There are two main approaches to learning an opening. The first is to study the main lines – for example, as White, the Open Sicilian, the King’s Indian Classical, the Ruy Lopez. All serious chess authors agree that this is the best way to develop as a player and improve your results. Mainline theory is mainline for a reason – it poses the most problems for your opponent. Studying these lines exposes you to complex strategical and tactical ideas and broadens your chess education.
The downside (and it is a big downside) is that it takes a lot of time and effort. You have to work hard and memorise tons of theory. Many chess players below master level just don’t have the resources for this. Hence the second approach, which is to play a universal system against everything. Examples for White include the London System, the Colle / Zukertort, the Trompowski. This is quite a narrow way to play the opening, but these lines are less theoretical and the ideas and plans are easy to learn. Also, if you play the same thing all the time, you get a feel for the resulting positions and this should also improve your results. It’s not very good for your chess development long-term, though, and the lines are less critical so you may not get anywhere against a well-prepared opponent.
Which brings us to the book review in today’s post. Keep It Simple 1.d4, by the German IM Christof Sielicki, published by New In Chess in 2019. Sielicki is perhaps better-known for his courses on Chessable and in fact this book was first developed as an online Chessable course. Sielicki is a very good teacher of the opening. He explains the ideas and plans very clearly, with particular attention to the significance of different move orders. The theory doesn’t matter so much – you can play slightly different moves but you have a basic idea of what you’re doing and you should reach a decent middlegame position. And that’s the main thing you want from the opening.
The theme of Keep It Simple 1.d4 is a White repertoire based on the moves 1.d4, 2.Nf3, 3.g3 against almost everything. White fianchettoes the bishop and castles kingside before deciding on the best deployment of his pawns and pieces. This is a very solid system. It’s hard for Black to develop active counterplay and you are very unlikely to go down to a kingside mating attack (I hate it when that happens to me). As the blurb points out, the repertoire is easy to understand and play, and requires very little maintenance.
So this book is nearer to the second approach to learning the opening than the first. But there is one important difference. In most of the universal systems, White plays d4 but not c4, aiming to keep the centre closed and develop a kingside attack. In contrast, Sielicki recognises the value of following up with c4 to attack the centre. Only in his repertoire, c4 is delayed until after completing kingside development. This has the advantage of cutting out a number of Black’s options, for example the Queen’s Gambit Accepted, or the anti-Catalan or Semi-Slav lines based on …dxc4, or the Nimzo-Indian, or offbeat lines like the Albin Counter-Gambit.
Sielicki particularly likes c4 when Black has already committed to a defence based on …d5. The repertoire often transposes to a mainline White system after c4, for example the Catalan against QGD set-ups. In my view these are the best parts of the book. You get to play a proper line as White with less theory than usual, on the basis of a clear explanation by Sielicki of what you’re trying to do. It’s a much easier way to learn the Catalan system than diving into the deep end with Avrukh’s monumental Catalan-based series on 1.d4.
I find Sielicki’s repertoire less effective against Indian-type set-ups such as the King’s Indian and the Grunfeld. Against the King’s Indian he recommends a sideline based on a queenside fianchetto (1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 0-0 5.0-0 d6 6.b3 – the Przepiorka Variation). This leads to interesting play. White tends to do well against responses involving …e5, less well against …c5 opening the long black diagonal. But it’s not the most threatening continuation. White is more likely to secure an advantage by transposing into the Fianchetto Variation against the King’s Indian with 6.c4. Against this positional approach it’s harder for Black to develop typical kingside counterplay. To give Sielicki credit, he does point out on several occasions that White has the option to extend the repertoire into more ambitious areas if time permits.
The repertoire in Keep It Simple 1.d4 is a good choice against less experienced players. They may know the theory quite well against mainline systems, for example playing the Dragon against an Open Sicilian, but they’re often less well-prepared against the systems Sielicki recommends which require you just to play chess. Here’s an example from a game Barking played as White soon after working through the book.
White: Rodney Barking (2058), Black: Craig Fothergill (1839). Surrey League 2021.
A49: King’s Indian, Fianchetto (without c4).
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 O-O 5.O-O d6 6.b3
I have now moved on to systems with c4.
6…Nc6 7.Bb2 d5?!
This can’t be right. Black is now playing a Grunfeld set-up a move down. I decided it was time to switch to mainline systems.
8.c4 e6
Passive. Where is Black’s counterplay coming from? White’s plan now is Nbd2, Re1, e4 with the initiative.
9.Nbd2 a5 10.a3 Rb8 11.Rc1 Ne7 12.Ne5 b5
The latest in a series of anti-positional moves.
13.cxb5 Rxb5 14.a4 Rb6 15.Rc5
Going after the weak pawn on a5.
15…Nd7 16.Nxd7 Qxd7
17.Rxa5
But this is too hasty. I overlooked that my d-pawn drops in two moves’ time. Instead I should play 17.e3 to shore up the centre. Black can hold the a5 pawn with 17…Nc6 but after 18.Qc2 his queenside comes under a lot of pressure.
17…Nc6 18.Rc5 Nxd4 19.Ba3 Nxe2+ 20.Qxe2 Ba6 21.Qd1 Bxf1 22.Bxf1
Black has given up a knight and bishop for a rook and pawn. This doesn’t work out well as White’s minor pieces become strong.
22…Rfb8 23.Qc2 Be5 24.a5 R6b7 25.a6 Ra7 26.Rc6 Rb6 27.Rxb6 cxb6 28.Qd3 Qc6 29.b4 Qc8 30.b5
After this Black is positionally lost.
30…Rc7 31.Bb4 Rc1 32.Qe3
With a double attack on the bishop on e5 and pawn on b6.
32…Bc7?
But this is not the right way to defend. Black had to play 32…Qc7.
33.Ne4!
Exploiting the lack of communication between queen and rook arising from his last move.
33…Be5
33…Rb1 loses to 34.Nf6+ Kg7 35.Ng4 with Qh6+ to follow. No better is 33…Rxf1+ 34.Kxf1 dxe4 35.a7 Qa8 36.Qh6 with the threat of Qf8+ and then queening the a-pawn.
34.Nc5!
An artistic move. Placing the knight en prise, but with a double attack on the Black rook and bishop.
34…Rxf1+ 35.Kxf1 bxc5 36.Qxc5 Qd7
Missing White’s next.
37.Qf8# 1-0