I agree 1.a3 SUCKS. This guy does not make pointless threads, he is AWESOME. 
1. a3
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I think you can actually get to symmetrical English mainlines with this order - ones where White actually plays b4 as a gambit...
When someone says "case closed" it is a clue they lack imagination and are not prone to critical thinking.
ponz111 wrote:
When someone says "case closed" it is a clue they lack imagination and are not prone to critical thinking.
Yea and you have tons of it. Nice blitz rating.
pfren wrote:
Ah, more clueless nonsense.
After 1.a3 g6 2.e4 c5 white can play a sort of reversed Karpov variation (Nc3, Bc4, d3/Nf3 etc) where the little move a2-a3 is one hundred percent useful.
Luckily enough, chess is far more complex than denouncing moves a-la "1.a3 sucks".
PS: Just saw Crabiano's post, which of course makes a lot of sense. White has a perfectly good position- he just has to know HOW to handle it.
Really?
RybkaShredder wrote:
My coach said that 1. a3 Nf6 followed by a standard king's indian attack/defense formation makes the pawn on a3 completely useless as it would much rather be on a4 or a2. Another good antidote is the Slav setup with 1...d5 2...Nf6 3...Bf5 4...e6 5...c6. Again, the a3 pawn is a waste
1.a3 d5 2.Nf3, and I wonder how you do to avoid c4 and a transposition to a Benoni (where the a3 move is useful).
I have no idea for 1...Nf6, but there probably are some.
RybkaShredder wrote:
Irontiger wrote:
RybkaShredder wrote:
My coach said that 1. a3 Nf6 followed by a standard king's indian attack/defense formation makes the pawn on a3 completely useless as it would much rather be on a4 or a2. Another good antidote is the Slav setup with 1...d5 2...Nf6 3...Bf5 4...e6 5...c6. Again, the a3 pawn is a waste
1.a3 d5 2.Nf3, and I wonder how you do to avoid c4 and a transposition to a Benoni (where the a3 move is useful).
1. a3 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. c4 c6 and Black will get his slav
...if White plays d4.
1.a3 d5 2.c4 does look interesting. I think 2....c6 really is best. 2...d4 is a benoni and 2...e6 is interesting because I think 3.d4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Be7 5.cd ed 6.Bg5 is actually playable in the exchange.
I don't see anything effective against the line I posted either. Seems to be a closed sicilian (which I believe black generally equalizes in) where white plays some passive moves.
1.a3!! is the best move ever played in chess. It has a very deep logic understood only by players above 3000 elo. So don't worry about it!!
Just because he played it doesn't mean he thought it was good. Chess has never been about always making the "best" moves.
Yeah. Carlsen played 1. a4 against someone over 2700 and won! :o