D4 counter attacks

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Ziggy_Zugzwang

Yes, that's what I played from the white side too. But it may not be best. That line allows black to pin white's knights and achieve an asymmetry he is looking for. I've been caught out a few times, and possibly because while black was playing "his system", I was playing a rarely visited part of my repertoire. My venture in Chigorin territory occurred after a recent loss and memories of the other games.

From the white perspective, developing both knights and letting black play dc could be better...

myusername456456
ThrillerFan wrote:
Zanoodle wrote:
@optimissed by unique I mean opening that are not the typical responses ... something that can catch the opponent off Gaurd

 

That is completely the wrong approach to chess.  You should be playing to get good positions.  If you learn how to maintain an advantage, how to win the won game, you will get many wins.

 

One trick ponies that are unsound might get you a win here or there, but for every one of them, you will get 5 cases of a terrible position and lose most of them.

 

Not worth the trade off.

 

Problem with the old Benoni from your first post is that the Benoni is not very good if White has not played c4.  This is why everybody now plays 1...Nf6 and only after 2.c4 do they play 2...c5.

 

Reasoning is simple.  In the Benoni, Black's biggest weakness is the d6-pawn.  After 1.d4 c5?! 2.d5 Nf6 3.Nc3! (No c4) d6 4.e4 g6 5.Nf3 Bg7 6.Be2 O-O 7.O-O e6 etc.

 

Both sides can alter move order, slight change in moves, whatever.  The main point is that White will eventually play Nf3-d2-c4, and with that Knight on c4, White gets a pretty big advantage.

 

Compare this to the Czech Benoni, 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e5 4.Nc3 d6 5.e4 Be7, White has no open c4 square for a Knight to harass d6.

 

There are plenty of SOUND defenses to d4, and some have numerous variations within that no White player at the Amateur level will know all of them:

 

QGD - 3...Be7, Lasker, Tartakower, Orthodox

Slav - 4...dxc4, Semi-Slav, Triangle Defense

QGA

Nimzo - 4.e3 you have 4...c5, 4...b6, 4...O-O, with 4.Qc2 you have 4...c5, 4...d5, 4...O-O, with 3.Nf3 you have the Queen's Indian, Bogo-Indian, Modern Benoni, or QGD

King's Indian - Against the Classical you have 7...exd4, 7...Na6, 7...Nc6.  Against Saemisch you have 6...c5, 6...e5, 6...Nc6, 6...c6, etc.

Grunfeld - Ask others for advice on this opening

Modern or Czech Benoni

Dutch - Classical/Stonewall, Leningrad

 

 

With all of these sound responses, there is no way your opponent knows all of these.  With sound lines, one slip-up by the opponent can often lead to a big advantage for you.

One trick ponies are just that.  Most already know the Budapest trap.  Many know the problems with the old Benoni and will play for Nc4 and a4 (to prevent b5 and keep the outpost for the knight).  These disaster lines will lead to just that, disaster!

I COMPLETELY agree with you. I used to play these people OTB and they would slam pieces every time they move because they’re playing something “unorthodox”. They’re doing this because they think they’re doing something good and catching me off guard. I found it very funny.

ThrillerFan
PuffyFoot wrote:
ThrillerFan wrote:
Zanoodle wrote:
@optimissed by unique I mean opening that are not the typical responses ... something that can catch the opponent off Gaurd

 

That is completely the wrong approach to chess.  You should be playing to get good positions.  If you learn how to maintain an advantage, how to win the won game, you will get many wins.

 

One trick ponies that are unsound might get you a win here or there, but for every one of them, you will get 5 cases of a terrible position and lose most of them.

 

Not worth the trade off.

 

Problem with the old Benoni from your first post is that the Benoni is not very good if White has not played c4.  This is why everybody now plays 1...Nf6 and only after 2.c4 do they play 2...c5.

 

Reasoning is simple.  In the Benoni, Black's biggest weakness is the d6-pawn.  After 1.d4 c5?! 2.d5 Nf6 3.Nc3! (No c4) d6 4.e4 g6 5.Nf3 Bg7 6.Be2 O-O 7.O-O e6 etc.

 

Both sides can alter move order, slight change in moves, whatever.  The main point is that White will eventually play Nf3-d2-c4, and with that Knight on c4, White gets a pretty big advantage.

 

Compare this to the Czech Benoni, 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e5 4.Nc3 d6 5.e4 Be7, White has no open c4 square for a Knight to harass d6.

 

There are plenty of SOUND defenses to d4, and some have numerous variations within that no White player at the Amateur level will know all of them:

 

QGD - 3...Be7, Lasker, Tartakower, Orthodox

Slav - 4...dxc4, Semi-Slav, Triangle Defense

QGA

Nimzo - 4.e3 you have 4...c5, 4...b6, 4...O-O, with 4.Qc2 you have 4...c5, 4...d5, 4...O-O, with 3.Nf3 you have the Queen's Indian, Bogo-Indian, Modern Benoni, or QGD

King's Indian - Against the Classical you have 7...exd4, 7...Na6, 7...Nc6.  Against Saemisch you have 6...c5, 6...e5, 6...Nc6, 6...c6, etc.

Grunfeld - Ask others for advice on this opening

Modern or Czech Benoni

Dutch - Classical/Stonewall, Leningrad

 

 

With all of these sound responses, there is no way your opponent knows all of these.  With sound lines, one slip-up by the opponent can often lead to a big advantage for you.

One trick ponies are just that.  Most already know the Budapest trap.  Many know the problems with the old Benoni and will play for Nc4 and a4 (to prevent b5 and keep the outpost for the knight).  These disaster lines will lead to just that, disaster!

I COMPLETELY agree with you. I used to play these people OTB and they would slam pieces every time they move because they’re playing something “unorthodox”. They’re doing this because they think they’re doing something good and catching me off guard. I found it very funny.

 

Yeah, exactly.  For me, being a 1.e4 or 1.Nf3 player (I avoid 1.d4 straight up to avoid the Grunfeld, but will transpose to other QP openings), I have gotten the following, and early on they smile, and at the end they tell you that you were lucky.

 

Some I recall:

1.e4 Nc6 2.Nf3 f5

1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 c6 4.f4 b5 (usual here is Qa5)

1.e4 e6 2.d4 f5

myusername456456
ThrillerFan wrote:
PuffyFoot wrote:
ThrillerFan wrote:
Zanoodle wrote:
@optimissed by unique I mean opening that are not the typical responses ... something that can catch the opponent off Gaurd

 

That is completely the wrong approach to chess.  You should be playing to get good positions.  If you learn how to maintain an advantage, how to win the won game, you will get many wins.

 

One trick ponies that are unsound might get you a win here or there, but for every one of them, you will get 5 cases of a terrible position and lose most of them.

 

Not worth the trade off.

 

Problem with the old Benoni from your first post is that the Benoni is not very good if White has not played c4.  This is why everybody now plays 1...Nf6 and only after 2.c4 do they play 2...c5.

 

Reasoning is simple.  In the Benoni, Black's biggest weakness is the d6-pawn.  After 1.d4 c5?! 2.d5 Nf6 3.Nc3! (No c4) d6 4.e4 g6 5.Nf3 Bg7 6.Be2 O-O 7.O-O e6 etc.

 

Both sides can alter move order, slight change in moves, whatever.  The main point is that White will eventually play Nf3-d2-c4, and with that Knight on c4, White gets a pretty big advantage.

 

Compare this to the Czech Benoni, 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e5 4.Nc3 d6 5.e4 Be7, White has no open c4 square for a Knight to harass d6.

 

There are plenty of SOUND defenses to d4, and some have numerous variations within that no White player at the Amateur level will know all of them:

 

QGD - 3...Be7, Lasker, Tartakower, Orthodox

Slav - 4...dxc4, Semi-Slav, Triangle Defense

QGA

Nimzo - 4.e3 you have 4...c5, 4...b6, 4...O-O, with 4.Qc2 you have 4...c5, 4...d5, 4...O-O, with 3.Nf3 you have the Queen's Indian, Bogo-Indian, Modern Benoni, or QGD

King's Indian - Against the Classical you have 7...exd4, 7...Na6, 7...Nc6.  Against Saemisch you have 6...c5, 6...e5, 6...Nc6, 6...c6, etc.

Grunfeld - Ask others for advice on this opening

Modern or Czech Benoni

Dutch - Classical/Stonewall, Leningrad

 

 

With all of these sound responses, there is no way your opponent knows all of these.  With sound lines, one slip-up by the opponent can often lead to a big advantage for you.

One trick ponies are just that.  Most already know the Budapest trap.  Many know the problems with the old Benoni and will play for Nc4 and a4 (to prevent b5 and keep the outpost for the knight).  These disaster lines will lead to just that, disaster!

I COMPLETELY agree with you. I used to play these people OTB and they would slam pieces every time they move because they’re playing something “unorthodox”. They’re doing this because they think they’re doing something good and catching me off guard. I found it very funny.

 

Yeah, exactly.  For me, being a 1.e4 or 1.Nf3 player (I avoid 1.d4 straight up to avoid the Grunfeld, but will transpose to other QP openings), I have gotten the following, and early on they smile, and at the end they tell you that you were lucky.

 

Some I recall:

1.e4 Nc6 2.Nf3 f5

1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 c6 4.f4 b5 (usual here is Qa5)

1.e4 e6 2.d4 f5

WTF is 1.e4 e6 2.d4 f5

ThrillerFan
PuffyFoot wrote:
ThrillerFan wrote:
PuffyFoot wrote:
ThrillerFan wrote:
Zanoodle wrote:
@optimissed by unique I mean opening that are not the typical responses ... something that can catch the opponent off Gaurd

 

That is completely the wrong approach to chess.  You should be playing to get good positions.  If you learn how to maintain an advantage, how to win the won game, you will get many wins.

 

One trick ponies that are unsound might get you a win here or there, but for every one of them, you will get 5 cases of a terrible position and lose most of them.

 

Not worth the trade off.

 

Problem with the old Benoni from your first post is that the Benoni is not very good if White has not played c4.  This is why everybody now plays 1...Nf6 and only after 2.c4 do they play 2...c5.

 

Reasoning is simple.  In the Benoni, Black's biggest weakness is the d6-pawn.  After 1.d4 c5?! 2.d5 Nf6 3.Nc3! (No c4) d6 4.e4 g6 5.Nf3 Bg7 6.Be2 O-O 7.O-O e6 etc.

 

Both sides can alter move order, slight change in moves, whatever.  The main point is that White will eventually play Nf3-d2-c4, and with that Knight on c4, White gets a pretty big advantage.

 

Compare this to the Czech Benoni, 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e5 4.Nc3 d6 5.e4 Be7, White has no open c4 square for a Knight to harass d6.

 

There are plenty of SOUND defenses to d4, and some have numerous variations within that no White player at the Amateur level will know all of them:

 

QGD - 3...Be7, Lasker, Tartakower, Orthodox

Slav - 4...dxc4, Semi-Slav, Triangle Defense

QGA

Nimzo - 4.e3 you have 4...c5, 4...b6, 4...O-O, with 4.Qc2 you have 4...c5, 4...d5, 4...O-O, with 3.Nf3 you have the Queen's Indian, Bogo-Indian, Modern Benoni, or QGD

King's Indian - Against the Classical you have 7...exd4, 7...Na6, 7...Nc6.  Against Saemisch you have 6...c5, 6...e5, 6...Nc6, 6...c6, etc.

Grunfeld - Ask others for advice on this opening

Modern or Czech Benoni

Dutch - Classical/Stonewall, Leningrad

 

 

With all of these sound responses, there is no way your opponent knows all of these.  With sound lines, one slip-up by the opponent can often lead to a big advantage for you.

One trick ponies are just that.  Most already know the Budapest trap.  Many know the problems with the old Benoni and will play for Nc4 and a4 (to prevent b5 and keep the outpost for the knight).  These disaster lines will lead to just that, disaster!

I COMPLETELY agree with you. I used to play these people OTB and they would slam pieces every time they move because they’re playing something “unorthodox”. They’re doing this because they think they’re doing something good and catching me off guard. I found it very funny.

 

Yeah, exactly.  For me, being a 1.e4 or 1.Nf3 player (I avoid 1.d4 straight up to avoid the Grunfeld, but will transpose to other QP openings), I have gotten the following, and early on they smile, and at the end they tell you that you were lucky.

 

Some I recall:

1.e4 Nc6 2.Nf3 f5

1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 c6 4.f4 b5 (usual here is Qa5)

1.e4 e6 2.d4 f5

WTF is 1.e4 e6 2.d4 f5

 

I do not know if it has an official name, but my opponent tried to claim it was the Frunch - I wish I was kidding.

ThrillerFan
ThrillerFan wrote:
PuffyFoot wrote:
ThrillerFan wrote:
PuffyFoot wrote:
ThrillerFan wrote:
Zanoodle wrote:
@optimissed by unique I mean opening that are not the typical responses ... something that can catch the opponent off Gaurd

 

That is completely the wrong approach to chess.  You should be playing to get good positions.  If you learn how to maintain an advantage, how to win the won game, you will get many wins.

 

One trick ponies that are unsound might get you a win here or there, but for every one of them, you will get 5 cases of a terrible position and lose most of them.

 

Not worth the trade off.

 

Problem with the old Benoni from your first post is that the Benoni is not very good if White has not played c4.  This is why everybody now plays 1...Nf6 and only after 2.c4 do they play 2...c5.

 

Reasoning is simple.  In the Benoni, Black's biggest weakness is the d6-pawn.  After 1.d4 c5?! 2.d5 Nf6 3.Nc3! (No c4) d6 4.e4 g6 5.Nf3 Bg7 6.Be2 O-O 7.O-O e6 etc.

 

Both sides can alter move order, slight change in moves, whatever.  The main point is that White will eventually play Nf3-d2-c4, and with that Knight on c4, White gets a pretty big advantage.

 

Compare this to the Czech Benoni, 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e5 4.Nc3 d6 5.e4 Be7, White has no open c4 square for a Knight to harass d6.

 

There are plenty of SOUND defenses to d4, and some have numerous variations within that no White player at the Amateur level will know all of them:

 

QGD - 3...Be7, Lasker, Tartakower, Orthodox

Slav - 4...dxc4, Semi-Slav, Triangle Defense

QGA

Nimzo - 4.e3 you have 4...c5, 4...b6, 4...O-O, with 4.Qc2 you have 4...c5, 4...d5, 4...O-O, with 3.Nf3 you have the Queen's Indian, Bogo-Indian, Modern Benoni, or QGD

King's Indian - Against the Classical you have 7...exd4, 7...Na6, 7...Nc6.  Against Saemisch you have 6...c5, 6...e5, 6...Nc6, 6...c6, etc.

Grunfeld - Ask others for advice on this opening

Modern or Czech Benoni

Dutch - Classical/Stonewall, Leningrad

 

 

With all of these sound responses, there is no way your opponent knows all of these.  With sound lines, one slip-up by the opponent can often lead to a big advantage for you.

One trick ponies are just that.  Most already know the Budapest trap.  Many know the problems with the old Benoni and will play for Nc4 and a4 (to prevent b5 and keep the outpost for the knight).  These disaster lines will lead to just that, disaster!

I COMPLETELY agree with you. I used to play these people OTB and they would slam pieces every time they move because they’re playing something “unorthodox”. They’re doing this because they think they’re doing something good and catching me off guard. I found it very funny.

 

Yeah, exactly.  For me, being a 1.e4 or 1.Nf3 player (I avoid 1.d4 straight up to avoid the Grunfeld, but will transpose to other QP openings), I have gotten the following, and early on they smile, and at the end they tell you that you were lucky.

 

Some I recall:

1.e4 Nc6 2.Nf3 f5

1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 c6 4.f4 b5 (usual here is Qa5)

1.e4 e6 2.d4 f5

WTF is 1.e4 e6 2.d4 f5

 

I do not know if it has an official name, but my opponent tried to claim it was the Frunch - I wish I was kidding.

 

And actually, if memory serves me right (this was in a blitz side event), I believe this was during the time that I was playing the Veresov as White (1.d4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d5 3.Bg5 and would answer the 3...e6 line with 4.e4 with a direct transposition to the French, like My Round 3 of the 2003 US Open went 1.d4 d5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Bg5 e6 4.e4.

 

If that is the case, that it was that time period, it actually would have gone 1.d4 e6 2.e4 f5 (I avoided the English Defense by playing 2.e4 against 1...e6 or 1...b6, leading to a French (or a Frunch, apparently) or Owen's Defense).

wheelcart

Nimzo Indian is most solid and flexible for black in shorter time control or under pressure. And I love Benoni games. Benoni against 1d4 is like sicilian against 1 e4, but ... only in longer time controls because Benoni defense if played correctly is a very sharp defense and one needs time to calculate all the tactical shots involved. And yes if you want to learn Benoni first start with the Old Benoni:

A Detailed Guide to the Old Benoni - YouTube

or the czech which are more forgiving then the modern benoni. (but I find czech boring)

 

But overall Benoni defense is a "sound" defensive system for black against 1 d4 in human play...as for computers well white can get a easy to play game against you but thankfully you are not playing against sf most of the time.