The Iron English Botvinnik Variation by GM Simon Williams (MP4)

Grandmaster Simon Williams is one of Chessable’s finest authors, known for his fun, combative, and easy-to-learn opening courses.

His knack for the attack helped him win the British Blitz Championship in 2005 and the open section of the London Chess Classic in 2010.

International Master Richard Palliser won the British Rapidplay Chess Championship in 2006. He’s also an excellent theoretician and author with more than 20 titles under his belt, including his first ever Chessable course.

These British champions spent months forging a newbie-friendly repertoire that’s tough as nails and aggressive as a bulldog. Finally, they’re ready to share their work with us.

Run over the opposition like a Bulldozer

GM Williams and IM Palliser built this repertoire based on the fighting system championed by three-time world champion Mikhail “The Iron Logician” Botvinnik.

The 5th World Champion and father of Soviet chess was a bulldozer over the board. With every move, he strove to press his agenda and bend the game to his will.

Years later, strong players like Levon Aronian and Jan-Krzysztof Duda continue the tradition in the modern age. In fact, 17 year-old Nordirbek Abdusattorov became the youngest ever World Rapid Chess Champion by beating Magnus Carlsen, Ian Nepomniachtchi, and Fabiano Caruana with the English opening!

And if you want to fight like these champions, there’s no better opening than The Iron English.

At the core of The Iron English is a formidable setup, which not only maximizes our space and attacking chances. But it’s also impervious to sharp counterplay.

Even better, the setup is so simple you can “get it” in just a few tries.

Fun fact: The Botvinnik English was GM Williams’ first opening ever. His father taught him the system when he was around six years old, when he was a total beginner. But the opening served him well for 15 odd years, until he reached GM-strength.

Our opening strategy is simple:

First, we build a stronghold of pawns on c4, d3, and e4. Next, we station our knights on c3 and e2 to support our center. And finally, we fianchetto our bishop to g2 to boost our battleship’s firepower.

This setup arms you with many aggressive strategies you’ll enjoy playing.

Inside the course, you will learn how to:

💣 Cramp the King’s Indian Defense with Freddie the f-pawn
💣 Steamroll the kingside with an unstoppable pawn storm
💣 Seize the light-squares and lock the opponent down
💣 Squash Black by playing on all sides of the board
💣 And many more!

With over 700 trainable lines and hours of video-sync instruction, The Iron English covers just about everything Black can throw your way.

The course not only shows how you can get an edge against different move orders. But you also get clear plans, which turn around Black’s attempts to stop our favorable setup.

And with the Quickstarter chapter’s 42 key lines, you can learn and start playing The Iron English in just a few hours.

If you’re looking for a simple yet ambitious way to play as White, then GM Williams and IM Palliser’s complete 1.c4 course is your perfect starting point.