blunderprone in his comments rightly mentions this important idea,
"Target openings you can understand."
As Black, I feel it is Black's duty not to look for a draw but to fight for the initiative.
Warheit asked me what prompted me to choose this opening. I don't know. It was an opening I've always thought of learning and I think it suits my style more than anything. I seriously never gave it a thought.
vs 1. d4 usually I either play the Slav, Queen's Indian, Bogo-Indian, Nimzo-Indian
vs 1.e4 usually I play Ruy Lopez Archangelsk (if I can get the chance), French Winawer/MacCutcheon, Alekhine Defence and even the Petroff.
I like playing dynamically and energetically, grabbing the initiative and my style is suited more towards unbalanced play/structures - which is prompting me to give up some passive defences like the QID.
Incidentally, I played this opening last week in 4 quick games as Black against my brother-in-law (he's rated around 1850 in rapids) last week (he had won his game early so we were playing socially) and the score for this opening was +1-2=1 (and that's without move memorisation beyond the 5th move) - a fairly good result.
In certain lines, if White chooses a sharp line, the battle is of a highly tactical nature and that's where understanding how best to cope with the resulting pawn structure that usually arises is of utmost importance.My game is tomorrow and I doubt I have the chance to play the opening. However, I might be tempted to give it a shot if my opponent plays it.
Sometimes I wish I can play one of these Magic: The Gathering cards (see left) in chess, my opponent might suddenly see the light and resign immediately!
Not that I mind, naturally.
Nah...... :)
forigve me for terseness. just worked 14 of last days (required rotation once per month), so bushed, just got home and visiting friends here before sitting down to study our game... just to let you know i visited.
ReplyDeletehello dk,
ReplyDeleteno worries there, mate. just do take care of yourself.
:)
Wow! Don't you hink it's kinda hard getting an opening down when you're working 8 different ones? 4 to 1.e4 and 4 to 1.d4. But hey, if you can manage, don't mind me. It just seems you're overdoing it a little. Okay, Bogo/Queen's/Nimzo can probably be studied in relation to eachother. As i like to do with Benoni/Benko. But you're playing 4 totally unrelated openings vs 1.e4. And yes! Playing openings you feel that suit you is a good thing. If it don't feel right then don't play it is my advice. keep up the good work!
ReplyDeletehello edwin,
ReplyDeleteI've no problems with the French Winawer/MacCutcheon and the Ruy Archangelsk because they are side variations and i seldom encounter them OTB because my opponents all prefer to diver to other lines.
i seldom wheel out the Petroff and Alekhine except for blitz because i've not fully understood the intricacies of these openings (maybe over time i will but not at the moment).
for 1.d4 i play the Nimzo-Indian without fail if my opponent allows me to. if no i divert to a QID or Bogo-Indian depending on my mood. The QID is a very hard defense to grasp and i found it doesn't suit me and i'm considering giving it up. The Bogo-Indian, QID and Nimzo are closely related and it's not as difficult as it sounds.
the Slav is a hard beast to tame and i'm having severe problems remembering and playing the a6 variation.
that leaves just about a few 1d4 defences left for me to choose which offers me sharp counterplay. it's either the Benoni/Benko, the KID and certain lines in the semi-slav.
cheers
i forgot to add, i am playing these openings (without a solid foundation to them - nothing beyond 6 moves on my part), because i'm playing to master and understand the "squares" and strategies behind these openings.
ReplyDeletethanks
GenCard looks like it was a fun utility, but the guy took it down. Oh, the possibilities...
ReplyDeletethat's a bit of a bummer. would've been kewl! can imagine those kids freaking out with such a utility.
ReplyDelete