Ponziani Opening

By the way, Pacifique, there is no upcoming chess book from me.

Of course you may find positions that are not best from the Ponziani if one player makes both the Black and White moves.  

If one player makes the moves he can make the game a win or loss or draw. 

Chess professionals playing Ruy Lopez on regular basis (not only as surprise weapon) despite of its complextity are more convincing evidence than your wishful-thinking claims and shallow analysis.

There is more to life than trying to refute variations of a certain opening.

There is also something called keeping personal agreements.  FirebrandX knows quite well why this undertaking was to be personal and not public.

Chess professionals will play the Ruy Lopez rather than the Ponziani.

So what is your point?  Chess professionals are less than one thousands of 1% of all chess players.  Also they grew up with the Ruy and there was no reason not to play the Ruy.

Crabiano, no that is not what I meant. I am saying the Ponziani and the Ruy are ranked in the top ten best chess openings.  The best is 1. d4  d5 2. c4

You have claimed several times  already that you keeping your "secret varations" for another your Ponziani book.

If some opening is played by many people who earns money playing chess  it`s the best evidence of quality. Is it so hard for you to understand it?

Chess Professionals grew up with the Ruy.  The theory of the Ponziani was not developed. So they had every reason to stick with what the studied for very long hours.

And there are not many people who earn money playing chess.

Pacifique, you are a naysayer. There is nothing I post that you do not criticize.  Even when I gave a short analysis of a recent vote chess game you started out that it was bad analysis.  

The fact is for anyone rated 2500 or lower the Ponziani gives good chances.  It is not a coincidence that the Ponziani Power Vote Chess Team won 13 in a row.  The math chance of this is less than one in a hundred thousand.  That should be a very good indication of the practical chances the opening gives.

Ponziani is known for a long time ago. Many new openingd has been intruduced sice then and still Ponziani is still unpopular. Why?

You ponz111 are much worse than nayslayer - you are charlatan, making claims about things you don`t understand.

I`m still have a very good practical results with 2.c3 Sicilian in OTB chess (especially vs weaker opposition), but I`m not so foolish to claim it no worse than main Sicilian lines, as knowledgeable Black player may reach equal position much easier than playing against main lines.

it's a pity that you want this to be developed in private, i don't see what is there for you to gain from it...

one thing is to say that you can be better used to the main positions (aka "gives good practical chances"), that's all well and good... it's also why people play, like, the london system.
another thing is to say that white has anything more than a theoretical = in the main lines - i don't see anything in this thread that makes me believe that is the case.

There is no opening that will result in anything but a draw with best play on both side.  So it does mean something if the opening gives good practical chances.

There is no opening where White has more than a theoretical slight advantage.

I have published many Ponziani new lines.  There were very good reasons why FirebrandX and I agreed to look at a few lines out of the public limelight.

if you really want to know the reasons then message me personally.

They play the ruy because they grew up with it? I'm sorry, but lol.

Top level chess players add new openings to there repetouire's quite frequently, especially during match preparation.

Some examples? Gelfand and Anands Rossolimmo variation, Kramnik developing the Berlin wall against Kasparov, and Kasparov bringing back the dragon against Anand.

Who has played the ponziani in a WC match? No one. And it's not because they didn't grow up learning the ponziani either.

I have personally refuted the Ponziani 3 years ago with the Fraser defense.

Main line:

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 Nf6!! 4. d4 Nxe4 5. d5 Bc5 6. dxc6 Bxf2+ 7. Ke2 Bb6
8. Qd5 Nf2 9. Rg1 O-O 10. cxb7 Bxb7 11. Qxb7 Qf6 12. Qa6 Rae8

plenty of analysis on BrianWallChess@Yahoogroups.com to prove my point.

And your 13 and a row isn't that impressive. I won 14 in a row in the ponziani computer tournament (including a few wins against players who withdrew), with both white and black, and that's against strong engines.

It hasn't changed my opinion of the opening either. After 3...d5 Qa4 f6 d3 white is about equal with a much more akward position than a normal ruy lopez or italian game, while after 3...d5 Qa4 f6 Bb5 Nge7 black is better.

Interesting line indeed. 

I have read somewhere that black sometimes put their pawn on a6 in the start position to avoid Ruy Lopez. It was called "Spanish torture" and I have never found such a description about Ponziani.

Most world champions played Ruy Lopez, it is considered one of the best lessons on chess strategy and positional play. Despite the obvious intention of creating the strong centre with 3.c3 white rules in the centre more frequently in RL. In fact, white fights against d5 counterstrike (black has difficulties to play so without sacrificing a pawn) and keeps tension in the centre. The term "Spanish torture" applies to white's threat of either closing with d5 or opening with dxc5 (dxe5). Black has to carefully prepare for both events and cannot show too much activity before the tension is removed by white.

In Ponziani, black can easily play d5 and then white will only have one pawn in the centre instead of two. I also personally dislike early queen play in the opening as with Qa4.

I think RL will suite much more players' style because it is more universal. There can be strong GMs playing the Ponziani (like Carlsen) but they have specific treatment of openings - willing to surprise the opponent and just get playable position without looking for the first move advantage.

LOLZ @ Qd5...

what's wrong

Have you studied the Ponziani?  Do you have knowledge of various opening sequences?

In any event, I have nothing against people who like the Ruy Lopez.

Some like the Blackmar Diemer and it is ranked #10 in the 10 best openings for White.