Recent Studies: How to Handle the Scandinavian

RyanMurphy5
RyanMurphy5
Aug 4, 2014, 8:31 PM |
2

Good time of day to you my dear chess friends,

 

     I still need to make a post for the 2014 World Open which took place on the 4th of July Weekend in Arlington, VA, where I finished with  6/9 (quite disappointing). In the meantime, here is an update on how my training is progressing. I have another two months or so until the Midwest Class tournament, where I will be competing in the Class A event (for what will hopefully be the last time).

     This time, I will be sharing some opening preparation that I just did on the Scandinavian defense, thanks in good part to a lecture given by GM B Smith that is available (at least for part 1 of the series) on youtube. I also did some analysis of my own using chessgame.com's database and with some aid from Rybka. There are lots of fascinating variations in what follows. I don't really feel like I'm giving away a competitive edge by sharing this as it should for the most part be public knowledge anyway (and because I have not yet decided if I'm even going to play these lines for white; the fun thing about the Scandinvian is that white has many options to get a small advantage after 2...Qxd5).

In subsequent posts I hope to add some tactical exercises from a book I'm currently working through (M. Blokh's "Combinative Motifs").  I'll also add some endgame studies if I have the time, and of course, I'll finish analyzing some of my games from the World Open for a separate post. Until then, happy chessing.
Blogs

Road to 2200

RyanMurphy5
RyanMurphy5
Ryan Murphy
Milwaukee, WI
All Blogs
Top Bloggers

Originally, this was labeled 'Road to 2000,' but that's already been achieved. In this blog, I will do write-ups on my tournaments, including games I felt were instructive. I will also cover some of my training methods and track my progress over time as I try to become a USCF National Master. You will also find some of my analytical work here (on endgames, important historical or modern games, etc).  Ideally I would like to hit my goal before the end of 2019 (which is not so much time given the amount of work to do). I hope you enjoy following along.