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My e4-e5 Opening: The Obscure Glek

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erik

I am not all that ambitious in the openings. I'd rather play for an equal middlegame than a theoretical battle. So I play the Glek, which is basically the 4 knights with g3! Here are some sample games of the Glek where black makes the wrong kinds of moves (...Bxe3, Ne7, etc). I play white in all of these games:

 
 
 
Why am I telling you this? So you know what to look out for when we start playing each other! Sealed
Patzer24

Yes Erik! I also think this is a very reasonable system. I agree with your comment about aiming for an equal middle game rather than a 25 move deep theoretical opening where your opponent can suprise you with a devastating novelty that they saw in the databases by some GM. I also like to just achieve a equal middle game where both sides have chances and out-play my opponent. I usually try to stay away from the very sharp openings.

 

I think the g3 move against the four knights game is a very reasonable and solid idea. The bishop on g2 can become very powerful on the h1-a8 diagnol if the player with the black pieces is not careful. Also the fianchetto set-up really keeps white's king safe for some time.

 

Sometimes when I am playing white against the Sicilian defense I will even play 1. e4 c5 2. b3!? or 1. e4 c5 2. d3!? and play for the g3, Bg2 set-up to avoid all the opening theory.

 

I look forward to playing some interesting games with you Erik! (once the website adds the feature for playing live games on the internet)

asilo
i want fight.
chessiq
Interesting games. I am more of a classical player than hyper-modern. I go to the hyper-modern (Reti type) when I getting nothing from Ruy Lopez and the like. You played them very well I think - especially the first two checkmates. The third one, I think Black had you! I thought 22. ..Rxe1 was bad. He should have played 22. .. Re2 attacking your Queen. If you exchange Rooks, he would take back with Ncxe2+, followed by Nc2. If you don't exchange, he would play Nc2 anyway. My $0.02.
BrianN
Careful, you hung a pawn on that Nf5 on the first game!  Surprised
peekaboo
aww to late for me
incorrectname

bump

toiyabe

Worst bump of all time.  

incorrectname

 Igor Vladimirovich Glek is a Russian chess Grandmaster, coach, theorist, writer and organiser. He now lives in Essen, Germany and has mainly resided there since 1994. Glek was born in Moscow. Wikipedia

TwoMove

The gambit Nxe4 might be playable for black.

MickinMD

I haven't played it, but I did some serious study of it as a way to avoid the Frankenstein-Dracula Variation of the Vienna Game after 1 e4 e5 2 Nc3 Nf6.  If Black plays 2...Nc6 I'll play the Vienna 3 Bc4, etc. but 2...Nf6 I've transposed to the Giuoco Piano in the past and may do so to the Glek by playing 3 Nf3, etc. I avoid this Frankenstein-Dracula Variations in fast (anything more than 1 hour on the initial clock for me!):

 

LaurenJW28
[COMMENT DELETED]
Optimissed

It's pointless avoiding the stupidly named "Frankenstein Dracula". After 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Bc4 Nxe4 4. Qh5, just play 5.Qxe5+ if you want to wimp out, with at least as good a game as the equally stupidly named "Glek" would give!

TwoMove

1e4 e5 2.nf3 Nc6 3Nbc3 Nf6 4g3 nxe4?! could be called the reversed Halloween Gambit but that would be a really stupid name. Hawkins mentioned it as playable in his book.

rjbuffchix

Is is playable in 1 minute? Trick question, 1 minute is not playable on V3. Thanks for nothing. :/

penandpaper0089
Optimissed wrote:

It's pointless avoiding the stupidly named "Frankenstein Dracula". After 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Bc4 Nxe4 4. Qh5, just play 5.Qxe5+ if you want to wimp out, with at least as good a game as the equally stupidly named "Glek" would give!

If White wants the queens on though he has to play this or not play Bc4 early.

 

Glek is the guy the opening was named after. 

Gabho

I really liked this opening, you know sometimes we spend too muhc time in theory, analizing diferent ways of facing certain defenses,etc... and well I want to spent more time in another activities, and finally found this thanks you so much bro : D

Lippy-Lion

 

GM Glek has written two articles in NIC on this opening. Black's soundest reply is 4...d5 5.exd5 Nxd5 6.Bg2 Nxc3 7.bxc3 Bd6.

My view is if going to play g3 type stuff then better to start with 1.Nf3 and play reti type stuff

Optimissed
DeirdreSkye wrote:
Optimissed wrote:

It's pointless avoiding the stupidly named "Frankenstein Dracula". After 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Bc4 Nxe4 4. Qh5, just play 5.Qxe5+ if you want to wimp out, with at least as good a game as the equally stupidly named "Glek" would give!

   It's unbelievable how many nonsense can say a guy that claims he , his family and his dog have high IQ.

    Man seriously ,where did you learn chess? I need to know your mentor and congratulate him for the amazing job he did to educate you.

     The "stupidly named" opening is named after Igor Glek the GM  that first regularly used it in high level. Who is the stupid now?>>

Strongly looks like you but after all, this was a year ago. You seemed to have improved of late. The Frankenstein-Dracula was named after two people. Does that make it worse?

If white wants the queens off and a simple game, white can play Qxe5+. If white wants the queens on, he presumably wants a more complex game. Therefore, he can learn the main line, which also begins with Qh5. I played it loads of times and it gives white an interesting game with many aggressive possibilities.

All this thread proves so far is that high playing strength at chess doesn't always correlate very positively with logical ability or an ability to enter into discussions convincingly. Probably why some people hide from the world in chess? happy.png

I really thought a certain titled player had stopped being a -----. I think only a pair of creeps who want to impress similarly weak minded people would start the insults again after ... let's see, 13 months? That seems pathetic to me, at least. Maybe also to others, who knows.

 

Optimissed
1e41-0 wrote:

In my opinion, if white wishes to play systems with g3, he should do so on move 3 with the Konstantinopolsky (i.e. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.g3). In that case, white reserves the possibility of placing the knight on d2, depending on which system black chooses.>>

Yes, that's also true.  Of course, one way of playing the Vienna is to see if black mirrors white's moves, such as with 2. Nc6 and maybe even 3. Bc4 ...Bc5, which gives white an advantage. If 1. e4 ...e5 2. Nc3 ...Nf6, white might choose 3. g3.