The Caro-Kann seems good and if it comes to sicilian vs caro-kann, I support the Caro-Kann.
The Caro-Kann seems to be like the Pirc in many respects.
I have a question thoug- on move four, why doesn't black simply play e5!
It's like the c5 break in the French, so why not?
in what line vyomo, main, exchange, advance...?
well i guess not advance (not legal)
In the Panov-Botvinnik Attack
i dont have a very educated answer, but i suppose looking at it positionally the gambit doesnt seem worth it. After taking on e5, you can either take on c4 and lose your entire middle while allowing them to capture with the tempo of developing a piece to a strong square... or push to d4 (which doesn't appear to be doing anything too important after that) and relegate your knight and queen to defending it while white can develop his/her pieces to optimum squares. And regardless of choice, in the end you're a pawn down.
However, maybe its an innovation in need to testing.
No, andrewlong, I had a look and there is a way out.
gmeillonc: In a game of 700 registered participants, usually ~200 would cast a vote. In the game against Natalia Pogonina (of ~3000 registered) we regularly had 1100-1300 voters for each move. That's a big difference, and the difference doesn't come from very well informed voters, since most of those come from people who vote before we've even had a chance to dive deep in our discussions. Thereabouts lies the challenge in an even larger vote game; it may be managed, but it's risky to assume that it's of the same order of complexity as the Endgame Experts vote game you've recently experienced.
As an added note, some of those teams are better managed than others -- and in my experience Endgame Experts is among the best of them, so a comparison with this large free-for-all we have here may not be very appropriate.
Hi. While I do not expect GM Onischuk will play 1.e4, if he does, then I am most comfortable with the Caro-Kann as our reply. I'd expect the Panov line in that case. Thank you for the C-K posts. I am looking forward to this.
With so many voters i expect c5 will be our first move so i think
we must prepare for sicilian .-
yes... i guess ideally we should prepare contingiency plans for everything...
if 1. e4 - push Caro-Kann (seems to be the most supported response in this forum thus far)
if 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 - push Nc6 (going for the accelerated dragon -- haven't exactly had consensus on this, but it seems we want to avoid the classic and modern lines)
if 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 - I guess go with the Najdorf and push for e6 and not e5.
if 1. e4 c5 2. c3 - we haven't discussed this much (here or the game forum) except to say he has played it, its gaining popularity, and we shouldn't be afraid of it. I guess any of the main responses give us good chances.
If anyone has a better e4/Sicilian plan, keep adding to the discussion.
andrewlong, I have posted a full repertoire of all of black's responses and based on Gufeld's reccomendation, 2.Nf6 is best in response to the alapin as it is the easiest and quickest way for black to equalize.
Well, most say QID/Nimzo, so we could defenitely use your experience, VegetableMan!
I use the Nimzo And the KID so I can help there in case the majority goes against the plan.
Hey all, I just joined. This looks like an excellent way to get some good analysis done without the noise of the main forum.
gmeillonc, I'm really glad to see you here, as I was extremely impressed with your analysis and leadership in the Endgame Experts game.
I don't have much of an opinion on opening as I play the Leningrad Dutch myself, so of the main choices I'd be most comfortable in a KID, but that may not be the best strategical decision.
I'll just voice my opinion here again: GM Perelstein has done some recent videos on the Na6 King's Indian. This opening might be something suitable.
How are our discussions going to work? Is someone going to organize the forums like in the Pogonina game? It's probably not necessary until we get deeper into the opening, but I figured we should address it now if there is no one to do this yet.
I don't know how critical any analysis is at this point.
Right now, I am just enjoying the debating and seeing how everyone is voting.
Maybe after move 7 or 10 it would be best to get serious about a solid Middle Game theory for our match.
What does everyone else in the Chess.com Alliance think about strategizing now?
LaskerFan, what about 2.b6 in response to c4?
The KID,QID or Nimzo seem best-
I'll post the lines of all of them
@Vyomo: take a look at Kasparov vs. The World.