Why the Colle System is Chess's Best-Kept Secret

Surprise your opponents by using the Colle System, a “simple to learn” opening and one of the most underrated openings in chess.

If you want to have a “simple to learn” opening that can give you a win as early as move #8 and you can also surprise your opponent by playing it, then welcome into this lesson.

I’m going to show you one underrated opening line that will help you crush a lot of experienced opponents and get them totally out of their opening preparation.

☉ Opening systems are way too powerful. Learn here The London System (Essential Theory)

Colle System (Underrated Opening)

You’re starting up with the move 1.d4. By the way, if you don’t play d4, if let’s say you play 1.e4 instead normally in the first move, don’t worry, we are learning a really simple and universal setup that you can play right after watching this lesson. This lesson is all you need to start playing this opening.

This opening is so simple and universal that, whatever Black does, you’re going to play the same thing.

This setup is called the Colle System and a lot of players underestimate it because maybe none of the world’s top players play it.

It looks maybe slightly passive, but in reality, if you think about it, it’s the same Slav Defense with the colors reversed and with an extra tempo.

The Slav Defense is a very good opening for Black, a lot of the top players play it, so why would it be bad for White? Of course, it’s not. And with an extra tempo, it should be great!

Also, there are some hidden attacking opportunities that almost no one is aware of, and I’m going to share them with you here.

White’s Setup

Pay attention to White’s setup in the Colle System. In the first moves you are putting your bishop on d3, your knights on f3 and d2, and then castling. This is exactly what you’re going to be doing at every occasion, whatever Black does.

This setup is very simple to learn and you don’t need to know any opening theory. You don’t have to calculate anything. You can play these first moves really quickly. Also, thanks to the pawns in the center, your position is rock solid. There’s really nothing Black can do here to attack you anywhere soon.

Evil Trap Humans Almost Can’t See

After Black castles, you play another interesting move –Re1. It looks a bit mysterious, but it makes sense if you think about how to bring out the dark-squared bishop.

One of the best ways to do it is to strike in the center with e4, which will give you some attacking options in the center, and simultaneously will open up the diagonal for the bishop.

Having this rook in place, you will support the advancement of your e-pawn and you are also setting a really evil trap. It is just not human to notice it, honestly.

Watch the full video lesson to learn all the details about this trap. The thing is you can either win the queen or check mate the king.

You can win the game in just 8 moves! You’re going to crush everybody because nobody can defend as good as Stockfish.

☉ Playing styles of computers and humans are very different. Look here when Kasparov Broke the Computer with a Queen Sacrifice.

Tactical Pattern: Sacrifice on h7

The way you check mate the king is by using a typical tactical pattern of sacrificing the bishop on h7. The thing is that in this position, this tactical pattern comes very unexpectedly!

So far, it seems like both players have just played normal developing moves, all the standard stuff, but, all of a sudden, your bishop can take on h7 to destroy the castling position and bring the black king out.

You’re forcing the checkmate!

☉ To successfully finish a chess game with checkmate, you need to use good tactics. Learn some of them in Chess Tactics Galore.

Kingside Attack

Now, I’m going to show you another attacking pattern which is also very unexpected by your opponent, and that you can use in different positions, but especially in this Colle System.

We are putting the same setup in place. Black puts the knight on d7 instead of c6. That is something Black does fairly often, as the knight looks good on d7 as well.

The knight’s position is not critical. I just want to show you a slightly different variation of the same opening, and what you can do there.

As you did previously, you play Re1 and you strike in the center with e4. What if Black plays Qc7, another standard move in all kind of Queen’s pawn openings?

You still play e4, threatening to go to e5. After Black takes on e4, here’s another interesting attacking pattern. You can lift the rook to e4, and later you can swing it over to the kingside.

The Rook Lift

All of a sudden, you’re having a crushing attack! All of your pieces are targeting the black king and Black is basically defenseless.

This is really cool because, again, nothing showed your intent of attack on the kingside. But that’s exactly what you’re going after.

Just look at the position. Almost all of your pieces are pointing towards the king. The two powerful bishops are doing this, the knight is in close proximity and ready to jump, and the queen can be included also very soon.

An Idea Worth Remembering: Qd2

Also, there is a very typical idea worth remembering, you could play Qd2 to bring the queen into the attack. This queen can take on h6 to deliver a checkmate. Black is defenseless.

Black has some different options to defend the position, but White has good responses for all of them.

Basically, you are going to checkmate the black king and that is the end of the story.

☉ If you liked this lesson, surely you will like The Rat Defense, an Easy & TRICKY Chess Opening.

Can You Find the Best Move?

Let me ask you one quick thing. What if Black here plays Rd8?

Can you play Bg5 here or not?

This is an interesting question. Think about this and write it down in the comments below, if you can find some trick for Black here, after the bishop is coming here to g5. What will Black do?

Is Bg5 a good move for White or not? Can Black somehow save their position? Write down in the comments below and if you have any questions about this opening overall, feel free to let me know.