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Repertoire for Black - The English Defense #8

IM John Watson, with his video course, helps us build a strong and efficient repertoire of openings, for White and for Black. In the previous few lectures, John showed us how to react to White's first move 1.e4 and 1.d4. In this new series our IM shows us how to play against 1.c4. The first opening Watson teaches us is the fianchetto system 1.c4 b6 2. d4 Bb7, which usually transposes to the classic English Defense (1.c4 b6 2. d4 e6), but avoids certain difficult-to-meet lines. By delaying or skipping ...Nf6, Black keeps his strategy flexible, and in most cases the move ...f5 is key to controlling the central light squares and creating counterplay. The result is a dynamic and challenging system which can easily lead to Black seizing the initiative. Don't miss your chance to add another great piece of opening theory to your repertoire!

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