Improving my Opening Repertoire 3 - White Sidelines
Introduction
Yesterday I identified weaknesses in my White repertoire and tried to fix my most major issue - 2...d6 Sicilians. Today I shall be looking at the sidelines which have caused problems.
2. Pirc / Modern
Problem
I'm currently playing Austrian setups, with the slightly offbeat 5. a3!? against the Pirc as an attempt to bypass ...c5 lines. I've had a couple of bad results recently in these lines, however, and I'm not totally sure what I'm doing in the positions.
Solution
The main problem lies with me rather than my openings. I tend to view these lines as slightly dodgy, which leads to impatience and frustration, especially against lower-rated players, when I cannot exploit my "advantage". I need to think rationally, to not rush through pawn breaks, and have a look at a few games to see when the e4-e5 break and other thematic ideas are valid. Also, I need to remember that just two bad results do not mean I need to undergo a complete overhaul of my repertoire.
3. Rubinstein French
Problem
I'm very happy with the other lines in my repertoire against the French, but the Rubinstein seems to lead pretty much be force to a position with which I'm not too familiar. Similar to the Pirc / Modern, I tend to get a small advantage out of the opening and be unsure what to do with it, and a little impatient. This time I also don't feel comfortable in the position. For example:
Solution
There's no way to avoid this structure without completely changing my repertoire (such as playing 2. e5). So I should go through games, flagging up instructive points. This will also (hopefully) improve my technical chess. The reverse is also true - I should study technical chess to improve my results in the line. I've recently purchased Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual and I have Aagaard's Excelling at Chess Vol. 1 which I haven't been through yet, so those would be good books to help with that.
6. Scandinavian
Problems
I currently play lines with Nge2 + f3 against all 2...Qxd5 Scandinavians intending 0-0-0 and g4. These avoid Black being able to get the standard Caro-Kann type setup and I'm fairly happy to play them. However, I don't know really know what theory there is to know on the lines, and I haven't had much OTB experience with them for a couple of years. Particularly against 3...Qd6 the line is fairly reputable, so a certain amount of theory has probably built up around it.
Against 2...Nf6 I'm not sure what to play at the moment. Again, I haven't played against the line in a couple of years, so I have no experience. I know one line of the "correspondence refutation" against the Portuguese Gambit (3. d4 Bg4):
However, I don't know how to handle this final position, nor anything else about the line, for example, 5...Bc8. There is 3...Nxd5 to look at as well.
Solutions
Option 1:
I learn some more theory / do some independent analysis of the system I play against 2...Qxd5. I like the types of positions it produces, and it hopefully takes the average Scandinavian player out of his or her comfort zone.
Against 2...Nf6, learn 3. Bb5+ lines. I don't want to enter the mess that is the Portuguese Gambit unprepared, and remembering a whole ream of theory on a line I see once in a blue moon doesn't seem an especially practical use of time. 3. Bb5+ is still a serious move, and it avoids me being move-ordered into lines I don't play, for example 3. Nf3 Qxd5 or 3. c4 c6 4. Nc3 cxd5.
Option 2:
I learn 2. Nc3. This fits with some of the rest of my repertoire (I play 2. Nc3 against the Alekhine, for example, so 1. e4 d5 2. Nc3 Nf6 is just a transposition). However, 2...c6 and 2...e6 are both problematic as I don't play those lines of the Caro-Kann and French. I suspect many Scandinavian players would transpose back into the Caro-Kann line. So Option 1 is preferable.
7. Alekhine with 2...d5
Problem
I am happy to see 1. e4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e5 with a transposition back into the Vienna, but don't know the lines with 2...d5 very well. In my book on the Vienna (The Modern Vienna Game, Ovetchkin & Soloviov, Chess Stars 2015) it mentioned that the authors were planning on writing a second book on this line, but I cannot see any evidence of it. I know enough theory to get by in the lines 3. e5 Nfd7 4. e6!?, 3...Ne4 4. Nce2 and 3...d4, but would like to expand my knowledge, especially on the 3...d4 line as currently I play the wimpish 4. exf6 dxc3 5. fxg7 cxd2+ 6. Qxd2 and try and claim a small structural advantage in the endgame.
Solution
The Swedish GM Jonny Hector is one of the main advocates of 2. Nc3. I shall go through his games and annotate them, and learn the relevant theory. For example, I believe the most recent try in the 3...d4 line is 6. Bxd2 Bxg7 7. Qf3.
8. Nimzowitsch
I don't think I've ever faced 1...Nc6 OTB. Therefore I only have a very sketchy repertoire against it - I play 2. Nc3 and hope for 2...e5 to restore normality. However, most 1...Nc6 players tend to keep an original flavour to the position with moves such as 2...d6, 2...Nf6 and 2...e6.
Against 2...d6 and 2...e6 I can play 3. f4 which reaches somewhat familiar structures, and 2...Nf6 can be met by 3. d4 which transposes either to the 2. Nc3 Alekhine (with a funny Black Knight on c6) or a sort of Pirc after 2...Nf6 3. d4 d6 4. f4. I might want to flesh things out a little, but this seems like a good starting point:
Tomorrow I shall go through the Accelerated Dragon and Sveshnikov.
