Filip Cohen: Level 39 Chess Rival (1918 ELO)

Bishop tier · Theory Wizard · plays the Queen's Gambit Declined

How Filip plays

Filip is a 48-year-old university lecturer from Hanoi who has studied the Queen's Gambit Declined for twenty years. He knows the Tartakower, the Lasker and the Orthodox lines in detail and plays the opening phase with complete confidence. His setups are textbook: ...Be7, castling, ...h6 and ...b6, with the light-squared bishop on b7.

He is most comfortable when the game follows known patterns and he can rely on deep preparation. He is less comfortable when White chooses a rare system and the game moves away from familiar theory. In those positions he must think from scratch, and his decisions become more ordinary. Filip respects classical principles above all, so he can be slow to respond to unusual piece placements or early pawn breaks that break the textbook mould. Ask him a question the books do not answer.

At 1918 ELO, Filip 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 Filip plays

Filip 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

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

How to beat Filip

  1. Consider a Catalan setup with g3 and Bg2. It aims your bishop at b7 and the long diagonal, the exact place where his Tartakower bishop wants to settle.
  2. Leave main-line theory early with a less common bishop placement, such as Bf4 instead of Bg5. He will have to find the plans himself, and his knowledge advantage shrinks.
  3. Time cxd5 so that ...exd5 closes the long diagonal in front of his b7 bishop. A Tartakower bishop staring at its own d5 pawn does very little.
  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 Filip teaches you

Filip teaches you to reach a playable middlegame without matching an opponent's theory move for move. You learn to think about plans, not memorised lines.

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