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So I have been playing the Sicilian for the past few years, and decided it was time for a change. So I jumped head first into the English. http://blog.chess.com/adamWheatley/english-opening-experiment-1

Happy First Day of Summer Everybody!!! Since the whole planet is in a frenzy with World Cup Fever, I figured this was a good time to introduce the World Cup of Chess Openings!! To register your group, please go to this thread: http://www.chess.com/groups/forumview/wcoco---2010-registration World Cup of Chess Openings - Official Rules (Taken from the FIFA World Cup format) The current tournament features 32 teams, representing different openings, competing in Vote Chess games at 2-days per turn. There are two stages: the group stage followed by the knockout stage. In the group stage, teams compete within eight groups of four teams each. Each group plays a round-robin tournament, guaranteeing that every team will play at least three matches. A match will consist of 2 games, one from each team's prefered starting position. The top two teams from each group advance to the knockout stage. Points are used to rank the teams within a group. Three points are awarded for a win, one for a draw, and none for a loss. If two or more teams end up with the same number of points, tiebreakers are used: first is goal difference, then total goals scored (this will be the in-game score found on the details tab), then head-to-head results, and finally drawing of lots (i.e., determining team positions at random). The knockout stage is a single-elimination tournament in which teams play each other in one-off matches, with extra games used to decide the winner if necessary. It begins with the "round of 16" (or the second round) in which the winner of each group plays against the runner-up of another group. This is followed by the quarter-finals, the semi-finals, the third-place match (contested by the losing semi-finalists), and the final. World Cup of Chess Openings - Proposed Schedule Aug 2010 - Match 1 begins (played Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov) Nov 2010 - Match 2 begins (played Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb) Feb 2011 - Match 3 begins (played Feb, Mar, Apr, May) Jun 2011 - Round of 16 begins (played Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep) Oct 2011 - Quarter-Finals begin (played Oct, Nov, Dec, Jan) Feb 2012 - Semi-Finals begin (played Feb, Mar, Apr, May) Jun 2012 - Finals begin (played Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep)

What strange replies have you come across at white in the English? What have you tried yourself against the English when it's played against you? Below is the first few moves of a game I just finished up. Black is, I think, playing an inferior opening, but if you see where I could have come ahead with more than a pawn, let me know.

The list: e5 d5 c5 c6 e6 g6 b6 Nf6 d6 f5

Please post ideas for group content... one vote chess game is in progress. Team matches, opening variations, English tactics, games (yours or others), etc. I'm new to starting and running a group, so this is all new territory for me! Thanks to those who have joined the group and to all future members!!

Welcome all English opening players! Let's discuss this wonderful and complex opening with open minds and hopefully we can all learn to play it better from the White side!!