Slav Defence

Move White Black

1 d4 d5
2 c4 c6

The Slav Defence is a reply to the Queen's Gambit which is popular amongst
grandmasters and all other standards of players. It is similar to the main line of the
Queen's Gambit Declined but black plays 2....c6, instead of 2....e6. After black plays c6
instead of e6, the black queen side bishop isn't blocked in like it is if black plays 2....e6.
This opening can lead to a variation called the Cambridge Springs Defence which can be
very good for black if white doesn't realise what black is planning. This happens quite
often against beginner and intermediate players, however a good player will nearly
always know what's coming and will not fall for the trap.

I have been playing the Slav Defence for three years now and have had reasonable
success with it, and sometimes have found myself ahead very early on in the game when
the Cambridge Springs Variation has been played.

The Slav Defence tends to lead to quite an equal middle and endgame, possibly with a
very small advantage to white as black can get a little cramped early on in the middle
game.

On move 3, it is now normal for white to play 3. Nf3 although 3. Nc3 is also playable.
Black now normally plays 3....Nf6. If black was to play dc to take the pawn then white is
able to win back the pawn by playing 3. Nf3/Nc3 dxc4; 4. e3 b5; 5. a4. If white played
3. Nf3 then they should now play 4. Nc3 or if they played 3. Nc3 then they should now
play Nf3. After 3. Nf3 Nf6; 4. Nc3, black now has three main possibilities here which
are:-

4....dxc4 (Main-Line)

This is the main line of the Slav Defence although it is not my favourite. White now
needs to recapture the pawn and the best way to do this is to play 5. a4. The main line of
the Slav Defence is 5. a4 Bf5; 6. e3 e6; 7. Bxc4 Bb4; 8. O-O O-O; 9. Nh4 Bg4; 10.
f3 Nd5 11. fxg4 Qxh4; 12.e4 Nxc3; 13. bxc3 Bxc3; 14. Ra3 Bb4; 15. Rh3 Qd8;
Black is now a pawn up but white has a better position.

4....Bf5

This is the worst of these three possibilities. White should now play 5. cxd5 cxd5; 6.
Qb3. This leaves white in the better position.

4....e6 (Semi-Slav Variation)

This is my favourite of the three variations. Black delays playing dxc4 for a few moves
and instead plays 4....e6 to defend the d5 pawn with another pawn and to allow the
kingside bishop to be developed. White has two main possibilities here which are 5. e3
and 5. Bg5. These are analysed below.

5. e3

This is probably white's better move. It protects the c4 pawn with the bishop and also
protects the d4 pawn with another pawn. The queen side bishop is blocked in a bit but
this isn't too much of a problem for white. A game would now normally continue
5....Nbd7; 6. Bd3 dxc4; 7. Bxc4 b5; 8. Bd3. This is known as the Meran Variation.
After 8. Bd3, there are three main possible continuations which are:-

8....a6; 9. e4 c5; 10. e5 cxd4; 11. Nxb5 axb5; 12. exf6 Qb6; 13. fxg7 Bxg7;

8....b4; 9. Ne4 Nxe4; 10. Bxe4 Bb7; 11. Qa4 Qb6; 12. Nd2.

8....Bb7; 9. e4 b4; 10. Na4 c5; 11. e5 Nd5; 12. O-O cxd4; 13. Re1 Be7; 14. Nxd4.

These variations all lead to quite equal positions, maybe with a slight advantage for
white. 8....a6 is the variation I play.

5. Bg5

Black now has a few options which are:-

5....h6, black attempts to chase away the white bishop. White is better off taking the
knight by playing 6. Bxf6. After 6....Qxf6; 7. Qb3 is good for white so this is probably
not black's best move.

5....Be7, black this time decides that recapturing with the bishop is better than with the
queen so plays 5....Be7. Black is also looking to play h6 to chase away the white bishop,
this time though after Bxf6, black recaptures with the bishop which is probably better
than with the queen.

5....dxc4, this is a very complicated variation known as the Anti-Meran Gambit. The
game usually continues 6. e4 b5; 7. e5 h6; 8. Bh4 g5; 9. Nxg5 hxg5; 10. Bxg5 Nbd7;
11. g3 Bb7; 12. Bg2. Black is now better off not castling at all or castling queen side.

5. Nbd7, this is the Cambridge Springs Variation which is my favourite. There is a trap in
this variation which can leave black a piece up if white doesn't realise what is coming.
Black this time protects the f6 knight with the other knight and also with black having
already moved the c pawn, black has the option to play Qa5 which leads to the trap. The
game will usually continue 6. e3 Qa5;
What white should now play is either 7. Qc2 or 7. Nd2, however some players will play
7. Bd3 which puts white into the trap, now black is guaranteed to go ahead after
7....dxc4; 8. Bxc4 Ne4; The reason for this is that black has a double threat on the
bishop on g5 and on the knight on c3. A few players don't notice the double threat on the
bishop on g5 and allow black to take it on the next move. When you get to this position
you often find that your opponent will use up a lot of their time going through every
possible combination that will leave them in the best position.

White's best move now is 9. Bf4, which allows black to play 9....Nxc3; 10. bxc3
Qxc3+; 11. Nd2. This will still leave white a pawn down though. There are many similar
variations that you might come across and as black you often also have the option to play
Bb4 as well.

Click on the link below for some examples of these and for some games in which other
variations were played. There are also a lot of grandmaster games. At the moment there
are 40 example games