Full Slav or Semi-Slav

Which is better do you think and why, the Full Slav Defense or the Semi-Slav Defense?

Full Slav Squat

@Tophan Why? What is your reasoning? Just preference? How do you address "those players that want to play London let's say?

Because it's the most stable position

I think if you are aiming at picking one or the other as your go to defense, you'll do well to choose the Slav... The semi-Slav requires some knowledge of the GQD & full Slav as the lines can easily transpose... Also the dichotomy of lines (Botvinnik, Moscow & anti-Moscow, Chigorin, Meran, & the vast anti-Meran) lead to very different stories...

I like the semi-Slav and play it often and rarely do I opt for a full Slav...

Which is better, the Tarrasch or semi-Tarrasch???

would be better if you add a board

Remember, you soles must be touching the ground for the full slav

I never played the Slav but now my main weapon against 1. d4 is the Semi Slav/Triangle Slav with 1. ... d5 2. ... e6 3. ... c6 which is a flexible structure that is able to react to whites 4th move. If white wants an exchange slav, takes with the e-pawn and have a great position. If e3 is played within the first 4 moves, play 4. ... f5 and enjoy a great stonewall without white getting to play Bf4. If white goes d4, c4, Nc3, Nf3, take on c4, learn to lines and enjoy two passed pawns on the a and b file. I'm going into so much details because you as a 1800 are able to understand the concepts behind an opening. The most scary thing you could face is the Marshall Gambit (d4, c4, Nc3, e4) or 5. g4 in the Stonewall. But 1.) You can prepare for that and 2.) 99% of white players are scared of it themself.

i like the chameleon variation 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 a6
often times i get a relatively safe london esque type of structure for black with Bf5 followed by e6.
playing Bf5 without a6 gets a little bit messy after Qb3.

Slav is:


'Full' or 'pure' Slav is when Black takes on c4 or plays ..a6 and then plays Bf5 or Bg4 (The original idea of the Slav compared to Queens Gambit, bring the bishop out):


Semi-Slav is when black plays e6 and the bish stays on c8:


en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slav_Defense
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semi-Slav_Defense

Which is better? I would play dxc4 and Bf5 because i wouldnt like to defend that black king in the Botwinnik line. 4...a6 and 5...Bf5 is dull, i dont like it. Example game fom Carlsen: