White plays 2.g3
The classical Leningrad: …Qe8
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Chapter 2 of 7
The fianchetto: g3 and Bg2
The classical Leningrad. White's bishop on g2 slows the game down, and there is time for …Qe8, …Na6–c5 and …e5.
When White fianchettoes, both sides' kings sit behind a bishop on the long diagonal. The fight is over e4 and e5: White wants e4, you want …e5.
This is where …Qe8 belongs. The queen supports …e5, can swing to f7 or h5, and frees d8 for a rook. If White closes the centre with d5, the queen's knight goes to c5 by way of a6.
At a glance
c4 and Nc3
…d6, …Qe8, then …e5. Against d5, …Na6–c5.
No c4 from White
…d6, then …Nc6 or …a5 and …e5.
1.c4 with g3
With no pawn on d4, …e5 comes early: …Nf6, …e5, …d6. If White plays d4 later, you are back in the Leningrad.
Key ideas
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In the fianchetto lines the centre stays closed long enough for …Qe8. From e8 the queen supports …e5, can swing to f7 or h5 toward White's king, and frees d8 for a rook.
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After d5 White gains space, but the c5 square has no pawn guarding it. …a5 stops b4, and the knight goes …Na6–c5, where it hits e4 and can never be chased by a pawn.
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78hg
fedcbaAgainst the English: …e5 at once
If White has not played d4, nothing controls e5. With pawns on f5 and e5, Black has the centre that White's fianchetto was meant to prevent.
From history
The specialist
Few players are as tied to one opening as Vladimir Malaniuk, who played the Leningrad at the top level for decades and found many of the plans that made it a serious weapon.
The world champion's experiment
Around 2013 several elite players took up the Dutch, among them Magnus Carlsen, who chose the Leningrad against Levon Aronian at the 2013 Sinquefield Cup. The game was drawn.
The lines
Click a move or use the arrows. Highlighted moves carry a note, and under each note you'll find the other moves played from that position, including the tempting mistakes. The number under the board is Stockfish's evaluation from your side: minus means your opponent is better.
1278hgfedcbaWhite plays Nf3 and g3
2.Nf3 and 3.g3
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The English with g3
1.c4 and 2.g3: …e5 early
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The English with Nc3 and g3
1.c4, Nc3 and g3
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The Réti with g3
1.Nf3 and g3 without d4
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White plays 4.c4
4.c4 before Nf3
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White plays 4.Nh3
4.Nh3: knight to f4
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White plays 4.e3
4.e3 and Ne2
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White plays 4.d3
4.d3: …Nc6 and …Bb4
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White plays Nc3 and d3
4.Nc3 and 5.d3
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White plays 5.d3
5.d3 and e4
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White plays 5.Nf3
5.Nf3: back to the Leningrad
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White plays 5.c4
5.c4: back to the Leningrad
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White plays 5.Nc3
5.Nc3 and cxd5
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White plays 5.d4
5.d4: …e4
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A model game
Master games from the Lichess database, with the engine's evaluation under the board.
Zhang Zhong follows this chapter's main line to the last move of the book, 8…a5, and then plays the plans from the key ideas: the knight goes to a6 and then to e4, and the pressure on White's position grows until White cracks.
World Mind Sports Games (rapid) · 0-1
Bu, Xiangzhi – Zhang, Zhong, 2008
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Take these into your games
Knight to c5
When White closes the centre with d5, the knight goes …Na6–c5, hitting e4.
Break with …e5
Every plan in the fianchetto lines runs through …e5. Prepare it, then play it.