Opening therapy needed

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StevieG65
EiXen wrote:
Since you like the Budapest, open games, and piece play, why not try the Icelandic gambit? It's a branch of the Scandinavian. It has less theory than the sicilians and the ruys so easier to study. In exchange for a central pawn black gets very fast piece development and dynamic play in the middle game. I'll pay you if you want. I mostly play daily time controls though I use this gambit a lot in my rapid games too.

I think it is good for rapid games, but if white knows his stuff, the positions are too depressing for black.

StevieG65
t0mcc wrote:

Hey, i aslo had the same Problem until i started playing the sveschnikov, a opening which gives u a slight positional disadvantage (hole on d5) but good counterplay without being to sharp, like other sicilians (najdorf, dragon).

I also play the Grünfeld and i think if you like the Grünfeld you will like the Sveschinkov too.

And if you study the sveschnikov white has to play a sequence of forced moves to keep the upper hand if white doesnt play 6. Ndb5 hes already worse in most cases, after you play 6. d6 white has to play 7. nd5 or7.  Bg5. The problem with this is that there alot of anti sicilians out there. Most of them arent good and black equalizes easily and is most often even better, i mean if my opponent is playing the alapin im just happy that he gives away his advantage. The only problem and Line you have to study seriously is the rossolimo, its almost as common as the 3.d4 these days. But i dont have a problem with it and i think it gives both sides good play.

Hope i could help, try the sveschnikov and tell me how it went

Interesting suggestion. I never really considered it, mainly because I like playing against it as white and somehow sympathise with the white side. Maybe I will try it in some blitz.

I have struggled with anti-Sicilians. However, part of this is because 2... e6 is committal. 2... Nc6 give black much more natural options in the anti-Sicilians.

StevieG65
lostpawn247 wrote:

@StevieG65

If there are any openings that you would like to practice, I'm always up for some daily chess games.  Just let me know what you would like to work on so that we could get some good practice in.

Thanks, but I am already playing a lot of daily games here. I am happy to use tournament games to practice openings.

StevieG65
Aizen89 wrote:

A simple but robust opening (and the response I use to 1. e4) is the French.  I know it's not the most popular, but it's sound and, besides the Sicilian and the Ruy Lopez, is the most common response to 1. e4.  

There is nothing wrong with the French, but I have tried it and it is definitely not for me.

StevieG65
Manatini wrote:
StevieG65 wrote:

I would say my style is fairly dynamic . . . I like piece-play

StevieG65 wrote:
I suppose my dislike of blocked centres extends to fixed centres to some extent. 

 

What people usually want when they talk about openings is to reach a middlegame they're comfortable with.

But (as is often the case) I think you're going about it from the wrong direction. If you round out your chess knowledge, then you'll automatically be more comfortable in a wider range of positions (and openings).

You can't avoid blocked and fixed centers in all your games, so instead I'd say get a book like Soltis' Pawn Structure Chess, and also pick any opening, and each day play over a few GM games from that opening. Note general things like which side of the board (center queenside or kingside) each player sought play on, and where the main pawn breaks were. You don't have to understand every move, just make those general notes.

No matter what opening you've chosen (even if it's a bit dubious) after 100 or so games (and the pawn book) you'll improve both your results and your ability to enjoy the positions you're getting.

I understand the logic, but I am not completely convinced. I do, of course, get blocked and fixed centres from the openings I play (Gruenfeld, Alekhine, white side of Ruy Lopez, etc.) and I am quite happy to play them. This is because there is a specific reason for choosing to go for such a position. In openings like the French and KID, it seems to be the main aim right from the start, as a sort of provocation. it might be partly psychological, but it always seems to me that these openings lead to bad blocked positions, or at least those where there is a clear risk involved. This is definitely not for me.

Also, I already did this when I was young. When I started, I played the French and KID and as white mainstream 1.d4 openings and the KIA. The main reason was that I read Petrosian's Best Games. After some time I realised that I had to learn to play with my pieces and took up 1.e4, the Alekhine and the Gruenfeld (chosen by going through Fine's The Ideas Behind the Chess Openings). I had a few crushing defeats (and still do), but quickly learned a lot and realised I much preferred these openings. Or maybe, this was just the time I was improving anyway. Last year, I started trying the Caro-Kann and Slav for the same reason. I believe I have learned a bit, but at the level I play at now openings are somewhat important and my lack of experience shows. I am also too old and too busy to learn so quickly.

StevieG65
BISHOP_e3 wrote:

The Reiki Gambit?

StevieG65

Thinking about all these comments, I realise that what matters most to me is having a strong attachment to my opening. In this way, it has to be the Scheveningen. My results are OK, I keep coming back to it and I love seeing super-GMs win with it. There are two problems with it: (i) the Keres attack either gives black a depressing (6... h6) or a dodgy (anything else) position; and (ii) 2... e6 is inflexible in the anti-Sicilians.

So, my solution is to play 2... Nc6 3.d4, cd 4.Nxd4, e6 5.Nc3, d6 to avoid both. Time to learn how to play against the Rossolimo. I will also need to play the Sozin (no ... Na6 lines with this move order), so a bit of work to do.

Are there any recent books that cover the Sozin?

RussBell

@StevieG65 -

You might look into the Scandinavian Defense, in particular the 3...Qd6/5...g6 variation as examined by Cyrus Lakdawala in Chapter 7 of his book "The Scandinavian Move By Move".  He describes the variation as sharper than the more traditional and solid early ...c6 lines, one which is played "In Alekhine's Defense/Grunfeld fashion...".  He goes on to analyze the following game in detail, commenting that "Black achieves Alekhine's Defense-like play against White's imposing center"...

Based on your earlier comments, I think this opening/variation suits your playing style.  It is an (semi-?) "open" opening, relatively easy to learn (not a tremendous amount of theory), is counter-attacking, and very playable (else a Super-Grandmaster would not likely venture it in a major international tournament).

A final, and not insignificant plus is that your opponents will almost certainly not be booked-up on this...

 

 

The following contains the full text of Lakdawala's book on the Scandinavian.  For his analysis/annotation of the game above, search "Boros"...

https://edoc.pub/cyrus-lakdawala-the-scandinavian-move-by-movesc-5-pdf-free.html

StevieG65
It just looks like an inferior Alekhine. To me, even a free book by Cyrus Lakdawala isn't worth the bandwidth.