1 d4 Nf6 2 c3!? played by Rapport today, what opening is, how good is it? - Chess Forums - Page 2

nescitus

Oct 25, 2018

0

#21

I remember talking with a friend about 2.c3 a few years back:

Me: What about 2.c3?

Friend: Nonsense, you lose a tempo.

Me (pointing at c4): Half a tempo.

Friend: Then you play with the grey pieces instead of white.

stiggling

Oct 25, 2018

0

#22

thougtdancer wrote:

"" seriously and play top level chess instead of goofing around at the 2680-2720 level."""

lol

I know that sounds ridiculous, but I remember a few years ago being surprised at the BS he was playing against weak GMs.

Sure GMs are amazing, but not to a super talent like Rapport, and that's why he could (sometimes) get away with playing garbage.

But this means his potential is much higher.

I remember some interview with him where he said, you know, he's not sponsored. So some of these others super GMs are free to work on chess all day, but he had no one giving him money plus he was newly married.

So I'm not trying to be insulting to Rapport. I'm just sayin' that low 2700 is not his full potential.

NM darkunorthodox88

Dec 16, 2022

0

#23

BonTheCat wrote:

stiggling wrote:

Early c3s are highly transpositional, and not bad at all, but in almost every case black should easily get equality early.

Rapport is still young. It will be interesting to see what he can do if he ever takes the time to study seriously and play top level chess instead of goofing around at the 2680-2720 level.

Just look at Mamedyarov. We had to wait until he was over 30, but he eventually decided to give it a shot and he almost won the candidates tournament.

The above opening is not a specific case in point, but Rapport is wasting his talent on playing suboptimal ( = dubious) openings. Mamedaryov's case was different (and playing the Cozio Defence or the Smyslov Defence against Ruy Lopez can't even remotely be called dubious). He was just too wild and inventive to challenge for the title (it's rare to succeed unless these instincts are dialed back at least just a tad) - but was still a World Top 10 player. Once he rounded out his style properly, he became a genuine threat.

this aged badly