Chess: Slav Defense

By: Alex Faull

Queen's Gambit, common
and complicated.

The queen-pawn opening is one of the most common openings in chess, and has many kinds of strategies that stem from it. One of the most common strategies for white is the Queen's Gambit, which can be seen in the image to the right. Now. while Black might be tempted to capture White's c4-pawn, it is much better to hold the center and defend the d5-pawn. One of the many defenses of the d5-pawn is known as the Slav Defense.

Slav Defense: Black responds
to the Queen's Gambit by
using the c-pawn to defend.

The Slav Defense (image on the left) comes from a very simple move: moving the c7-pawn to c6. A solid defense, since protects the d5-pawn. After this move is made, White has two options: trade pawns by capturing the d5-pawn with the c4-pawn, or defending his own pawns. There isn't any huge downsides to trading pawns, but by trading pawns Black is given the opportunity to move the b8 knight to c6, threatening to take White's d4-pawn.

For defending, Yasser Seirawan shows a few options White in his book. Winning Chess: Openings. According to Seirawan, "The preferred way to meet the Slav Defense is to protect the c4 and d4-pawns." The method of defending both pieces presented by Seirawan is effective as well as simple. It's a single move in fact. By moving the e2-pawn to e3, White defends both pieces. The e3-pawn is defending the d4-pawn, while the f1-bishop defends the c4-pawn. With one move White has secured both pawns and his foothold in the center, making it incredibly difficult for black to push White out of the center, especially since Black's b8-knight can't move to its preferred c6 spot.

Response to Slav Defense suggested by Seirawan. The e3-pawn defends the d4-pawn, and the f1-bishop defends the c4-pawn. This holds the center position, and allows the c4-pawn to safely threaten the d5-pawn.

I tried Seirawan's way of dealing with the Slav Defense against a chess AI, and while I still lost, I liked the strategy quite a bit, since my defense was only broken because of a handful of dumb mistakes. If I had played better, I could've held the center of the board for much longer.

There are many responses to the Slav Defense, either revolved around weakening Black's hold the center through trades, or strengthening White's own hold on the center. Your choice of response is determined by how you answer the following question: Is is better to fortify your own center pieces, or remove your opponents center pieces?

Work Cited:

Seirawan, Yasser. Winning Chess Openings. Gloucester Publishers Ltd, 2003.