The Complete Semi-Slav Part 1: The Classical Meran (8…a6) | Chess Openings Explained

November 15, 2016 NHaselton Chess Lectures

♛

Ready to play?

Play and learn chess for free on Chess.com

Play on Chess.com →

Jonathan Schrantz tours through the Semi-Slav Defense. In Part 1, we look at the Meran Variation with 8…a6.

2016.11.07
Yuri Hambardzumian vs. Denis Khismatullin, 2015: D49 Queen’s Gambit Declined semi-Slav, Meran, Blumenfeld variation

♟ More videos — same opening

How to WIN with the QUEEN’S GAMBIT | 1400-1500 ELO

Dec 6, 2025

Sicilian Dragon vs Yugoslav Attack, Climbing Lichessladders, Game 15

Dec 5, 2025

Alireza vs Nodirbek || London Chess Classic 2025

Dec 4, 2025

How to WIN with the QUEEN’S GAMBIT | 1300-1400 ELO

Dec 4, 2025

💬

Join the discussion

Share your thoughts about this video in the ChessTerra forum

Discuss →

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

<div id="puzzlebot-container"></div>

<script src="https://code.jquery.com/jquery-3.6.0.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@chrisoakman/chessboardjs@1.0.0/dist/chessboard-1.0.0.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@chrisoakman/chessboardjs@1.0.0/dist/chessboard-1.0.0.js"></script>
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@chrisoakman/chessboardjs@1.0.0/dist/chessboard-1.0.0.polyfills.min.js"></script>

<script>
  var board = null;
  var game = new Chess();

  function onDragStart(source, piece, position, orientation) {
    // do not allow dragging when game is over
    if (game.game_over()) return false;

    // only allow white pieces to be dragged
    if (piece.search(/^b/) !== -1) return false;
  }

  function onDrop(source, target) {
    // see if the move is legal
    var move = game.move({
      from: source,
      to: target,
      promotion: "q" // always promote to a queen for example simplicity
    });

    // illegal move
    if (move === null) return "snapback";

    // update the board position
    board.position(game.fen());

    // get a random move from the engine
    window.setTimeout(makeRandomMove, 250);
  }

  // make a random move
  function makeRandomMove() {
    var possibleMoves = game.moves();

    // game over
    if (possibleMoves.length === 0) return;

    var randomIndex = Math.floor(Math.random() * possibleMoves.length);
    game.move(possibleMoves[randomIndex]);
    board.position(game.fen());
  }

  // initialize the chessboard
  function init() {
    var config = {
      draggable: true,
      onDragStart: onDragStart,
      onDrop: onDrop,
      position: 'start'
    };

    board = Chessboard('puzzlebot-container', config);

    makeRandomMove();
  }

  $(document).ready(init);
</script>