Six Videos, Seven Opening Systems and One Defensive Gap: IM Valeri Lilov Releases Episode 21 of 'Power of Initiative'

The fourth game of the day, board seven. My clock showed 34 minutes after move twelve. My opponent was thirty years younger, and across those twelve moves he never let his clock dip below forty seconds per move. Knight to f3. Pawn to e3. Bishop to d3. Castling. Then the bishop slid to f4. Not a single move worth annotating, and that is exactly what cost me nearly half my thinking time.

I left the board with a question that has followed me for years: when an opponent refuses to enter the theoretical maze you prepared, what remains except to start reasoning from zero?

A new data point arrived earlier this month. IM Valeri Lilov, a Bulgarian trainer, released episode 21 of the video series 'Power of Initiative' — six instructional videos setting out plans for Black against the group of openings White uses to sidestep theory after 1.d4 d5. The list covers the Colle System, the Trompowsky Attack, the Torre Attack, the London System, the Catalan, the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit and the Richter-Veresov Opening.

At first hearing, this is a well-aimed product. But after reading the promotional material closely and checking it against what I have seen at the board, I count at least three points worth verifying before anyone pays.

I. Context: when White declines 2.c4

The groundwork first. After 1.d4 d5 the road splits. If White plays 2.c4 in the classical sense, Black enters four major systems: the Slav with 2...c6, the Semi-Slav with 2...e6 and ...c6, the Queen's Gambit Accepted with 2...dxc4, and the Orthodox Queen's Gambit with 2...e6. Together these form a theoretical mass so large that main Slav and Semi-Slav variations are commonly analysed to move 25 or 30 in most modern opening books.

For a club player with twenty study hours a month, walking into that mass is a bad bet. That is why a section of White players chooses another route: delay 2.c4, or drop it altogether.

The opening group in episode 21 is precisely that set of choices. The Colle System builds Nf3, e3, Bd3 and castling. The Trompowsky begins 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5. The Torre runs through Nf3, Bg5, e3. The London System places a bishop on f4 or g5 with e3. The Catalan keeps the c-pawn at home a few extra moves and prioritises Bg2. The Blackmar-Diemer Gambit is 1.d4 d5 2.e4. The Richter-Veresov is Nc3 with Bg5.

From the outside, the common thread is that White accepts a less ambitious position in exchange for less to memorise. That is only the outer shell. Inside there is another theme.

From the touchline, I see the whole game. In chess, that touchline is the pawn structure. People watch pieces move. I watch the pawn structure shift. A bishop on f4 says nothing on its own; what matters is that White has given up central control by pawns and is trying to hold the centre with pieces.

In 2026, when football and major chess events stopped at once, I had seven months with no games to write about. Seven months without football, seven months of asking why. I used that stretch to build a private dataset of drawn games without goals, sorted by pressing patterns. The habit carried over to chess: before trusting an opening, I want to know how it draws and how it wins, not merely what moves it contains.

In Vietnam this story carries an extra layer. The club chess scene in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City has thickened over more than a decade, and the number of players rated between 1500 and 2026 has grown quickly. They are the main buyers of online opening courses. They are also the group most often facing the problem episode 21 targets: an opponent who builds the London or the Trompowsky, makes no mistake in the first fifteen moves, then enters the middlegame with a clear time advantage.

Look at the record of Vietnam's leading players — Le Quang Liem won the World Blitz Championship in 2026, Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son held the top domestic position for years — and it is clear the elite level is not the issue. The issue sits in the middle tier, where the largest number of players live and where educational products have the greatest effect.

II. Tactical analysis

II.1. Six videos, seven systems

The simplest division is the most worrying one. Seven opening systems, six videos. Subtract the introduction and conclusion such series usually include, and the real time per system shrinks further.

An opening system, to be usable safely, needs at least three things: a typical pawn structure, two or three middlegame plans, and a short list of the moves opponents use to break that plan. The Trompowsky alone has at least four main branches, depending on whether Black chooses ...Ne4, ...e6, ...d5 or accepts a bishop exchange. The London System has at least five different pawn structures, depending on whether White puts the bishop on f4 or g5 and whether Black chooses ...c5, ...e6 or ...g6.

Six videos cannot cover that. So I do not expect a theory course. I expect a plan framework. On that measure, the 'practical plans' framing is honest.

II.2. The real thread: c4 delayed, not deleted

The promotional text describes this group as systems White uses to avoid Slav theory by not playing 2.c4. That description fits the Colle, the London, the Trompowsky, the Torre and the Richter-Veresov. It does not fit the Catalan or the Blackmar-Diemer.

The Catalan does not drop the c-pawn. It advances it late in a different order: 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2, with c4 arriving on move five or six. The resulting structure still carries the full pressure of a Queen's Gambit; White simply keeps the bishop on the long diagonal rather than pushing the pawn early.

The Blackmar-Diemer goes further still. 1.d4 d5 2.e4 is an active pawn sacrifice, not an avoidance. White there is not seeking safety. White is seeking an open board and is willing to pay.

Three systems that differ in nature, bundled under one label, signals that the product title was written by marketing rather than by the person who wrote the curriculum. For buyers this means something concrete: if you need a solution against the Catalan, do not expect it to sit beside the solution against the Colle.

II.3. System by system, from Black's side

Colle System. White builds Nf3, e3, Bd3 and castles, aiming for e4. The system is underrated at club level, but it has one clear structural weakness: White does not control the centre with pawns, and e4 only works if Black stands still. Black's standard counter is ...c5, ...Nc6, ...Bd6 or ...Be7, then ...e5 — turning White into the defender in the very position White wanted to attack. Play passively as Black against the Colle and you lose slowly; push ...c5 on the right beat and White must explain that e3 pawn.

Trompowsky. 2.Bg5 attacks the f6 knight before White establishes the centre. Black has two schools: accept a damaged structure to seize the centre with ...Ne4, ...d5 and ...c5, or keep a healthy structure and accept a bishop exchange. The paradox of the Trompowsky is that the side looking most aggressive is the side most likely to drift, if Black survives the first ten moves without panicking.

Torre Attack. Nf3, Bg5, e3, Bd3, Nbd2. It transposes constantly into the London and the Colle, and that transpositional flexibility is what troubles Black. The classical answer is ...c5 with ...Qb6, hitting d4 and b2 at once.

London System. This is the most notable name on the list and the most mispositioned. Baadur Jobava systematised the bishop-to-g5 and bishop-to-f4 variations for White from the 2010s onward, and since then the system has appeared regularly at elite events. Black's classic counter involves ...c5, ...Qb6, ...Nc6, ...Bf5 or ...Bg4, aiming to force White to decide about the d4 pawn before completing the setup. The London is strong because it is hard to beat; the London is weak because it rarely wins by itself. For Black, the goal is not instant victory but refusing a comfortable balanced position.

Catalan. As noted, this is a delayed-c4 system. Black's plan revolves around achieving ...c5 and ...dxc4 at the right moment, or maintaining central tension until White must choose. This is the most precision-demanding system on the list, because White usually holds long-term pressure on files and diagonals.

Blackmar-Diemer Gambit. 1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3. White sacrifices a pawn to open the f-file and a diagonal. Black needs three principles: return the pawn at the right moment, complete development, and do not open further lines for White's bishops. Simple in theory, and in practice the group of games where Black most often loses composure.

Richter-Veresov. Nc3, Bg5, rare but unpleasant against the unprepared. Black typically plays ...Nf6, ...d5, ...Bf5 to trade bishops and calm the kingside pressure.

II.4. Four general principles for Black

If I had to compress this group onto one page for a Black player, the page would carry four lines.

First, push ...c5 before White completes the setup. In almost every branch of the Colle, the London and the Torre, ...c5 is Black's most important move, and its timing decides the game. Too early and you lose central control; too late and White is already standing firm.

Second, bring the queen to b6 when possible. A queen on b6 hits d4 and b2 simultaneously, forcing White to choose between two worries. The move runs through every document on this opening group, from the Torre to the London.

Third, resolve the ...e6 versus ...e5 tension decisively. Black cannot leave that question hanging into the middlegame, because White will exploit the hole in the centre.

Fourth, trade bishops at the right moment. White's bishop pair in the London and the Trompowsky carries long-term value, and Black usually pays a small price — ceding the centre or accepting a slightly worse structure — to restore balance.

None of these four principles appears in any video in condensed form. Learners must extract them, or already own them. That is the line between a course that teaches moves and a course that teaches thinking.

II.5. The trade-off: curriculum or framework?

There is a trade-off buyers should recognise first. Learning by plans is fast, and fast usually comes with shallow. Learning by variations is deep, and deep usually collapses when the opponent leaves the book.

The real value of a course like episode 21 lies in teaching learners to recognise pawn structures before teaching them to recall moves. If the six videos do that, they are worth every dong. If they merely offer move sequences with short annotations, learners gain a false sense of security for about six months, then lose it in the first game against an opponent playing off-script.

A broader point belongs here. The opening-course market is saturated at IM level. Every system on Lilov's list has free material on YouTube and in game databases. The differentiation of a product like this lies in presentation structure, not in new content. Systems do not lie, but they only become audible when the data is thick enough. For a buyer, thick enough data here means: watch a sample video, check reviews from people who studied it, and ask whether your problem really sits in the opening.

III. The contrarian angle: 'extremely dangerous' is sales language

The promotional text applies the phrase 'extremely dangerous' to this group. I have spent more than five decades at the board and later in front of analysis screens, and I cannot recall a single instance where the London System or the Colle System made a strong player's hand shake before the game began.

The London System is a solid system, not a dangerous one. The Colle System is a discreet system, and at the highest level it carries a reputation for passivity. The Trompowsky and the Torre are genuinely irritating tools, but the degree of irritation depends on how well Black prepares, not on the openings themselves. Their real risk lives at club level, where a 1600 player can lose in forty moves without understanding what happened. That is practical risk, not theoretical risk.

There is another detail. The product title mentions the Benko Gambit. The Benko Gambit begins 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 — a queenside pawn sacrifice entirely unrelated to the 1.d4 d5 content episode 21 discusses. Naming a product about anti-Slav systems after a completely different opening is a search-optimisation decision, not a technical one. Someone hunting for the Benko Gambit lands on the right page, then realises they need something else.

The credential file also leaves a gap. IM Valeri Lilov is introduced as a Bulgarian trainer. No Elo rating, no student results, no tournament record. For an educational product, that is a notable omission. An IM title does not automatically mean a good curriculum, and a good curriculum does not necessarily require a GM title.

I say this having once been wrong in the opposite direction. In 2026, my first analysis of the gegenpressing system drew heavy criticism; I was called a conservative, and I spent six weeks reviewing footage to verify every claim. The first article got pelted. Data never takes offence. Since then I never state anything absolutely about a new product or system. What I can state firmly is this: claims without numbers should be read as claims.

The execution blind spot I want to stress sits elsewhere. People buy opening courses to fix a problem whose real cause usually lies in the middlegame: calculation, endgame technique, and the ability to read an opponent's plan. No opening video cures those three things. People watch pieces move. I watch the pawn structure shift — and a pawn structure only shifts meaningfully when the player understands what is being traded for what.

IV. What to verify in the next game

When the six videos are fully released, one technical point deserves verification: how do they handle the ...e5 tension in the London and Colle branches? That is where every course on this opening group lives or dies.

Patience is not stillness. Patience is waiting for the right beat in the opponent's pressing. For a Black player in this group, that patience takes a concrete shape: waiting for the right beat to push ...c5, the right beat to trade bishops, and the right beat to decline the invitation to open the board.

The final question I leave behind is not about the product. It is about the buyer. If you need a video to know what to do after 1.d4 d5, are you short of opening knowledge, or short of a way of thinking about pawn structures?

I am sixty-nine. I still learn from the young. Football does not retire, and neither does chess.