I love the Colle. Just because you start off in that opening that does not mean you stay with it. The option to get out of the book during the game is always present.
The option to attack the King side is my favorite reason. But the the heat on your opponent early. Diagonal lines to play as they can close one but another is open. If they manage to do that then open up files and the whole thing opens up much more than they wanted in the game.
I would never ever recommend the Colle to a beginner for the following (logical) reason:
Why wouldnt you set up the same structure but with the bishop outside the pawn chain (on f4 its a London and on g5 its a Torre)? Beginners have enough trouble being competetive when they have well placed pieces - how on earth are they going to be competetive when they have bishops which are blocked in from the start?
Obviously the c1 bishop does get out in the Colle, but a beginner doesnt usually know how to do that. Ive seen (and won) countless games where beginners play thins like the Colle and get stuck with an awful c1 bishop.
Despite my last post, I read a great book of Colle's best games! There are some absolute attacking masterpieces in that book. He was an unbelieveable player!
RE: beginners playing systems.
I think it depends on what level of "beginner" we are talking about here and who the beginner is playing against (is it beginner vs beginner or beginner vs established player). It also depends on the temperament of the individual, whether they are an adult or a kid, whether they are busy or not. I generally advocate the beginners should just try to survive. My two rules with beginners are:
1. Dont make pawn weaknesses
2. Activate pieces at all costs (no bad bishops)
I take a different approach to you in that I often advocate (some) systems for (some) beginners because I find that many beginners become too obsessed with openings and opening theory when they should just be trying to learn more about chess (strategy and calculation). Too many beginners know too much theory and have no idea about the ideas behind that theory. Its no point getting to move 24 of the Najdorf Sicilian if you dont know why the previous 23 moves have been played!
I haven’t played the Colle in quite a while, but I used it to good effect back when I was clueless about openings. It enabled me to get to the middle game without being a dead duck already!
Post some games, please!
Yep but recently ive been switching between the Colle-Zuketort and the Catalan as to which will be my dominate opening.
Yep but recently ive been switching between the Colle-Zuketort and the Catalan as to which will be my dominate opening.
I use both also. Hard to stay which would give a dominate advantage. When i like be Strickly Business and start working on my opponents king i would try the CZ over Catalan. If i want to work my opponent over systemtically i think i play the Catalan.
It depends on your skill set also. Which favors your playing style.
I was seriously considering buying Lakdawala's "Colle System: move by move" because I like the author. Is the opening worth learning at all?
Im 1786 and I stull win good breakthrough games with it but I will admit the stronger my opposition got the more draws occured instead of wins from the opeing but I still rarely lose with it.
I think it pays to know both the Zuketort and the Koltanowski variations. It is a good opening to know as it cuts down on theory and enables you to focus your studies on more important areas such as tactics and endgames.
I think the colle K is just bad. The colle Z is better, but still the bishop is often blocked in behind its pawn (though it does influence e5).
The london and torre simply offer more chances at an attack imo.
Who likes the Colle System? Tell me why, post games with annotations if possible.