GrandJDaster Repertoire
Grandmaster Repertoire 17
The Classical Slav By
Boris Avrukh
Quality Chess . q ualitychess. co. uk
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First edition 20 1 4 by Quality Chess UK Ltd Copyright© 20 14 Boris Avrukh
Grandmaster Repertoire 17-The Classical Slav
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Preface I was delighted when John Shaw and Jacob Aagaard offered me the chance to write a book advocating the Classical Slav. Usually my name is associated with the Griinfeld, but the Slav has always been part of my repertoire and I noticed to my surprise that I have not suffered a single defeat in serious games when employing this opening! I have always felt that that the Slav is a solid choice, where Black fights for the centre from the very first moves, compared with the Griinfeld, where Black gives up the centre in order to challenge it later on. I am convinced it is a clever idea to have two distinct openings in your repertoire, especially if they are conceptually different (like the Slav and the Griinfeld). From my own experience I know that l .d4 players can often be divided into two camps: members of the first group don't like to face such a forcing opening as the Griinfeld, while those in the second group struggle to show anything against solid set-ups like the Slav! Therefore it makes a lot of sense to have both types of weapon at one's disposal. The Slav is a highly popular choice at all levels, and almost all the elite players have it in their repertoires. I tried to make my choice of lines attractive for active and ambitious players (yes, the Slav can be aggressive) with many original ideas and deep analysis. As the title says, the heart of this book is the Classical Slav, which means that Black's queen's bishop is often headed for f5. However, when choosing the right move involved transposing to another opening, I have done so. So you will find a few cases where I transpose to the Meran or even the Queen's Gambit Accepted, but only when White's most theoretically critical lines have been avoided. Of course this is a repertoire book, but in a few cases I ha