Simplified Openings: Karpov's Practical Repertoire Against the London System and Torre Attack

Check out Grandmaster Colovic's Chessable courses: chessable.com/...
Join the Substack for weekly newsletters: substack.com/@...
Follow Alex here!
Twitter: x.com/GMAlexCo...
Instagram: / alexcolovicchess
www.alexcolovic.com
Twitter: x.com/GMAlexCo...
Instagram: / alexcolovicchess
www.alexcolovic.com

[@diegoolivieri2997]

Great job Alex, very well done. Karpov is my favourite player and this system is really nice… I will study it for sure! All the best for the new year!

[@gmalexcolovic]

Thank you and likewise!

[@antoniobanderas-h7n]

Wow you completed nimzo style repertoire against d4. Thank you very much.

[@gmalexcolovic]

You're welcome!

[@skriabinfly]

16:45 I wondered about Nxg2, Rg5, etc. Now this channel gives yet another complete 1.d4 repertoire for Black. Kind of incredible. 👍👍

[@unclelarry3207]

Thanks so much for the clear explanations. This fits in very nicely with the lines that I use.

[@gmalexcolovic]

@@unclelarry3207 Thank you, good to hear it!

[@tungvu1742]

I purchased GM Alex Colovic’s chewable course for the KID, best decision ever to counter the 1.d4, now that I found out he has this video just to counter the London. My New Year is completed! THANK YOU GM COLOVIC

[@gmalexcolovic]

Thank you so much!

[@jasonparker6138]

Love this series! Happy New Year 🥳🎉

[@gmalexcolovic]

Thank you, and Happy New Year to you too!

[@ankithhavaldar1556]

Thanks a lot for this system, as a Sicilian player feel much more home in these structures than regular closed london structures. Anyone with experience in hedgehog or even scheveningen would feel at home. Flexibility of playing both in centre as well as minority attack on queenside is refreshing to say the least.

[@AlbertoMendozaMedina]

Thank you Alex! Great simple explanations, along with comparisons (which not many instructors do), about the ideas and plans, the whys and why nots. Wish you the best year 2025 can bring.

[@gmalexcolovic]

Thank you, nice to read this. All the best for 2025 to you too!

[@SteveGchess]

Very nice, but one small point. After 3.Bg5 h6, I was brought up to believe that 4.Bxf6 was correct. (Likewise in the Trompovsky after 2...e6 3.e4 h6, when it is forced). Karpov had a number of games with this, including a couple of losses to Korchnoi, and some wins against the likes of Timman and Adams. In particularly, he liked to play an early g5, fighting for the weakened dark squares. Objectively, I am sure Black is fine, but it should probably be covered.

[@gmalexcolovic]

Yeah, you're right, Bxf6 is an important option. I was always of the opinion that with a knight on f3 these lines were rather harmless, as White doesn't have the plan of f4 at his disposal, like in the Tromp. In this case, after e4, Black has two plans, one is a dark-square strategy with ...d6 and ...e5 and the other one is a light-square strategy with ...d5. In the video I wanted to pay more attention to the London-like structures, hence the ommision, but probably I should have said something about this option, too.

[@KnightToRemember]

I lost against this against a FM, it’s more serious than it looks

[@gmalexcolovic]

@KnightToRemember Of course, everything is serious nowadays! Even jeans! :)))

[@001AAR]

@@gmalexcolovic😂

[@dunkel-zombi_fiziert-heit]

​@@gmalexcolovic 😂

[@Matute7231]

Thanks for these great simplified series; finishing them with Karpov was great too, my favourite player ever.

[@gmalexcolovic]

Thank you!

[@tomas-wi8dy]

Thank you very much! All the best in the new year!

[@gmalexcolovic]

Thank you, likewise!

[@boromir674]

Any club player who should focus on "plans-based" openings should absolutely smash the subscribe button !! Thanks a bunch Alex! Insanely good learning material as always!!

[@gmalexcolovic]

Thank you, much appreciated!

[@karlomelendres7086]

Thank you very much! I love your videos!

[@gmalexcolovic]

Thank you, happy to hear it!

[@brendanward2991]

19:15 - London System

[@AmitabhaBuddha-dg7nb]

Very nice video. I played like this numerous times and I always thought it was Peter Leko style. Now i know better :) Cheers Siddhartha

[@gmalexcolovic]

Thank you!

[@nomoreblitz]

thank you!!

[@gmalexcolovic]

You're welcome!

[@kmeistr]

A game that stuck in my memory (maybe I first saw it cited in the ancient green ECO) is Sangla-Karpov, a win against the Torre in 11 moves. But that was with putting the queen rather than the pawn on b6.

[@PDSeverus]

@7:38 I could only find Shirazi vs Karpov with these moves . Shirazi, Kamran (2455) Karpov, Anatoly (2715) Event: Wch-blitz Site: Saint John Round: 1 Date: ??/??/1988 ECO: D03 Score: 0-1

[@Robertl-xz6yl]

Has Colovic made anything against 1.Nf3/1.c4 with a Nf6 + c5 approach? It would go well with this and give me a full repertoire meeting 1.Nf3 and 1.c4 with 1…c5 as I have his Scheveningen Chessable course

[@gmalexcolovic]

No, I haven't done that. Those lines require a bit more theoretical knowledge, so I'm not sure how good a choice they would be for a "simplified" analysis.

[@Robertl-xz6yl]

@ thanks for the response and I have one more question if you don’t mind! What order of study would you recommend between your Scheveningen and najdorf Chessable courses? For content I’m 1850 FIDE but have only ever played 1…d6 as black vs everything following my book on the Czech pirc/wade defence. I want to upgrade to a Sicilian but unsure how to go about it…

[@gmalexcolovic]

@@Robertl-xz6yl I'd say you start with the Najdorf because it is more understanding-based, rather than a LTR-style repertoire like the Scheveningen. I think it's more important to understand the Sicilian positions first before embarking on the complexities of the variations.

[@dunkel-zombi_fiziert-heit]

Karpov, the boa constrictor of chess.

[@gmalexcolovic]

And a very interesting guy! :)

[@Villa21Thes]

Hi and thanks for the video! Nowadays, all players play Bf6 after h6 followed by e4, will you cover this one, pls?

[@gmalexcolovic]

I answered this question somewhere below. I think that's more common in the Tromp, when White can play for the plan with f4, which here isn't possible. But look through the questions below where I explained Black's possible plans in this version.

[@hasankutlu9443]

nice maestro

[@gmalexcolovic]

Thank you!

[@KeepChessSimple]

Hi, are these lines part of existing Chessable courses, upcoming courses or just KZbin only material?

[@gmalexcolovic]

I don't know what the others have done, but they are not part of any previous material made by me.

[@KeepChessSimple]

@gmalexcolovic Ah okay. Planning to implement these in a future course? A 'karpov' repertoire sounds interesting.

[@gmalexcolovic]

We will see, it also depends on Chessable.​@@KeepChessSimple

[@happyhornet1000]

Can you please give an explanation as to why d5 is played when white plays d4 and c4, presumably to stop white playing d5. Be nice to have a fuller explanation though, especially comparing it to the e6 with d6 lines.

[@gmalexcolovic]

Yes, that's true, to stop White from pushing d5 and at a later stage to take on c4 and play against the isolated pawn on d4.

[@ramilgorrieza3279]

16:45 is this a winning combination instead a4... Nxg2 Kxg2 Rg5+ wins back the knight on f3 and white's king is exposed to a deadly attack.

[@gmalexcolovic]

Yeah, that wins. Blitz game, what to do. :)

[@gerritdeheij]

3:30 i would play with white e4

[@gmalexcolovic]

Then you understand the point of ...h6, because after ...g5 Black will win the pawn on e4.

[@angel_machariel]

From which course is this?

[@gmalexcolovic]

No course, just exclusively and totally free of charge on my channel!

[@didier7868]

No one opening is annoying. Only players are.

[@gmalexcolovic]

Ha, good point! :)

[@tintinmilou9471]

is this the hedgehog ?

[@gmalexcolovic]

Not exactly, as the hedgehog implies a white centre with pawns on c4 and e4, though Black's set up is more or less the same.

[@tintinmilou9471]

@@gmalexcolovic thx !