What’s on the Avoiding Theory poster
A 6-row table: As · Opening · Idea.
Openings where understanding a setup replaces memorising lines.
- White — London System — d4, Bf4, e3, Bd3, c3, Nbd2
- White — Colle — d4, Nf3, e3, Bd3, c3
- White — King's Indian Attack — Nf3, g3, Bg2, O-O, d3, e4
- Black — King's Indian Defence — Nf6, g6, Bg7, O-O, d6
- Black — Scandinavian — 1...d5 against e4
- Black — Slav — d5 and c6 against d4
Systems are a reasonable trade below club level. Above it, opponents know how to punish an automatic setup.
Questions about the Avoiding Theory poster
- What’s on the Avoiding Theory poster?
- A 6-row table: As · Opening · Idea. Openings where understanding a setup replaces memorising lines. White — London System — d4, Bf4, e3, Bd3, c3, Nbd2; White — Colle — d4, Nf3, e3, Bd3, c3; White — King's Indian Attack — Nf3, g3, Bg2, O-O, d3, e4; Black — King's Indian Defence — Nf6, g6, Bg7, O-O, d6; Black — Scandinavian — 1...d5 against e4; Black — Slav — d5 and c6 against d4. Systems are a reasonable trade below club level. Above it, opponents know how to punish an automatic setup.
- Who is the Avoiding Theory poster for?
- Avoiding Theory belongs to the Chess section rather than to a school year, because games is not something one grade owns. Anyone learning openings can pin it up — a beginner, a student mid-course, or someone revising years later.
- When should you use the Avoiding Theory poster?
- Systems reach a playable position against almost anything, at the cost of ambition. A wall chart earns its place by being glanceable from where the work is happening, so Avoiding Theory belongs on the wall where that games work actually happens, within glancing distance, rather than filed away.
- What other posters go with Avoiding Theory?
- The Caro-Kann, When to Castle and Controlling the Centre sit alongside Avoiding Theory in the Chess section. Printed together they make a wall rather than a single sheet, which is how a reference set actually gets used.The Caro-KannWhen to CastleControlling the Centre
- Is the Avoiding Theory poster free to download and print?
- Yes. Avoiding Theory downloads as a free PDF with no account, no email and no watermark, like everything else in the Chess section. Print as many copies as you like for a home, a classroom, a library or a tutoring group; reselling the file is the only thing the licence rules out.Read the licence
- What size does the Avoiding Theory poster print at?
- Avoiding Theory is a vector PDF laid out for US Letter, and prints on A4 with Fit to page — the same file, no separate download. Because every mark on it is drawn rather than photographed, it stays sharp enlarged to A3, A2 or A1 at a copy shop. Colour carries emphasis only, so a greyscale print of Avoiding Theory loses nothing.Printing guide
Related posters
Charts that sit alongside Avoiding Theory on the same wall.
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