1. d4 for Ambitious Chess Improvers

MoveTrainer® Opening course by Angelika Valkova (2335 Online Rating, 2081 FIDE) officially endorsed by GM Gyula Pap

Ramp Up Your Chess with a Simple, Robust and Reliable Repertoire

Forget the traps, zaps, and cutting edge theory.

When you’re coming up in chess, you want a simple and strong repertoire you can rely on - not one where you’ll forget the moves and plans over the board. Or one where you study long theoretical variations that never actually show up.

Angelika “Chessborn” Valkova brings you the solution with a simple, robust repertoire you can grow with to master level and beyond. And it’s got everything you need to handle virtually any Black defense against 1.d4 in one comprehensive course.

You may know her as a chess streamer and media personality, but Valkova is also a strong tournament player. A 2-time Ukrainian youth medalist, 2-time German Women’s Team Champion, and a candidate for Master of Sport in Ukraine, Valkova has become a veritable force in women’s chess just in the past few years alone.

And it’s thanks in part to her super solid 1.d4 repertoire. Created in collaboration with her coach and former second to Richard Rapport, Grandmaster Gyula Pap, this repertoire can stand up to some serious competition.

Here’s a peek inside:

♛ A principled approach with the Queen’s Gambit. You’ll follow up your 1.d4 with 2.c4 in all the major variations, going for a sturdy classical approach. And in the mainline Queen’s Gambit Declined, you’ll unleash a clever device to shut down enemy counterplay with ease

♛ Smart ways to sidestep your opponent’s prep. While sticking to principled opening approaches, you’ll also dodge the most challenging variations of openings like the Nimzo-Indian and Slav with lesser played but solid variations…and some fresh ideas to invigorate your play

♛ Simple and fearless setups against sidelines. A novel approach to fighting the Budapest Gambit and slick transpositions against the Modern (1…g6) and Owen’s Defense (1…b6) are just some of the no-nonsense responses you’ll have in store for sideline openings

As an experienced chess coach of more than 7 years, Valkova is meticulous in her explanations, too - refer to the course’s 155K word count! With this repertoire, you’ll learn the positional principles - move by move - that will set you up for success in the opening, middlegame and beyond.

Simply put, this is one of the best repertoires for improving players out there. Get 1.d4 for Ambitious Chess Improvers today.

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Course stats

For: white pieces

Recommended for: Beginning players Casual players Intermediate players Advanced players Expert players

Language: English

Instruction: 155,747 words

Paid video: 61 hours and 32 minutes

Free video: 7 hours and 45 minutes

Quickstart variations: 46

Trainable variations: 730

Informational variations: 51

Avg. line depth: 15.33

Released on: Aug 04, 2022

Support level: High

Section: 🎓 Titled player

1. d4 for Ambitious Chess Improvers

has 4.9 out of 5 stars, based on 21 user ratings.

Variation Details

1 x Introduction (1.00 avg depth)

46 x Quickstarter Guide (13.67 avg depth)

36 x 1) Queen's Gambit Accepted (14.44 avg depth)

14 x 2) Queen's Gambit Declined 3...a6 (14.00 avg depth)

25 x 3) Queen's Gambit Declined 3...Nf6 (14.84 avg depth)

24 x 4) Queen's Gambit Declined 3...Be7 (14.13 avg depth)

18 x 5) Queen's Gambit Declined 3...Bb4 (15.50 avg depth)

21 x 6) Triangle Slav (13.81 avg depth)

18 x 7) Tarrasch Defence (14.06 avg depth)

19 x 8) Semi-Tarrasch Defence (16.58 avg depth)

37 x 9) Slav Defence (13.32 avg depth)

16 x 10) Delayed Queen's Gambit Accepted (12.69 avg depth)

11 x 11) Queen's Gambit Stonewall (15.27 avg depth)

11 x 12) Austrian / Symmetrical Defence (12.27 avg depth)

8 x 13) Baltic Defence (12.63 avg depth)

16 x 14) Marshall Defence (13.25 avg depth)

9 x 15) Chigorin Defence (15.56 avg depth)

19 x 16) Albin Countergambit (12.47 avg depth)

13 x 17) Von Hennig-Schara Gambit (17.08 avg depth)

39 x 18) Nimzo-Indian (14.56 avg depth)

45 x 19) Benko Gambit (14.69 avg depth)

37 x 20) Grünfeld Defence (15.51 avg depth)

36 x 21) King's Indian Averbakh System - Black Sidelines (15.53 avg depth)

27 x 22) King's Indian Averbakh System 6...c5 (20.11 avg depth)

21 x 23) Early Benoni (1.d4 c5 2.d5 Rare Lines) (12.14 avg depth)

15 x 24) Old Indian Defence (12.07 avg depth)

6 x 25) Czech Benoni (11.33 avg depth)

7 x 26) Snake Benoni (14.57 avg depth)

23 x 27) Modern Benoni (17.48 avg depth)

11 x 28) Accelerated Queen's Indian Defence (11.91 avg depth)

29 x 29) Budapest Gambit (13.97 avg depth)

3 x 30) Owen's Defence (Hippo) (9.33 avg depth)

17 x 31) Dutch Defence (11.35 avg depth)

11 x 32) Classical Dutch (11.82 avg depth)

4 x 33) English Defence (10.00 avg depth)

13 x 34) Keres Defence (13.62 avg depth)

26 x 35) Philidor & Pirc (1.d4 d6 2.e4) (12.69 avg depth)

10 x 36) Modern Defence (1.d4 g6 2.e4) (11.90 avg depth)

6 x 37) The Norwegian Rat (13.83 avg depth)

9 x 38) Polish Defence (and other quick ...b5 ideas) (11.44 avg depth)

8 x 39) Queen's Knight Defence (10.63 avg depth)

15 x 40) Mexican Defence (11.27 avg depth)

6 x 41) Englund Gambit (9.50 avg depth)

40 x Model Games (40.25 avg depth)

1 x 1st Live Session (1.00 avg depth)

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