{"id":7513,"date":"2023-04-26T13:28:29","date_gmt":"2023-04-26T13:28:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.365chess.com\/view\/?post_type=product&#038;p=7513"},"modified":"2026-06-27T11:59:45","modified_gmt":"2026-06-27T11:59:45","slug":"play-1-b6-with-im-bryan-solano-cuya","status":"publish","type":"product","link":"https:\/\/www.365chess.com\/view\/shop\/play-1-b6-with-im-bryan-solano-cuya\/","title":{"rendered":"Play 1&#8230;b6! with IM Bryan Solano Cuya"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"padding: 56.66% 0 0 0; position: relative;\"><iframe style=\"position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%;\" title=\"Play 1...b6! with IM Bryan Solano\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/767795620?h=f05f45b50e&amp;badge=0&amp;autopause=0&amp;player_id=0&amp;app_id=58479\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p><script src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/api\/player.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2>Play 1\u2026b6! with IM Bryan Solano Cuya<\/h2>\n<p>Two key factors that determine success in games with faster time controls:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Less opening theory to study.<\/li>\n<li>Make it a complex positional battle.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>What if your opponent plays 1.e4\u20261.d4\u20261.Nf3 or any other opening for that matter? You surely don\u2019t want to spend hours studying chess just to keep up with the latest developments for a simple 10-minute game, right?<\/p>\n<p>Also, if you play a regular opening like the Sicilian or the French, he probably has already studied it beforehand and knows exactly how to answer to it. (Repeat after me, you don\u2019t want to play against a prepared opponent in a rapid, blitz, or bullet game).<\/p>\n<p>You need to take him into uncharted positional territory instead where he would not be able to sit back and rely on their opening theory knowledge.<\/p>\n<p>And that\u2019s why IM Bryan Solano Cuya suggests playing 1\u2026b6 against whatever White plays.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\" aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/videoapi-muybridge.vimeocdn.com\/animated-thumbnails\/image\/1d53e28f-b150-4bbe-bf78-611d506f56dd.gif?ClientID=vimeo-core-prod&amp;Date=1667853662&amp;Signature=bb06c26f5865f2523dd8706237c68316fbfda7eb\" width=\"488\" height=\"273\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Play 1\u2026b6! is a 4.5+ hour video-based training where the first segment focuses on the analyses of different lines in this opening and the second segment covers real-life games in 10 modules.<\/p>\n<p>This is an unexplored opening, and Bryan did a great job covering the MOST IMPORTANT lines that you will commonly face in this opening.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Here\u2019s what you are going to learn:<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Doubled pawns<\/strong>. When White\u2019s king\u2019s knight comes out on f3, Black\u2019s fianchettoed bishop on b7 can capture it to destroy White\u2019s pawn structure\u2026 weakening the kingside. Check out how Nabaty employed this tactic against Esipenko in a 2020 Titled Tuesday match.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Overstretched position<\/strong>. One of White\u2019s mistakes against a 1\u2026b6 player is to overextend his pawns to control the white squares. Black waits for the right chance here\u2014once the center opens up, the long-diagonal bishop usually takes over.<\/li>\n<li><strong>\u201cKing\u2019s Pawn, be gone!\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0The 1.e4 opening is sharp and aims to take a big chunk of the center. No worries. Black challenges it with a quick c7-c5, controlling d5 with Nc6, and brings the queen to c7. Black has an active development eyeing White\u2019s kingside\u2014scary for White!<\/li>\n<li><strong>Symmetrically equalized<\/strong>. What if White goes for 1.b3? That\u2019s tricky. As Black, go for a symmetrical pawn structure, leading to positional imbalances, and try to gain control of the dark square complex with your pawns. Your minor pieces control light squares anyway.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Bishop\u2019s loss, White\u2019s gain<\/strong>. White would occasionally end up trying to block the a8-h1 bishop with a pawn chain. Black should usually attack the base of the chain and provoke weaknesses in White\u2019s position. See the modules on the English Opening for more.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Pawn majority<\/strong>. Games with 1\u2026b6 require a lot of piece manipulation before any tactical opportunity arises. Do take advantage of such exchanges, especially in sharp, dynamic positions. Play it right, and you might end up with a pawn majority and a winning endgame.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The real beauty of 1\u2026b6 is that it can be played against virtually every single first move by White. It is a perfect choice for Black players with neither the time nor inclination to memorize a multitude of different defenses.<\/p>\n<p>Despite being relatively unexplored, 1\u2026b6 has been the weapon of some dynamic and uncompromising world-class players, including Britain\u2019s first Grandmaster, Tony Miles.<\/p>\n<h3>About the author:<\/h3>\n<p><strong>IM Bryan Solano Cuya\u00a0<\/strong>is an International Master from Costa Rica. Bryan won multiple national and international tournaments including Centroamericano del Caribe 2016, National Games in 2012, and Costa Rica Blitz Championship in 2017.<\/p>\n<p>He has been a part of the Salou Team in Spain. Bryan is a full-time chess player, coach, and streamer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>IM Bryan Solano Cuya give away his brand-new <i>Play 1&#8230;b6!<\/i> &#8211; a 4.5+ hour video-based training where the first segment focuses on the analyses of different lines in this opening and the second segment covers real-life games in 10 modules.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":31237,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v16.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Play 1...b6! with IM Bryan Solano Cuya - 365Chess<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.365chess.com\/view\/shop\/play-1-b6-with-im-bryan-solano-cuya\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Play 1...b6! with IM Bryan Solano Cuya - 365Chess\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"IM Bryan Solano Cuya give away his brand-new Play 1...b6! - a 4.5+ hour video-based training where the first segment focuses on the analyses of different lines in this opening and the second segment covers real-life games in 10 modules.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.365chess.com\/view\/shop\/play-1-b6-with-im-bryan-solano-cuya\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"365Chess\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-06-27T11:59:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.365chess.com\/view\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/7513.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1254\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1254\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\">\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\">\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.365chess.com\/view\/#organization\",\"name\":\"365Chess\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.365chess.com\/view\/\",\"sameAs\":[],\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.365chess.com\/view\/#logo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.365chess.com\/view\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/365chess-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.365chess.com\/view\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/365chess-logo.png\",\"width\":89,\"height\":89,\"caption\":\"365Chess\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.365chess.com\/view\/#logo\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.365chess.com\/view\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.365chess.com\/view\/\",\"name\":\"365Chess\",\"description\":\"Chess Games Database Online\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.365chess.com\/view\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":\"https:\/\/www.365chess.com\/view\/?s={search_term_string}\",\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.365chess.com\/view\/shop\/play-1-b6-with-im-bryan-solano-cuya\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.365chess.com\/view\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/7513.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.365chess.com\/view\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/7513.jpg\",\"width\":1254,\"height\":1254},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.365chess.com\/view\/shop\/play-1-b6-with-im-bryan-solano-cuya\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.365chess.com\/view\/shop\/play-1-b6-with-im-bryan-solano-cuya\/\",\"name\":\"Play 1...b6! 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