Ponderchess / Openings
Play the guided film, or select a scene to pause and study its position.
Opening
The Slav Defense in 3D
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6. Black supports d5 with the c-pawn, keeping the diagonal of the c8 bishop open.
Rebuild the sequence yourself. The board responds to each move, and hints are available.
Click or drag to move · Arrow keys + Enter to play
Your turn · white to play
Select a piece, then its destination. Switch to 2D for a clear overhead view or rotate the 3D board to explore the position.
Slav Defense: Czech Variation, Lasker Variation, move by move: d4 d5 c4 c6 Nf3 Nf6 Nc3 dxc4 …
The white pieces
Build a strong centre with e3 or e4 and target the slight weaknesses that ...dxc4 leaves on Black's queenside.
The black pieces
Develop the bishop outside the pawn chain, then complete development with ...e6, ...Nbd7 and castling.
Look a little deeper · 01
Black's light-squared bishop often develops to f5 or g4 before ...e6, which solves the problem piece of the Queen's Gambit Declined.
Look a little deeper · 02
In the main line Black takes on c4 and holds the pawn for a while, forcing White to spend time to win it back.
Slav Defense: Czech Variation, Lasker Variation, move by move: d4 d5 c4 c6 Nf3 Nf6 Nc3 dxc4 …
Keyboard: Space pauses, the arrow keys step. Gold arrows are White's moves, violet are Black's, red rays are threats, green shows support, blue shows plans.
