I would suggest the Steinitz (4.e5). You get more consistent positions and if you put the time into studying it, the ideas are easier to understand than the Burn (which is actually WAY more complicated than the Rubinstein) and the McCutchen.
Of course, the other you have to know is the Winawer.
ThrillerFan,
This is off topic, but you've been playing in the US Masters so I was wondering if you might know why GM Daniel Naroditsky has withdrawn from the tournament. He was in a tie for second with two rounds to go.
Come to think of it, he had agreed to extremely quick draws in rounds 5, 6, and 7.
I cannot say for certain, but apparently a flu strain that the flu shot did not cover was circulating the room. I started feeling sick Friday night. Played both games Saturday, but then withdrew myself with flu like symptoms and a 103 fever last night. That is extremely high for an adult.
I can tell you that coughing in the room was minimal on Wednesday night, but each day, it rose rapidly.
So while I cannot say that it is the reason, a good possibility is he got the same flu bug that I got. It looks as though a lot of people withdrew after 7. I probably should have withdrawn after 5, and yet I somehow managed to get a draw and a win on Saturday.
(And yes, I am laying in bed as I post this)
I figured it sounded like a health issue and possibility the flu since that has been going around. GM Hambleton has been showing live on the scene webcam of his games there so I've been watching his games some. I saw you had a rocky start against quite strong competition but made a good comeback in your last 4 rounds against higher rated players (2 wins and 2 draws if I recall correctly).
@Thrillerfan no wonder on Saturday I was hearing so much coughing. My opponent still destroyed me while being sick, though (the +200 rating difference might have helped). Maybe my horrible stomachache that night had something to do with it. Hope you get better.
@Thrillerfan no wonder on Saturday I was hearing so much coughing. My opponent still destroyed me while being sick, though (the +200 rating difference might have helped). Maybe my horrible stomachache that night had something to do with it. Hope you get better.
Each day it seemed like the coughing as a whole was getting worse and worse in that room. I should have figured that out Wednesday and Thursday and worn a mask Friday onward.
Myself personally, I was completely fine Friday morning - Round 4. I go to Tony's Pizza and Pasta up the street for late lunch/early dinner. I get back, I am still fine.
Then about 2 hours into round 5, I start not feeling so hot. I start coughing myself.
I wake up Saturday morning with body aches in both legs. Now I have arthritis, but that only explains the joints, hips and knees. The whole upper half of both legs were in pain. But outside of that and coughing, I felt OK, so I played rounds 6 and 7 on Saturday and picked up cough drops to minimize the coughing.
I proceed to draw round 6 and win round 7. I get home, and I feel like complete s**t. I take my temp, and it was 103.0. I immediately sent them an email that I was withdrawing. Even if it had broke by morning (it didn't - 102.1), the coughing was getting worse, and I had occasional bouts of light-headedness. It was probably a good thing that I did not play today, but the damage was done. And I got the flu shot too and the COVID shots. Makes me wonder if this is a different strain than the Strain A (which the shot is supposed to account for that one) that was running rampant in late October.
Apparently I play better sick. Healthy, I scored 1 out of 4 (LLLW). Sick, I scored an undefeated 2 out of 3 (DDW, and the win was with Black, hard to do at that level).
I have a feeling someone on Wednesday came with a little something extra to share and it spread like wild fire over the weekend.
Hello, been trying to play more mainlines against the French. Never liked the exchange or advance as white. So curious what better players think about e4 e6 d4 d5 nc3 nf6 than e5 vs bg5? Been playing bg5 but you’d have to be aware of the burn and maccatchoen. “Spelling”. Curious if there’s any advantage to the immediate e5 vs bg5 as I already like the position after bg5 be7 then e5. How different are the initial e5 and bg5 positions in the classical. For someone trying to improve would anyone recommend one over the other?