Bruno Schmidt: Level 47 Chess Rival (2014 ELO)

Bishop tier · Modern · plays the Queen's Gambit Declined

• Level: 47 of 100
• Tier: Bishop
• Rating: 2014 ELO
• Opening: Queen's Gambit Declined
• Style: Modern
• From: Brazil
• Age: 22
• Plays: Black (you have White)

How Bruno plays

Bruno is a 22-year-old from Porto Alegre who sees the Queen's Gambit Declined as a flexible, modern system rather than a fortress. He plays ...e6, ...Nf6 and ...Be7 and castles early, but he is always watching for the moment to break with ...c5 or to take on c4 and free his game. He would rather have active pieces and a slightly loose structure than a perfect but passive one.

He is happiest in dynamic middlegames where his pieces come alive after a central break: isolated pawns, hanging pawns, open files. He is less comfortable when White restricts his breaks and he has to defend a cramped position with nothing to aim at. Bruno tends to strike early, sometimes before his position is ready, so a well-prepared White can meet the break and leave him with structural problems that last into the endgame.

At 2014 ELO, Bruno rarely gives material away for nothing. He is held to that rating by the engine, so you will see the occasional inaccuracy in quiet positions, but tactics are usually spotted. Games are won by building a better position over many moves and converting it carefully.

Queen's Gambit Declined: the line Bruno plays

Bruno defends with the Queen's Gambit Declined: 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6, then ...Nf6, ...Be7 and early castling. The main book line is the Tartakower, with ...h6 and ...b6 so the light-squared bishop can go to b7. It is one of the most respected defences in chess and hard to break by force.

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 Be7 5.Bg5 O-O 6.e3 h6 7.Bh4 b6 8.Bd3 Bb7

• 2...e6: ...e6 holds d5 and opens the dark-squared bishop, at the cost of locking in the c8 bishop for now.
• 5...O-O: Castling early: Black finishes the kingside before deciding on the centre.
• 6...h6: ...h6 asks your bishop to choose between h4 and a trade on f6.
• 8...Bb7: ...Bb7 is the Tartakower point: the 'bad' bishop finds a long diagonal.

Learn it move by move: Queen's Gambit Declined walkthrough

How to beat Bruno

1. Play a useful waiting move like Rc1 before developing your f1 bishop. If he then takes on c4, you recapture in one move instead of two, and his freeing plan costs him the tempo instead of you.
2. If ...c5 and ...cxd4 leave you with an isolated d4 pawn, use it to support a knight on e5. If he ends up with the isolated pawn, blockade it on d4 and trade pieces.
3. Put a rook on c1 and keep your queen near c2 to make ...c5 hard to play. When his break is restricted, his modern setup turns passive and he must look for another plan.
4. The Exchange Variation (cxd5 exd5, then Bd3, Qc2, Nge2 and castling) gives White a clear, low-risk plan: the minority attack with b4-b5 against Black's queenside pawns. It is easier to play well than the main lines and works at every level.
5. The book answers 1.d4 and 1.c4. Open 1.e4 and he is out of book at move one.

What beating Bruno teaches you

Bruno teaches you to restrict an opponent's central breaks and to play both sides of isolated queen's pawn positions.

Neighbours on the ladder

• Iris Wong: level 46
• Zara Kim: level 48