1.c4 Simplified by GM Alex Colovic

This FIDE chess trainer has helped 1,000s of Chessablers refine their opening repertoires, and raise their rating to new heights. Today, he teaches you…

How to Finesse Black Into
Playing on Your Home Turf

His complete 1.c4 repertoire for White confronts the second player with cunning move orders… leading the game into unique positions, where you hold a massive knowledge advantage!

It’s called 1.c4: Simplified, brought to you by Grandmaster Alex Colovic.

You’ve probably heard of Colovic.

He’s a chess pro with 18 national titles — plus record-setting performances at the 31st European Club Cup and the 42nd Chess Olympiad.

He also became a FIDE trainer in 2018, and won the 2021 Chessable Author of the Year award. Thanks — in no small part — to his pioneering of the Simplified series.

It streamlines GM-grade openings down to 100 manageable variations, with move-by-move explanations to shortcut your learning curve.

In this addition to the series, Colovic teaches you one of his best chess openings. One he’s played for over 18 years and…

Dominates with a Staggering 70% Win Rate!

No other opening can switch gears on demand, and exploit the tiniest changes on the board, like the English Opening.

Paired with slick move orders and transpositions…

The English can surprise even well-prepared opponents — and lure them into positions where White is better-informed and better-equipped to win.

That’s exactly how Colovic gained a 70% win rate after 1.c4 — how he scored 48.5 points out of 70 games against master-level opposition or higher.

And you can see for yourself the point-generating power of the English… when you try the variations here in your games.

After pushing your c-pawn, watch Black stick to their routine by playing their defense to 1.d4.

But while the lay of their pawns and pieces may look familiar…

Their schtick fails, because Colovic’s move orders cut right across their plan.

For example:

Did Black play 1…d5 and 2…e6 à la Queen’s Gambit Declined (QGD) — hoping for a quiet middlegame?

No bueno, because you’ll rock their ramparts by hammering their center…

Black is forced to take on an isolated queen’s pawn,
in a position where you have it under “lock and key”

Or their king!

With this classic Greek gift sacrifice,
Black’s king will never be completely safe

Against the Slav-style 2…c6 and its light-square strategy… you’ll seize the dark squares left behind, and create angles of attack.

With the dark squares as a launch pad for attack, you’ll strike
the kingside with an eventual g2-g4-g5

And to smother the aggression of 1…Nf6 and the King’s Indian Defense…

You’ll grab all the space you can with the e- and c-pawns. Then grind Black down with your more mobile pieces.

Black’s attack isn’t crashing through with f4 under
firm control… while you’re about to uncork
tactics through the long diagonal

1.c4: Simplified also covers the Reversed Sicilian (1…e5), Symmetrical English (1…c5), Dutch Defense (1…f5), and other sidelines by the second player.

So however Black opens, you’ll be in a prime position to take the point.

Here are the highlights of the repertoire:

💯 Lean and complete. You can finish the 89 MoveTrainer variations in 30 days or less — and never have to worry about opening a chess game again.

💯 Out-hustles Black with move orders and transpositions, mapped out by Colovic by playing 1.c4 for almost two decades.

💯 GM-level understanding passed to you through 14 hours of video and 50,000 words of instruction.

💯 Plus timely author support and variation updates from a Chessable OG with over 2,100 star-studded ratings from happy students.

We’re confident that 1.c4: Simplified can put you in a prime position with its slick move orders — and ultimately send your win rate off the roof.