Stop Guessing against 1.d4:
Answer with a Consistent yet Ambitious Reply
If you’ve ever sat down against 1.d4 and felt overwhelmed, you’re not alone. White has so many different systems, and most of them seem to require massive amounts of theory.
But WIM Anna-Maja Kazarian and FM Dachey Lin offer a simple, principled, yet powerful solution based on 1.d4 d5 — one that is accessible for beginners, yet ambitious enough to use even at master level.
With just a few consistent setups and easy-to-remember ideas, you’ll always know what to do, without drowning in theory.
At the heart of the course is the Queen’s Gambit Declined, one of the most classical and trusted openings in chess:
2.c4 is White’s most popular move after 1.d4 d5 —
and the main focus of this course.
The authors focus on understanding first: You’ll start your learning journey with a dedicated Strategy Guide that explains the strategic cornerstones of the repertoire.
For example: what it means to have your pawns on d5 and e6, how to develop your pieces, and how to treat the “bad” bishop on c8.
Here’s how your setup might look after a few moves:
You mostly develop one knight to f6, the other to d7,
your dark-squared bishop to e7 and the light-squared one often to b7.
Equipped with this foundation, you’ll move on to concrete lines. As a complete 1.d4 d5 repertoire, this course covers everything White might throw at you:
✅ The Catalan
✅ The London System
✅ The Jobava London
✅ The Colle, Torre, Stonewall, and Levitsky Attack
✅ Rare sidelines, including the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit
Play Solid, but Play to Win
All lines you’ll learn here are solid and engine-checked. But this repertoire isn’t just about safety!
The authors make sure you also have chances to fight for a win with Black. Sometimes that means setting a little trap for White:
White took a pawn here, but that pawn was poisoned!
With the right punishment, you end up winning a piece.
Other times it means sacrificing a pawn to seize the initiative:
White can just take the pawn! But can they really? You’ll see in the course.
To help you understand the greater picture, every chapter comes with a general introduction as well as model games that show how strong players — including the authors themselves — handle the variations in practice.
You’ll also get a quickstarter chapter that gathers the most important variations so you can focus on the essentials first.
The Team Behind the Course
Anna-Maja Kazarian is a Woman International Master with a peak FIDE rating of 2320. Her debut repertoire on Chessable, Starting Out: 1.e4 e5, has been received with overwhelmingly positive feedback and helped thousands of players improve. As a popular streamer, Anna-Maja has a real gift for presenting chess and breaking down concepts for a wide audience. Be sure to check out her videos along with the course!
Joining her is Dachey Lin, a FIDE Master with two IM norms and co-author of Practical Chess Puzzles. He has turned his attention to opening nuances and positional ideas and brings valuable insights to the repertoire.
Together, these two experts have created a course that is both easy to learn and powerful to use. The perfect weapon against 1.d4 for all levels!
No more uncertainty against 1.d4. With this repertoire, you’ll always have a clear plan, solid foundations, and real chances to win.