Vote Chess Game vs The Ultimate Training Center

Hi!

We won our vote chess game against the Ultimate Training Center team in 34 moves. It was a good team effort on both teams, with a lot of discussion on every move. The game was decided on the board instead of chess bingo (this is what I call it when people randomly pop in, vote for whatever move they see, and don't discuss anything whatsoever).

https://www.chess.com/votechess/game/291357

I'm a relatively new member to this team. I joined here because I want to learn the English Opening better. I joined this game at around move 26 and I was very pleased with the position, the level of discussion, and the fact that all suggestions were taken seriously by the rest of the team, regardless of who proposed it or what their current rating might be.

I'm going to structure this forum post as I would normally do with the game analyses that I do on my blog. First I will lay out the narrative of the game based on my own thoughts (which in this case will be replaced by the discussions that both teams put to the table). Second I will test the analysis and the ideas with my sources, these being the opening books on the English by Marin and Ntirlis as well as the opening database and engine evaluations. Lastly I will write a short summary of takeaway points based on the game.

The analysis

First the narrative. Be prepared for a monstrosity of a long analysis here:

Next I'm going to compare the opening with the sources that I (we) have. The main repertoire to follow will be that of Mihail Marin in his Grandmaster Repertoire series, but it can't hurt to hear what other authors have to say on the matter. We might get some fresh ideas.

Ten takeaway points:

1. Since Marin's repertoire says that white castles after either 5...d6 and 5...e5, the move-order in the game is a mere transposition. Both moves do have independent lines.

2. The main disadvantage for the side who plays the Botvinnik system is that they have one weak square in the centre. The ideal scenario for the opponent is good knight vs bad bishop.

3. Against the Botvinnik setup with ...e5, ...Nge7 and ...d6, we want to toss in 8.b4! and 9.Rb1!.

4. White wants to reroute Nf3 via e1 and c2 to e3. It's important to play Nf3-e1 before d2-d3, so as not to be embarrassed by tactics involving e5-e4.

5. Moving a knight into d5 is something that white will have to time properly. Having to recapture on d5 with the c-pawn is usually suboptimal.

6. If black allows it, 12.Bg5! followed by an exchange on e7 is positionally desirable.

7. If black has already spent time on the queenside playing Rb8 and b6, then b4-b5 (sometimes prepared with e2-e3 to keep the knight out of d4) makes sense. It has two ideas behind it: exile the knight to a5 from where it will not be able to help with anything at all, or solidify the queenside space advantage so there will always be the longterm plan of pushing the a-pawn forward and opening the a-file. (If white has been granted the luxury of playing Bg5, this becomes even stronger, as indicated by the course of the game.)

8. Trading light-square bishops is desirable for white to obtain full control over the d5-square (and a6, in case white opens the a-file).

9. Black's f5-f4 can sometimes be dangerous, but it's not that much of an issue if white can entrench pieces on the light squares in the centre.

10. White had played for control this whole game. When faced with a choice between 27.Qe4 or 27.f4, both were good but 27.Qe4 is more in line with the spirit of the game.

Sources:

Mihail Marin, Grandmaster Repertoire: The English Opening, Volume 3.
Nikolaos Ntirlis, Playing the English.
Simon Williams and Richard Palliser, The Iron English.

Reference games:

The game I mentioned after 12.. Bb7 is Held,C - Schindelmeister,F Heusenstamm Schloss open 22.11.2014. Both players are of a reasonable strength, but by no means masters.

Very instructive summary of the discussions. I have already liked the game a lot and I like this even more.

Thanks. I'll add the takeaway points from the game tomorrow

Thank you for your analysis. It is an interesting format and I appreciate the time you invested.

Indeed, an excellent post and a new reference in the symmetrical for the English Opening Lovers.

@nova-stone, could you maybe post a short review on Ntirlis' book on the English? I couldn't find a reading sample online.

My main question is directed at the following dilemma: As much as I love Marin, it is conceived and written on a very high level and I often get lost in the variations and sidelines, and some set-ups that pop up regularly on club player level aren't covered in an extensive way (of course, because GM's wouldn't play like this). Wonderful to study if you have a lot of time, but not the best book for hasty last-minute tournament preparation on amateur level.

So I am looking for a light version (also in the very practical sense of the word, for traveling purposes) that leaves away some of the stuff that only GMs can fully understand and remember OTB while still covering all the important lines with up-to-date games. Would you say that Ntirlis is such a book and that it's worth to invest the money?

Ntirlis is in the same ball-park as Marin.

https://qualitychess.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Playing-the-English-excerpt.pdf

For tournament prep, just copy or make snaps of the variation index at the end, and add the lines that you encounter often. Find a model game for each important variation that shows how it's done, and add a few quick notes on what you're supposed to do.

I made it a sticky topic.