2 Games, 2 Wins! (vs the Ponziani Opening)
#PonzianiOpening #ViennaGame
Today, I’m going post another video in the “2 Games, 2 Wins!” series, and this time, for the Ponziani Opening! Interestingly, I played two games against the same opponent, who used the Ponziani Opening for White, and the equivalent setup – a kind of reverse Ponziani Opening – for Black.
As mentioned in an earlier video on the Ponziani Opening, the slight delay with the c-pawn move can be exploited with immediately taking the centre with pawns. It is a situation where the opening heuristic of taking the centre if you are given the opportunity is correct.
The very interesting thing about these two games is how the same “themes” carried across both games. For instance, in both games, my opponent (i) lost control of the centre, (ii) short castled while underdeveloped, and (iii) allowed a knight on the e-file on their second rank which created serious mating opportunities.
As I played these two games, I was reminded of the biases I had in my own games – effectively, moves which are bad or suboptimal, but I kept playing them. Reviewing and analysing your games afterwards is important in identifying these patterns.
