Opening repertoire best suited for starting a pawnstorm?

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palmenausP

Once I complete an opening, I don't know what to do, so I've decided to be stupidly simple and lock the centre and start a pawnstorm by castling opposite sides. I want to do this as many games as possible. Is there a particular opening repertoire (or even 1 for white 1 for black) best suitable for this idea?

ThrillerFan

It is virtually impossible to pre-meditate opposite side castling.

For example, if you play 1.e4, sure you can play the English Attack against the Najdorf and Yugoslav against the Dragon and castle opposite, but the Four Knights or Pin Variation, you will lose castling queenside.  Same goes for virtually every 1.e4 e5 opening.  Caro-Kann it is often Black that decides.  White almost always goes queenside in the main line, but Black can go either way.

 

With 1.d4, you could play the Saemisch against the King's Indian or castle queenside in the exchange QGD, but openings like the Slav, Nimzo, Benoni, forget it, you will lose castling queenside.

 

Can't help ya really.

SamuelAjedrez95

A lot of Open Sicilian lines. Open Sicilian is pretty much known for exactly what you describe.

Bg5 Najdorf

Fischer-Sozin Attack

Adams Attack

Richter-Rauzer

SamuelAjedrez95

As mentioned by ThrillerFan, you can't force this idea against any opening your opponent plays as different positions require different solutions.

Some ideas like this also exist in the Pirc and Modern though.

 

SamuelAjedrez95
Awaykey wrote:
Grand Prix attack against the Sicilian, Vienna, maybe Nimzo Indian

None of these openings are really known for opposite castling and pawn storms.

Grand Prix Attack is same side castling and it's not really a pawnstorm. There is a pawn sacrifice line. There are only some lines where black castles queenside.

SamuelAjedrez95

From the black side, King's Indian is known for a pawn storm. It's generally same side castling but it's still very aggressive and a fun opening.

 

palmenausP
SamuelAjedrez95 wrote:

From the black side, King's Indian is known for a pawn storm. It's generally same side castling but it's still very aggressive and a fun opening.

 

Sounds right up my alley except for the fact that I don't understand all those weird Knight moves haha. I'll be sure to try my hand at learning some of it though! 

palmenausP
SamuelAjedrez95 wrote:

A lot of Open Sicilian lines. Open Sicilian is pretty much known for exactly what you describe.

Bg5 Najdorf

Fischer-Sozin Attack

Adams Attack

Richter-Rauzer

wow this looks fantastic, but sorry for the stupid question, can I choose to play these lines as white most games? Or will it entirely depend on Black allowing me to play these lines? I guess what I mean to ask is, who gets to choose in the open sicilian - black or white?

SamuelAjedrez95
palmenausP wrote:

Sounds right up my alley except for the fact that I don't understand all those weird Knight moves haha. I'll be sure to try my hand at learning some of it though! 

The idea of the knight moves is to gather the minor pieces on the kingside in preparation to attack the white king. The knight retreats temporarily in order to play f5.

SamuelAjedrez95
palmenausP wrote:
SamuelAjedrez95 wrote:

A lot of Open Sicilian lines. Open Sicilian is pretty much known for exactly what you describe.

Bg5 Najdorf

Fischer-Sozin Attack

Adams Attack

Richter-Rauzer

wow this looks fantastic, but sorry for the stupid question, can I choose to play these lines as white most games? Or will it entirely depend on Black allowing me to play these lines? I guess what I mean to ask is, who gets to choose in the open sicilian - black or white?

The Open Sicilian is an opening that white plays in response to the Sicilian which is one of black's most popular openings against e4. Against most Sicilian lines this kind of idea can be played.

Against the Dragon - the Yugoslav Attack.

Against the Najdorf - the English Attack, the Bg5 Najdorf, Adams Attack, etc. (many Najdorf lines feature this idea with queenside castling and pawnstorm)

Against the Scheveningen - the Keres Attack, Matanovic Attack

Against the Classical Sicilian - the Richter-Rauzer, the Velimirovic Attack

e6 and Nc6 Sicilian are a bit different but these d6 Sicilians (Dragon, Najdorf, Classical) are the most popular.

ThrillerFan
SamuelAjedrez95 wrote:

From the black side, King's Indian is known for a pawn storm. It's generally same side castling but it's still very aggressive and a fun opening.

 

 

Correction, The CLASSICAL VARIATION (5.Nf3 O-O 6.Be2 e5 7.O-O Nc6 8.d5 Ne7) is known for a kingside pawn storm.

 

You try to pawnstorm any of these and you will get killed.  The pawn storm is reliant on the BLOCKED CENTER!

 

Storm the kingside in any of these and you will lose:

Petrosian (7.d5)

Gligoric (7.Be3)

Averbakh (5.Be2 and 6.Bg5)

Saemisch (5.f3)

Four Pawns Attack (5.f4)

Fianchetto (3.g3)

SamuelAjedrez95
ThrillerFan wrote:

Correction, The CLASSICAL VARIATION (5.Nf3 O-O 6.Be2 e5 7.O-O Nc6 8.d5 Ne7) is known for a kingside pawn storm.

Right, against most of the alternative variations, it's better to transpose into a Benoni structure. King's Indian is sort of famous for this pawnstorm in the Classical variation though.

kyildiz123

In the scandinavian defense both sides can castle either way, and castling opposite may happen if black wants to.

 

But Scandinavian is a slow opening, and you can get crushed if white decides to pawn storm you as well.

Ethan_Brollier
palmenausP wrote:

Once I complete an opening, I don't know what to do, so I've decided to be stupidly simple and lock the centre and start a pawnstorm by castling opposite sides. I want to do this as many games as possible. Is there a particular opening repertoire (or even 1 for white 1 for black) best suitable for this idea?

You're ~800 rapid? Play 1. e4: Steinitz French, Advance Tal Caro-Kann, Alapin Sicilian, and Bishop's Opening to lock the center and then just play solid waiting moves until your opponent castles and castle the opposite way.

palmenausP
Ethan_Brollier wrote:
palmenausP wrote:

Once I complete an opening, I don't know what to do, so I've decided to be stupidly simple and lock the centre and start a pawnstorm by castling opposite sides. I want to do this as many games as possible. Is there a particular opening repertoire (or even 1 for white 1 for black) best suitable for this idea?

You're ~800 rapid? Play 1. e4: Steinitz French, Advance Tal Caro-Kann, Alapin Sicilian, and Bishop's Opening to lock the center and then just play solid waiting moves until your opponent castles and castle the opposite way.

hey, that sounds like a plan! Will give it a shot as soon as I check out the lines

SamuelAjedrez95
Ethan_Brollier wrote:

You're ~800 rapid? Play 1. e4: Steinitz French, Advance Tal Caro-Kann, Alapin Sicilian, and Bishop's Opening to lock the center and then just play solid waiting moves until your opponent castles and castle the opposite way.

Alapin Sicilian is specifically not suited for castling queenside and pawnstorm as c3 has been played which exposes the queenside. It's not suited for closing the centre either as black can inflict an IQP on white. Alapin Sicilian just isn't meant for this.

I don't see how Bishop's Opening or Alapin are supposed to lock the centre. Advance French, Advance Caro-Kann and Steinitz French lock the centre and are good openings but it's not always suited for castling queenside.

In fact I wouldn't recommend the strategy of playing solid waiting moves until opponent castles either as you will eventually run out of moves and just leave your king hanging in the centre. If you play with white you are supposed to initiate the fight.

Ethan_Brollier
SamuelAjedrez95 wrote:
Ethan_Brollier wrote:

You're ~800 rapid? Play 1. e4: Steinitz French, Advance Tal Caro-Kann, Alapin Sicilian, and Bishop's Opening to lock the center and then just play solid waiting moves until your opponent castles and castle the opposite way.

Alapin Sicilian is specifically not suited for castling queenside and pawnstorm as c3 has been played which exposes the queenside. It's not suited for closing the centre either as black can inflict an IQP on white. Alapin Sicilian just isn't meant for this.

I don't see how Bishop's Opening or Alapin are supposed to lock the centre. Advance French, Advance Caro-Kann and Steinitz French lock the centre and are good openings but it's not always suited for castling queenside.

In fact I wouldn't recommend the strategy of playing solid waiting moves until opponent castles either as you will eventually run out of moves and just leave your king hanging in the centre. If you play with white you are supposed to initiate the fight.

My assumption is that people don't usually castle queenside in the Sicilian or the Advance variations of the French and Caro-Kann, and in the Bishop's Opening, you can almost always choose which side to castle on after e4 Bc4 d3 Nc3 Ne2 Be3 Qd2 f4, especially at 800.
For the Alapin, I usually just tried to play it like a weird move order of the Advance French. It doesn't always work, but at 800 it's probably not unheard of.
I mean I wouldn't recommend the strategy of castling opposite side in every opening and pawn storming, but this repertoire would probably be your best chance as White.

newbie4711

Try London System (against 1... d5)

 

SamuelAjedrez95
Ethan_Brollier wrote:

My assumption is that people don't usually castle queenside in the Sicilian or the Advance variations of the French and Caro-Kann, and in the Bishop's Opening, you can almost always choose which side to castle on after e4 Bc4 d3 Nc3 Ne2 Be3 Qd2 f4, especially at 800.
For the Alapin, I usually just tried to play it like a weird move order of the Advance French. It doesn't always work, but at 800 it's probably not unheard of.
I mean I wouldn't recommend the strategy of castling opposite side in every opening and pawn storming, but this repertoire would probably be your best chance as White.

It's not really recommended to play the Alapin like an Advanced French as it's essentially giving black a preferrable version of the French where the LSB isn't blocked in.

Black essentially has perfect development.

SamuelAjedrez95
newbie4711 wrote:

Try London System (against 1... d5)

 

More often than not you are getting pawnstormed on the queenside in the London.

Similarly to the "Advanced Alapin". Black gets perfect development and a lot of active queenside counterplay. It's not so pleasant for white.

It's good to play a pawnstorm against with black.