Gavriil Veresov

Full name	Gavriil Nikolayevich Veresov
Country	Soviet Union
Born	July 28, 1912 Minsk, Belarus
Title	International Master

Gavriil Nikolayevich Veresov (Belarusian: Гаўрыла Мікалаевіч Верасаў, Russian: Гавриил Николаевич Вересов; 28 July 1912 - 12 November 1979) was a Soviet chess player. He was awarded the title of International Master (IM) in 1950.

Veresov was a five-time winner of the Belarusian Chess Championship (1936, 1939, 1941, 1958, 1963). Veresov came to the forefront of Soviet chess during the Second World War, but never gained much attention. He is mostly recognised today for the opening that bears his name - The Veresov Opening. Veresov was born and died in Minsk.

The Veresov Opening

Read main article: Richter-Veresov Attack

The Veresov Opening (also known as the Richter-Veresov Attack after International Master Kurt Richter) 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.