The openings thatare going to be suggested and explained are:
1)A white opening repertoire starting with 1.d4
2)A black semi-open defense against 1.e4(French defense)
3)A black defense against 1.d4 that covers most of the flank openings(Orthodox Fianketo defense)
The following white opening , Trifunovic used to call it "Nezh(Nezhmetdinov's) attack".Of course it is not attack(although it can end up as an attack) but Trifunovic used to call it that way to emphasize that it seems harmless but can be very dangerous.
Nezhmetdinov was not the first one that played it.Isidor Gunsberg , one of the top players of his time(challenger of the title at 1890 , losing 6-4 from Steinitz) was the one that played it first.I think, we must see the first game ever played with Nezh attack.
It is obvious that it is an opening that is almost entirely safe for white as black can't do anything that can prevent you from achieving your basic development plan.We will see later one only basic trap and that it is quite easy to defend against.
Gunsberg's game was played in 1883.So what that has anything to do with today's advanced chess.We are a million years ahead of them, right?Wrong again.Chess is the same , no matter how many years will pass
You don't need highly analysed ultra-complicated openings to win a World Champion.
Let's see an even more recent game.In the recent Doeber Cup, IM Rathnakaran needed to win his last game to earn a GM norm(his opponent needed only a draw!).Let's see the game:
Let's return to the past to see a tactical genious in action.This is Nezhmetdinov's first ever game against a master.
In his "primitive" form white's set-up should be something like this:
This is your development plan.Black , as we already said can't prevent you from completing it IF he plays sensibly.If he plays crazy or weird moves you don't follow blindly your plan.Even the best plan should not be followed blindly.
WE MUST ALWAYS PAY ATTENTION TO OUR OPPONENT'S MOVES AND ADAPT IF NEEDED.
Knowing your opening means knowing it's traps.Fortunately the specific system hides very few dangers for white.Let's see in which cases white is threatened with an opening disaster:
1)Quick h3.
Avoid to commit quickly with an early h3.Black may castle q-side and attack.Although objectively that plan is not good and has a lot of drawbacks , in praxis , the defender usually does a lot of mistakes, making attacker's life easier.So be careful if you decide to play an early h3, do it if you want to test your defensive ability but don't do it if you don't feel confident about it.
2) Be carefull the c3 weakness.
It is advisable to develop Bc1 to b2 before you play Nb1 to d2.That way you keep c3 under control all the time other wise a knight at e4 can create a lot of problems.
3)A typical weakness for white is c2.If black plays both Bf5 and Nc3 you should be alert of a possible Nb5.That is the most usual reason of opening disaster for white.
Nc6 and Bf5 is not exactly a disaster but it is a "virus" that can contaminate your system and force you to play a NNSWTBD( No Name Still Waiting To Be Discovered) opening.
As everything in Nezh attack , the solution is simple and easy.When you see Nc6 and Bf5 , a simple a3 eliminates the virus once and for all , and the good news are that a3 is always useful in your system.Don't consider it as a loss of tempo because it isn't(as we will see later).
Oh this is the opening you are using against me on Online Chess. Highly instructive article!
This system is quite similar to Colle-Zukertort opening.
Maybe the greatest advantage of the system is the great diversity of the positions.With just one opening system you will have to deal with most of the major strategic concepts.That is extremely important for beginners who care in improving their middle and endgame abilities(which they should) without spending an insane amount of time in opening study in order to get a playable position.
K-side attack , q-side attack ,hanging pawns , isolated pawn are only some of the very important concepts you will have the chance to practice with this opening.It is a serious test for your evaluation and planning ability.
Let's see an example:
Michael this is an excellent post, and brings the vote chess game plan clearly into context!
I'll definitely be aiming to try this opening out in the near future, in my own solo games.
According to Trifunovic , Nezh attack can oppose everything but we need to examine separately the King's Indian and Benoni type defenses.
We will consider as King's Indian type defense the following set-up:
and Benoni type defense the following:
Against this type of defenses you have to change only one thing.Nb1 instead of developing to d2 should be developed to c3.That is a line Trifunovic used since he was a kid and continued using it even in high level.Let's see one of his games:
From that very instructive game it is obvious that white's new set-up is this:
Nothing too difficult , right?There are some important points you should remember.
1)Pay attention to Trifunovic's move order.Qc2 is a good precautionary move to be played before b3 and Bb2 that creates some very serious tactical threats for black.
2)d6-pawn can be a target in most cases as black usually plays c6 to prevent Nd5(that is why a knight should be at c3).
These 2 points are connected.Bc1 can sometimes develop on a3 immediately pressuring d6.Note that White's excellent piece cooperation is designed to prevent most of black's natural King's Indian defense plans.Most of king's Indian defense players are not familiar with these positions and most of the times fail to adapt.
Trifunovic's system was used by the Chinese Women champion Huang Qian with absolute success(2wins in 2 games!).Huang Qian's choice is even more important if we take into account that the Chinese Champion is a King's Indian defense player herself!
Trifunovic's system is obviously strategic and will be a serious test and a very good positional exercise but for those of you who feel adventurous it can also be very sharp.
Bisguier dared to play that line against Fischer.
I think that was a very hard "test-drive" for this line and, despite white's defeat , IMO it passed it successfully.That game is highly instructive.White stayed alive because he made the less possible moves in front of his king(only g3 , and that when he was forced to).
3)Don't develop Bf1 at d3 against King's Indian type defenses as after ...e5 black threatens the ...e4-fork and the bishop will have to retreat to e2 anyway , losing you a tempo.White also wants d-file open and in almost all cases a bishop at d3 will prove a problem.The bishop can be developed to d3 ONLY if white is willing to continue with a quick e4.
We will leave the light side for now for a quick journey on the dark side.What I have given you till now is more than enough to get you started so we will leave the light side for now for a quick journey on the dark side.
Against 1.d4 , one of the first defenses was the completely forgotten, but never refuted, Orthodox Fianketo defense.A lot of the great masters of the past have played that defense:Mikhail Chigorin , Frank Marshall,Oldrich Duras, Dawid Janowsky,Carl Shlechter ,Emanuel Lasker , Jose Raul Capablanca and of course Rashid Nezhmetdinov.I am referring to them because back in these years chess was not Internet and long analysed lines , it was understanding.Every chess player has a lot to learn from the old-time Masters.Let's see it:
Probably you already realised that Orthodox Fianketo defense is nothing else than Nezh attack with colors reversed.Those of you who read the topic about Nezhmetdinov know that this great player tried to play with white a system he saw Akiba Rubinstein play as black.That system was Orthodox fianketo defense.In fact , according to Trifunovic , Nezh attack could be named "Orthodox Fianketo attack".The name though is the least of our worries.Let's see black's development plan:
The important in this case is that the experience you will get when play it as black will also help you when you play as white and vice versa.There is nothing new to learn.As the positions are the same , so does the plans.
If your opponent tries anything out of the ordinary ,trust OFD(Orthodox Fianketo defense) blindly.
For those of you who wonder what to play against flank openings, OFD is good enough for most of them.
Special care is needed when playing against Reti opening but again we have nothing new to learn.As Reti's plan is a later e4 , it is like King's Indian defense with colors reversed.
Let's see what we can play against Reti Opening.
Let's see the orthodox move order against the Reti:
Again the queen's move is a very dangerous one and many points have been won because of it
For those of you that feel adventurous , an all out attack on q-side is still possible.
Before suggesting an opening let's first talk about what a beginner needs.
There is no expert in the world that will tell you that a beginner needs to study openings , if you find one , he is no expert.Beginners need to understand how to think and they need to study end-game and middle-game.
But there is a problem.Study alone isn't enough, they need games and every game starts from the opening.To gain an experience in middle game it is necessary to learn to survive on the opening and that is easier said than done.
I have won countless games against beginners without even thinking because of opening traps.Especially 1.e4 is a nightmare.It was for me so I bet it is for most of you.
This is highly controversial.You have to survive the opening without studying it.Is it possible?It is possible if you play clever avoiding highly analysed openings.
And now the questions start , let me answer them before you do them.
"But highly analysed openings are the good openings.Right?"
Wrong!!!Highly analysed openings are the complicated openings not the best openings.
"But these are the openings Kasparov played so they must be the best openings".
What Kasparov or anyone else played should be the least of your concerns right now.Kasparov's needs are not the same as your needs(not even close).Kasparov understands perfectly every aspect of the game so he needs highly complicated openings to demonstrate his ability to handle every kind of position better than his opponents.He also needs complicated positions to expolit his ability his ability to calculate far ahead in chaotic positions.But Kasparov and all great players started from simple openings and simple lines.They didn't born playing Najdorf or King's Indian defense.
"Ok , I will avoid everything thast is not complicated, how about 1.b3?It's simple and not highly analysed".True , it is simple , with no traps at all and no need of memorisation of long complicated lines.But(in chess you are going to see this word a lot) you need openings that produce reach in strategic concepts positions.You need to understand chess and not the opening.The opening should be only the bridge that will transfer youto middlegame safely, nothing more.
"So if I play 1.b3 Iwon't understand chess".You will but in a slower rate and with significant gaps in your chess knowledge that ultimately will kick in forcing you to change to more rich openings.
We reached a conclusion:
We need safe and easy to learn openings that produce positions that will help you understand the important concepts of chess as fast as possible.
That is what we will try to do.It must be noted here that these are not my suggestions.It's Botvinnik's suggestions and that must mean a lot since he is the best teacher ever appeared in this part of the Galaxy.
These openings were suggested by Petar Trifunovic(he was the coach of Greek Chess team) in a series of lectures he gave for young talents(yes, I was once a talent, no laughs please).Needless to say that I was a Raider(rookie) of the Lost Ark(perfect opening) back then and Trifunovich helped me to understand that I was looking in the wrong direction.
Having kept these lectures I will just share them with you.My only interference is that I enriched them with some more modern examples from tournaments.
It must be noted that the instructive value of these openings is priceless.Once "mastering" the positions they produce you will realise that moving to more complicated openings is surprisingly easy.Also the "transformation" chances are countless as there are a lot of "Descendant systems"(as Trifunovich used to call them) that you will easily understand once you understand the "Ancestor or Father system".
p.s.1 I want to remind everyone that when I say beginners I don't mean to insult anyone and I mean those who feel beginners.I don't regard myself as an expert but I had the luck of having more serious training from very high level teachers.My only aim is to share that with you.
p.s.2 Please keep this forum "clean" from questions or any other post.I will open a forum for opening questions.