1.d4 According to Lucas Van Foreest – Exchange Slav for White + PGN June 20, 2025

We are excited to introduce the first course from the new series “1.d4 According to Lucas Van Foreest”, created by GM Lucas van Foreest and GM Pier Luigi Basso.

This series is built around a single powerful idea – to select the most annoying and practically difficult lines for Black. If you’re a 1.d4 player who wants to squeeze your opponents out of comfort, this is the repertoire you’ve been waiting for.

🔍 What’s Inside?

This course offers a complete and ambitious White repertoire against the Slav Defense, focusing on the line:

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.cxd5 cxd5 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Bf4

Yes — it’s the Exchange Slav… but not the boring one.

Forget about passive setups and drawish intentions. This is the modern, ambitious approach, designed to make your opponents suffer from move 1. Every chapter is a refined weapon that forces Black to make tough decisions early on. The variations are strategically rich, packed with clever move orders and long-term pressure. Even the symmetrical positions become uncomfortable for Black when White knows the plans.

💡 Course Highlights

✅ 12 Theoretical Chapters – covering all major and tricky Black setups
✅ 30 Interactive Test Positions – practice ideas and plans actively
✅ Memory Booster – streamline your repertoire learning
✅ Video Version – learn from the authors directly
✅ Basso’s 15-Minute Repertoire – quick-access summary of the lines

🔬 Why This Course?

“For Slav players, facing the Exchange Variation is a nightmare: their winning chances drop dramatically. We play it with ambition.”
— GM Lucas van Foreest & GM Pier Luigi Basso

The result is a clean, minimalist repertoire with maximum practical impact.

Whether you’re a seasoned 1.d4 player or looking to build a solid and annoying new repertoire from scratch, this course delivers a reliable weapon with strong squeeze potential.

🎓 Get ready to outmaneuver your opponents – not with brute force, but with strategy, structure, and subtle pressure.

Let the squeeze begin.