Learn the Answering the Réti

A04-A09 · a repertoire for black · 6 chapters · 27 annotated lines

"One Slav wall against 1.Nf3, the KIA and 2.b3"

1.Nf3 looks harmless — and that's exactly how it wins: Black plays natural moves, drifts into a passive setup, and White's flank pressure arrives out of nowhere. This course gives Black one wall against all of it: ...d5 and ...c6 with the light-squared bishop developed OUTSIDE the chain before ...e6 — the same healthy Slav structure the 1.d4 Slav course teaches, so your repertoire stays one coherent system no matter which move order White picks. Covers the Réti proper (2.c4), the b3 hybrids, the honest 3.d4 transposition into your Slav, the King's Indian Attack (with the classic ...Ne8 and ...f6 counter-wedge), and Larsen-style 2.b3.

What's inside

• Chapter 1: The Réti with 2.c4 — Hold the Center with ...c6
  Lines: Study 1: The Main Line — Double Fianchetto, Bishop to f5, Study 2: 3.b3 — The Nimzo-Réti Hybrid, Study 3: 3.d4 — Welcome Back to the Slav
• Chapter 2: The King's Indian Attack — 2.g3 and 2.b3
  Lines: Study 1: The KIA — Pin with ...Bg4, Break with ...f6, Study 2: 2.b3 — The Larsen Treatment
• Chapter 3: The Réti's Other Tries — Qb3, the Exchange and Quiet e3
  Lines: Study 1: 5.Qb3 — Meet the Queen Sortie with ...Qb6, Study 2: 3.cxd5 — The Exchange Réti, Study 3: Quiet e3 and Be2 — Punish Passivity with ...e5, Study 4: 6.b4?! — Punish the Pawn Grab Setup
• Chapter 4: 3.d4 Deepened — Your Slav, Move by Move
  Lines: Study 1: 6.Ne5 — The Critical Main Line, Study 2: 5.e3 b5 — When White Skips a4, Keep the Pawn, Study 3: 4.e3 — The Slow Slav, Same ...Qb6 Medicine, Study 4: 4.Qc2 — Take, Hit the Queen, Develop for Free
• Chapter 5: The KIA Deepened — Tricks, d4 Switches and Counterplay
  Lines: Study 1: 5.Ne5 — The Pin-Breaker, Met by the Center, Study 2: g3 then d4 — The Catalan-Slav Switch, Study 3: White Delays e5 — Then YOU Play ...e5, Study 4: The h4 Pawn Storm — Same Break, Same Verdict
• Chapter 6: 2.b3 Deepened — Bishop Hunts, Hybrids and the ...e5 Break
  Lines: Study 1: 4.Nh4 — The Bishop Hunt, Welcomed, Study 2: b3 plus g3 — The Hybrid, Met by the Wall and ...Nc7, Study 3: Quiet e3 into d4 — Trade into the Stonewall Clamp, Study 4: The ...e5 Break, Executed — From Tabiya to Takeover

Free sample: the main line, move by move

• 1. Nf3 — 1.Nf3 — the Réti. White develops first and keeps the center pawns home, hoping you commit to something he can undermine from the flank.
• 1... d5 — Take the center anyway. A full pawn in the middle is worth more than White's subtlety — and because you'll defend it with ...c6, the Slav structure you already trust against 1.d4, no Réti trick ever wins it back cheaply.
• 2. c4 — The Réti proper: White attacks d5 from the wing, exactly like a Queen's Gambit without d4.
• 2... c6 — The Slav answer, and the backbone of this whole course. The pawn defends d5 while leaving the c8-h3 diagonal open — your light-squared bishop will develop OUTSIDE the pawn chain, the one luxury 2...e6 players never get. One structure against 1.d4 AND 1.Nf3: that's the deal.
• 3. g3 — White announces the double-fianchetto setup — the classical Réti treatment.
• 3... Nf6 — Natural development, and it reinforces d5 a second time. Never fear cxd5 here: ...cxd5 recaptures toward the center and hands you the half-open c-file for free.
• 4. Bg2 — The bishop takes the long diagonal, staring at d5 and b7.
• 4... Bf5 — The key move of the repertoire — play it before ...e6 walls the bishop in. On f5 it watches e4, White's dream square, and it sits safely out of the g2 bishop's reach. Compare it with White's c1 bishop, still boxed in at home: you've already won the development argument.
• 5. O-O — White castles.
• 5... e6 — Now close the door behind the bishop, exactly as planned. The c6+d5+e6 wall is the Slav triangle: every light square is covered, and the g2 bishop bites on granite.
• 6. b3 — The second fianchetto — White wants the b2 bishop pressing on the long dark diagonal.
• 6... Nbd7 — The right square for this knight in every line of the course: it supports ...e5 and ...c5 breaks, covers e5 against knight hops, and leaves the c-pawn free. Your setup is a system — the same eight moves against almost anything White tries.
• 7. Bb2 — White completes the double fianchetto.
• 7... Be7 — Modest and correct. On e7 the bishop stays out of the b2 bishop's crossfire and keeps d6 free for a knight or the queen. Development first — the arguments come later.
• 8. d3 — White keeps the center small, true to the Réti creed.
• 8... O-O — King safety complete. Take stock: every Black piece has a job, the center is yours, and White still hasn't created a single threat. This is why the Slav wall travels so well across move orders.
• 9. Nbd2 — The knight supports an eventual e4 push.
• 9... h6 — A small move with a big point: it gives the f5 bishop the h7 retreat. When White finally plays e4 — or tries Nh4 to hunt the bishop — it slides to h7 and keeps watching the same diagonal. Never let the Réti win that bishop for a knight.
• 10. a3 — White prepares b4, the standard queenside space grab.
• 10... a5 — Stop it cold. Fixing the pawn on a3 kills White's only real plan on that wing — and later your knight may land on b4 or c5 using the squares White just weakened. In the Réti, whoever runs out of ideas first stands worse.
• 11. Qc2 — The queen connects the rooks and eyes e4 one more time.
• 11... Bh7 — Tuck the bishop into its bunker before e4 arrives with tempo. Nothing has changed — it guards the same b1-h7 diagonal — but now e4 gains no time at all. Black is fully mobilized and completely solid; your plans are ...Qb6 or ...Re8 with a timely ...e5 or ...c5 break, and it's White who must invent something.

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