Playing 1.d4 The Indian Defences

GM Schandorff kompletterer sin hvitguide for d4-spillere med en bok som dekker alt annet enn 1 d4 d5, altså litt mer enn boktittelen sier. Dette er gjennomgående klassiske varianter med sentrumskontroll fra start.

Blant de viktige variantvalgene i denne boka nevner vi:

• Nimzo-indisk: 1 d4 Sf6 2 c4 e6 3 Sc3 Lb4 4 e3
• Kongeindisk: 1 d4 Sf6 2 c4 g6 3 Sc3 Lg7 4 e4 d6 5 f3
• Grünfeld-indisk: 1 d4 Sf6 2 c4 g6 3 Sc3 d5 4 Sf3 Lg7 5 Db3
• Moderne Benoni: 1 d4 Sf6 2 c4 c5 3 d5 e6 4 Sc3 exd5 5 cxd5 d6 6 e4 g6 7 Sge2!?(Schandorff !)
• Benko-gambit: 1 d4 Sf6 2 c4 c5 3 d5 b5 4 cxb5 a6 5 f3
• Gammelindisk: 1 d4 Sf6 2 c4 d6 3 Sc3 Sbd7 4 e4 e5 5 d5
• Hollandsk: 1 d4 f5 2 Lg5
• Tango: 1 d4 Sf6 2 c4 Sc6 3 Sc3 e5 4 d5 Se7 5 Sf3 Sg6 6 h4

FORFATTERENS FORORD:

This is the second book of a two-volume repertoire for White with 1.d4. The first volume offered an ambitious repertoire against 1...d5. Now I complete the repertoire by covering everything else! The major openings covered are the Indian defences, in particular the Nimzo-Indian, King’s Indian and Grünfeld Defences.

As in the first book, the repertoire is based entirely on big mainlines, which guarantees its reliability and strength. Firstly, you cannot expect to get anything against well-respected openings by trying a little sideline or just by playing safe. The main lines, on the other hand, have not become main lines by chance. They have slowly but surely evolved and proved their strength over the years, so by choosing main lines you gain reliable weapons. Secondly, the main lines are sharp and put the maximum pressure on the opponent, both theoretically and in practice. This corresponds perfectly with the philosophy behind this work, which is that White should strive for the initiative and show that moving first matters. Developing the pieces fluidly to active squares and trying to take the centre with pawns to seize space – these are key elements in the various White set-ups presented here.

In the first volume the challenge in meeting 1...d5 was often to build up a space advantage by achieving e2-e4. In this volume, playing e2-e4 is usually much easier since Black has declined to occupy the centre with a pawn. Black’s general plan is to create counterplay against White’s space advantage. Thus the challenge in this book is to keep control and not let Black seize the initiative. I will explain the details later, but in general I have chosen the lines in my repertoire so that White will be the one attacking – I don’t like using the white pieces to grab a gambit pawn and then defend desperately for the next 30 moves.

I wish to repeat what I said in the first book. Playing White is like serving in tennis – with a good serve you either win directly or, if the opponent manages to return the ball, at least you get the chance to take the initiative and dictate the rest of the duel. In this book I offer you an excellent first serve. But every tennis player knows that it is important to have a decent second serve as well. This may also be true in chess, especially in this computer age, so having a safe alternative is a good idea. Thus, throughout the book I offer hints of where you could devote some of your further investigations.

I am confident this repertoire will be an effective weapon now and for years to come. I hope it brings you many aces!

Lars Schandorff Denmark, August 2012