Lifetime Repertoires: Reversed Sicilian, GM Arturs Neiksans

The English Opening can be one of the trickiest openings to handle for Black. White’s setup is flexible and harmonious, and it seems like anything you throw at him can be handled without much challenge. How can you get White out of his comfort zone?

Play the Exclam English with 1…e5

Grandmaster Arturs Neiksans’ repertoire against the English could be called no other way. As head coach of the legendary Riga Chess School, you could say that the spirit of Mikhail Tal has gotten into him. The 4-time Latvian champion has developed a blistering response to 1.c4 that takes White ‘out of book’ and forces him to answer some seriously tough questions: Grab an extra pawn and suffer tactical consequences? Leave the pawn and let Black build a super center? You’ll have plenty of time to write some exclamation points next to your moves while White decides.

Make no mistake: this is not some offbeat gambit repertoire against the English for club play. It’s a complete grandmaster repertoire playable at any level. But it’s a repertoire so dynamic you’ll be sacrificing material in what seems like every other variation. Yet what you give up in material, you’ll gain back with interest in the form of positional dominance and unanswerable attacks on the White king.

It’s all based on a strategy that emphasizes central control and rapid development. Take this typical position for example:

Black to move

The d5 pawn is hanging, but Black just calmly develops Nc6, forgetting the pawn in favor of central control and development. If White takes the pawn, he’ll soon find himself in a world of trouble. GM Neiksans will show you how to take that position and turn it into this position:

With this course, GM Neiksans offers up one of the most thorough repertoires against 1.c4 around. You’ll get over 1,000 variations and 40 hours of video that cover all of White’s major plans, including:

♞ Early g3 setups
♞ The Two Knights English
♞ The Four Knights English
♞ Various other Reversed Sicilian setups and sidelines
♞ Model games by top pros

GM Neiksans is a FIDE-accredited chess coach and a master at explaining all the relevant options from both sides of the position, as well as the theory that goes along with them. Knowing he cannot train you for every possible position, he also includes plenty of practical exercises that will teach you to think for yourself by applying the concepts taught in the course. You’ll not only memorize variations – you’ll learn how to think like a grandmaster.