4? (pinning the pawn on c6, which allows a capture d takes c6)

Why 3.Nf3? Cant 3.Nc3 be played? Or its possible too?

I eenjoy all of your videos. Very well explained. What program do you use to show the arrows so you can see the square the piece came from. thanks dave

Beautiful.

Might be a stupid question, but at 4:00, why doesn't the white bishop just take the c4 pawn?

Very helpful thanks!

@UGB6WX I suppose you could just start chasing their queen with Be6 instead of b4

What to do if whites 4th move is bg5??

6:40 in that variation what if white plays Bd2 then moves his knight. (blacks dark squared bishop is stronger so trading off wouldnt be a good idea. plus moving the bishop away would lose tempo.)

Does anyone have an opinion on Black's third move being Pawn to F6 rather than matching White knight for knight as shown in this video? I like harassing opposing knights this way, but NONE of the videos show how to handle this situation. Thoughts?

Another idea after Nh4 is to bring the bishop back to g6 so if the Knight takes you can open up the h file for your rook and look to play things like Qa5 and castle Queens side

At 9:30, why can't black just play Qd7 rather than Bc8?

@UGB6WX And if Ne5 next, dxc4, Qxc4, b4? Or if Nxd7 instead of Qxc4, c4xb5. Maybe it'll get ugly with Nxf8, but that bishop hasn't even moved yet. White sacrificed an active knight for an untouched bishop, which could result in black getting some early development for his h8 Rook. Just my thoughts

12 years later still good

What if he plays knight to c3 first ?

What happen if white play Bf4 before e3?

After 11 years I would like to say thanks!

after Qb3, why not b6 for the black pawn?

Kevin is in Chess.com and in my friend list .he is rated somewhere around 1900-2000.I have learnt a lot from his videos.

If white pushes to e4 then does bishop take (moving from f5 to e4), white's knight takes, black takes with knight?

@MrPropapanda Late reaction, but in that case you block of your knights best position at b8

about that end position awkward move but i dont see anything wrong with pawn to b6? and for the sake of my own stupidity someone please correct me if im wrong

This is the best. I got my black pawn to B4 and it was so game over.

What if at 8:33 bishop b5 check, whats the best way to block bearing an impending knight e5

Wow love this breakdown

What to play if white takes the pawn in the opening

good tip if you don't like playing against the Queems gambit then playing c6 before d5 can sometimes transform the slav defense into a Caro kan defense:) move order can change your opponent's gameplan right after move 1! and if he sticks to QG then simply play slav

Thanks, neat tutorial.

After 12 years I'd like to say thank you! 😁

0:46 Stockfish 9 says that c6 is the second best move for black. The best move is e6.

this is so good, thanks mate

What if the pond doesn't eat your pon at d5 but moved forward to c5

4:10 why white cannot play e4?

Sorry, I'm not familiar with the abreviation "np"?

Great video!

what's wrong with Qd7 in the final scene? Qd7 watches b7 square and also defends d5. If Ne5 then dxc4 exchanging queens. If Bg5, then Ne4 exchanging knights.

In the last variation that is showed in the video (when white plays Qb3), I think black can still have a great game if after that move he responses with Qd7, because he can still defend the pawn on d5 and add protection to his b7 pawn

Why doesn’t black capture the c4 pawn with his D5 pawn on his second move? He can then protect that D5 pawn (now C4) on his very next move by moving his B7 pawn up two squares. 🤷‍♂️

3:25 is the only reason black goes ...Bf5 instead of ...Be6 because it blocks the pawn? I see some players I play go Be6.

I know this is way after the publishing of this video, but what about the scenario at the end? 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bf5 5.Qb3 Qb6 Black doesn't lose a tempo and retains material, correct?

so if 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 u play 3.Nc3 anf if black plays 2.c6 the slav- u bring ur f3 Knight first into the mix!?

Qb6 is positional poison, just say after trade(white doesnt have to, doubling b pawn doesnt seem as bad for white since it naturally protects the c pawn), then double b pawn with no c pawn? that's some late game suffering here.

i really really like it!!!

thanks for the video but 6:38 , not a good idea to castle after knight threatens to take bishop. I had a bad intuition because the queen can come out and the only way to defend your doubled pawn is with G7 which makes white's dark square bishop a potential threat. I followed this intuition and ran it through my engine at depth 18 it gives: Bg4 Qb3, a5 f3, Bh5 Bd3 with a slight edge to black at -0.08. While if you let him take the bishop its clearly +0.32, losing your edge.

At 9:13 when you moved the white queen to b3 attacking the b7 and adding an attack to d5. The d5 pawn is protected by a pawn a knight and the queen. You said black would be forced to move the bishop back to protect the b7 pawn, couldn't black just move his queen to d7, developing his queen while protecting both the b7 and d5 pawns. That wouldn't lose any tempo would it?

8.16 I have always been told that in this position you should dxc before playing the bishop. Two reasons - 1 when white re-captures with bishop then he wastes a tempo if black plays b5. 2 prevents white playing Qb3 - which can turn out to be quite nasty for black.

@UGB6WX O wow nvm I just noticed a mate from dxc4, Qxc4, threatening Qxf7#

interestingly depth 19 gives -0.04 Bg6 Qb3 Qb6 Nxg6 hxg6 with the potential to castle queenside and an open file for your rook to start a kingside attack

Guys which do you recommend: Slav or Queens Gambit Declined? Do they differ much? Which gives a better chance of winning?

It's curious the main line for Black is to capture dxc4, when the Slav is playing 2...c6 to defend d5. If I'm going to take dxc4 anyway, why bother playing c6 blocking my knight? I think that's something learned to be good in practice, which theory cannot explain, just like the Sicilian by White playing d4 allowing cxd4 just like Black planned. It's just good in practice, we don't know why.

Make a video on Baltic defense

Very nice, I like

really was wondering when slavs gonna go on thechesswebsite:P

wait, why does black take on c4? I just dont understand.

Thanks a lot! Great video and now I'm a sub. Hope to see more from you! :D))

6:50 Bd3 attacking this "great pawn" and know?!

At 9:12 the main line is actually for white to take on d5 first, and then to play Qb3. This means black can't play Qd7 but either has to play his bishop back, push b7 or lose the pawn. To be honest, Bf5 is not a good move anyway. That said, the video is pretty informative. Good job.

thanx ur the best

9:49, what about queen to d7?

thanks alot you are so good player and actually it was so interesting watching your videos whether it is analysing or solving or ......... and i think that your videos are the best chess videos on internet even better than kasparov 's and other GMs please keep it on iam so thankful for you and one from alot of fans of your videos

I am studying 1... c6 as a reply to 1.c4, this vid was useful, thanks

so good

9:15 Qd7?

Thanks

Thx

Thanks!