Gavriil Veresov


Gavriil Nikolayevich Veresov was a Soviet chess player. He was awarded the title of International Master in 1950.
Veresov was a six-time winner of the Belarusian Chess Championship. Veresov came to the forefront of Soviet chess during the Second World War. The Chessmetrics website, which assigns retroactive ratings to older players, ranks him as 21st in the world in 1945. He was an aggressive player and notable public figure, but is mostly recognized today for the opening that bears his name – The Veresov Opening. Veresov was born and died in Minsk.

The Veresov Opening

begins either 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Bg5 or, more commonly, 1. d4 d5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Bg5. After 3.Bg5, Black's most popular choices are 3... Nbd7, 3... e6, 3... Bf5, 3... c6 and 3... c5, all potentially leading to different variations, with 3...e6 4. e4 giving a French Defence by transposition. White's plans typically include rapid Queenside castling, and an early f2-f3 and e2-e4 pawn push. The ECO code for the Richter-Veresov Attack is D01.