Marin: Alekhine Defence B03

1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.c4 Nb6 5.f4 dxe5 6.fxe5 g6 7.Nc3 Bg7

There is not much theory on this variation and Marin is breaking new ground. With the help of several innovations, he succeeds in making the variations playable for Black.

Skembris: Caro-Kann B16

 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nf6 5.Nxf6+ gxf6

Skembris provides a complete repertoire from Black’s point of view. It is also very possible to play for a win with this ambitious variation.

Grivas: Sicilian B33

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Qb6 5.Nb3 Nf6 6.Nc3 e6 7.g3

The Fianchetto Variation is not one of the strongest ways of opposing the Grivas Sicilian, but as Black you do need to have a certain amount of basic knowledge.

Erenburg: Sicilian B80

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e6 7.f3 b5 8.Qd2 b4 9.Nce2

The knight retreat is not the most popular, but Erenburg describes a very convincing plan, with which White should achieve an advantage.

Kuzmin: Sicilian B84

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 (Be3) 6...Nbd7

Since 6.Bg5 Nbd7 looked quite good (CBM 135), it appeared to be an idea to try out the knight move against other white continuations on move 6.

Langrock: French Defence C11

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Be3 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Bc5 9.Qd2 0-0 10.0-0-0 a6 11.Qf2

In recent years 11.Qf2 has turned into the main variation against the black setup. Langrock shows that here too Black has good chances of equalising.

Stohl: Ruy Lopez C77

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.d3 9.Qd2 0-0 10.0-0-0 a6

In the European Championship  Ian Nepomniachtichi demonstrated that the move 5.d3 is not so harmless; with it he scored 3.5 out of 4. In a two part article Stohl examines the most important variations.

Ftacnik: Slav Defence D12

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bf5 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nh4 Be4

Black’s bishop move reveals itself as surprisingly annoying, because White can hardly avoid playing 7.f3. After 7...Bg6 8.Qb3 the move 8...Qc7 is another subtle one, with which Black has been looking very good of late.

Karolyi: Queen's Gambit Accepted D20

1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.e3 e5 4.Bxc4 exd4 5.exd4 Bd6

Karolyi finishes his investigations into the Queen’s Gambit Accepted with this important variation and thus rounds off a complete system of play for Black in this classic opening.

Hazai/Lukacs: Queen's Gambit D35

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Be7 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bf4 Nf6 6.e3 Bf5

The refined move order with 3...Be7 leads to the white bishop going to f4 rather than g5. Thus in the diagram d5 is reliably protected. 7.Qb3 is nevertheless a critical move but is strongly met with 7...Nc6.

Postny: Queen's Gambit D39

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.e4 Bb4 6.Bg5 h6 7.Bxf6 Qxf6

Until now White has not developed a clear plan against 6...h6 and thus the move of the rook’s pawn has the potential to replace 6...c5 in the Vienna Variation.

Schipkov: Bogo-Indian Defence E11

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Bb4+ 4.Nbd2 0-0 5.a3 Be7 6.e4 d5

In this setup which Shipkov recommends for Black, the bishop pair is retained and the struggle against the white centre gets going at once.

Krasenkow: Queen's Indian Defence E12 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.a3 Bb7 5.Nc3   In the second part of his article from White’s point of view Krasenkow examines above all the continuation 5...d5 6.cxd5 exd5, which promises White a safe advantage.