The army of raging fans of International Master Alex Banzea have been waiting for him to complete his killer 1.e4 repertoire for quite some time.
The young Romanian coach doesn't disappoint! In his three-part Ambush series he delivers his trademark inventive 1.e4 recipes and faithful to his style, he keeps
Launching fireworks from seemingly innocuous or forgotten opening lines
Using that rare skill, Alex has built a crushing positional attacking repertoire.
The concept is simple: to make Black uncomfortable in their pet line and lure them to middlegames with clear plans and a practical edge. And this 3-chapter
Short & Sweet course is the best way to introduce you to that venomous repertoire!
Throughout 90 trainable lines, you will get a Quickstarter-like view of Alex's enterprising opening philosophy against everything after 1.e4.
Along the way, you'll get lots of practical advice on higher chess topics like handling an initiative, the transition from opening to middlegame, and the nature of long-term sacrifices. Almost like getting free lessons on middlegames too!
So it’s only natural that this repertoire will elevate your chess.
This is a short preview of what you are going to play
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Rossolimo Variation (3.Bb5) against the 2...Nc6 Sicilian - Almost the modern mainline. Helpful for club players for its evergreen nature, full of ideas, but most of all, it's easy to grasp so you can play it without needing move-by-move preparation.
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Hungarian Variation (4.Qxd4) against the 2...d6 Sicilian - Giri's efforts against 4.Nxd4 seem legit so why argue with him? Here you'll see a modern interpretation by GM Harikrishna that is starting to pick up speed based on a strong grip over d5 and a nasty Rook maneuver.
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Westerinen Attack (3.b3) against the 2...e6 Sicilian - An underrated line, mainly because of the 3...b6 variation, but Alex's simple solution will leave you satisfied and your opponents shocked!
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Fantasy Variation (3.f3) against the Caro Kann - As Alex says, this line's name is self-explanatory. White can earn some beauty prizes with it, but even if the opponent knows the best path, you'll have access to a new fresh idea to keep them worried for a long time.
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Schlechter Variation (3.Bd3) against the French - A handy and underestimated variation. Its beauty lies in its balancing act: it's an antidote against more than one main French Defense idea, but it can be used to get favorable transpositions to other lines.
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Austrian Attack (4.f4) against the Pirc and the Modern - If Black allows us, we are going to eat them alive in the kingside. But when they know what they're doing, Alex has a simple but annoying new idea that forces Black to play accurately not to fall off the ledge.
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The 4.Nge2 Attack against the Philidor - You'll be happy to find many common themes between this one and the Austrian Attack. In line with our repertoire, we'll slowly develop our pieces into purposeful squares and swallow the board with our kingside pawns.
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Vienna Game (2.Nc3) against 1..e5 - The Vienna is a dangerous opening with just a tiny portion of the theoretical burden in 2.Nf3. Either on the Vienna Game or the Vienna Gambit, a relentless kingside attack is assured.
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3.d4 against the Scandinavian - A smart alternative to chasing the Queen immediately. If possible, you are going to grab space with 4.c4 first. Against the critical 3…Nc6, Alex proposes a clever move order crippling Black’s Queenside pawns and their counterplay chances.
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The Four Pawns Attack against the Alekhine - The most ambitious, consistent with the rest of this repertoire. The idea is simple, to shelter your pieces behind your center pawn wall to engineer a vicious assault against Black’s King.
When they say attacking chess is fun, they mean this kind of repertoire!
This one is an unmissable free course for any 1.e4 player.
But IM Banzea is such an exceptional coach and opening analyst that this bite-size sample of his work will impact your overall chess, way beyond your openings.
The biggest improvement, however, you’ll get it from his three-part Ambush series. So don't hesitate to grab a copy of the main courses, clocking at over 47 hours of interactive video and well over 1000 trainable variations!
Get the Ambush 1.e4 Trilogy
