Scotch Gambit
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@adityasaxena4, this is exactly part of the line I’m covering and I like it a lot. In the specific line you showed, I like white’s position and the game imbalance. I’ll reach that in my series, actually the first video which is a game show case, is on that line. But, more critical line is when black grabs the pawn, and claim it: Bxd, which I’m covering nowadays.
@pfren, which video you are talking about? The very first one? That is a game show case, not exact play. So not both sides play perfect! Anyways according to your own analysis, white (me) is doing pretty good (well Qb3 was not good, but that’s move 12, and happens in a rapid game especially when one side goes for sidelines or out of theory).
For your understanding, today Magnus and Yan played several rapid games, and we have seen many changes in the evaluation bar. Forgive us if we can’t play as precise as engine!
For your understanding, today Magnus and Yan played several rapid games, and we have seen many changes in the evaluation bar. Forgive us if we can’t play as precise as engine!
@ChesswithNikolay, the standard Scotch is not interesting, the line that I’m discussing comes after Italian and transposes to scotch by avoiding most drawish lines (not that engine gives any advantage to white, but slightest mistake from black could cost them the game). So, I think studying this line is worth it. Additionally gives you ideas about normal Italian game. Many patterns are similar in some lines, so I think it is a good stuff for study. I do improve myself through this video series and it was useful for me (not saying that watch my videos, find any resource that talks about this line).
Feb 25, 2022
0
#45
i am no expert nickolay but it is my understanding that the scotch gambit is basically playing for a few relatively simple tricks that if properly defended leave you simply a pawn down. the kings gambit is much more positionally rich since there are many ways that black can play and many ways white can respond. i will leave this to an expert but i was told this by an im with much experience in both. the scotch without the gambit is played less by white because it is thought to be less imbalanced than some other openings, though of course this is rather irrelevant to most of us
ChesswithNickolay wrote:
Should I study the Scotch after finishing the King's Gambit theory?
imagine studying kings gambit theory lmao
@ChesswithNickolay, King‘s gambit is good just for fun, not a proper opening IMO!
This line of Italian, that transposes to scotch avoids most of drawish lines of Scotch. It is not guaranteed win for white, in most cases according to engine it is even -0.1 or -0.2 for black, but as a human player, it is much easier to play in the white side. Of course black, if knows the theory, can turn it to an imbalanced endgame to avoid all traps. Then it is white’s time to use their endgame skill and it’s a game to be played (but the scenario of reaching an okay endgame is not so easy for black, since most of the time white has multiple good choices).
On the other hand clearly the line I’m discussing is not as rich as something like Ruy Lopez, since many lines of Ruy Lopez are not discovered yet. But, it means Ruy Lopez is too heavy theoretically and at under GM levels most often the games are decided by strategical mistakes in early opening.
This line of Italian, that transposes to scotch avoids most of drawish lines of Scotch. It is not guaranteed win for white, in most cases according to engine it is even -0.1 or -0.2 for black, but as a human player, it is much easier to play in the white side. Of course black, if knows the theory, can turn it to an imbalanced endgame to avoid all traps. Then it is white’s time to use their endgame skill and it’s a game to be played (but the scenario of reaching an okay endgame is not so easy for black, since most of the time white has multiple good choices).
On the other hand clearly the line I’m discussing is not as rich as something like Ruy Lopez, since many lines of Ruy Lopez are not discovered yet. But, it means Ruy Lopez is too heavy theoretically and at under GM levels most often the games are decided by strategical mistakes in early opening.
Also keep in mind that, this is just one line of Italian (one of the main lines tho), black can play anything else to avoid this line, so if you want to play this, you should know general ideas of Italian (or Ruy Lopez), to be able to continue.
Here is the latest video that ends the Bxd4. It’s more about positional play, especially at the end there is a nice Zugzwang idea!
A very trendy line currently:
No official name yet, I guess "Dubov gambit" is rather appropriate.
It can also occur from the Scotch gambit: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4 Bc5 5.c3 Nf6 6.b4 etc.
pfren wrote:
A very trendy line currently:
No official name yet, I guess "Dubov gambit" is rather appropriate.
It can also occur from the Scotch gambit: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4 Bc5 5.c3 Nf6 6.b4 etc.
There was a course on this on chessable
That’s a cool line @pfren!
@ChesswithNickolay, with that opening I slaughter 2300-2400 blitz players. For 2000 blitz players there is no need to play any specific opening.
Of course for 2000 otb game, one has to play a decent opening (even for much lower rated players). But in blitz this line I’m showing is a killer line and hard to resist if they fall for it (of course white could also mess up the position, but that’s less likely than black).
I think this is good upto GM level otb, not just for blitz. Very hard to believe an e5 player memorizes every single variation when it is not their main repertoire (and it has many details, there is no single magical move by black to turn the game to a drawish line).
Of course for 2000 otb game, one has to play a decent opening (even for much lower rated players). But in blitz this line I’m showing is a killer line and hard to resist if they fall for it (of course white could also mess up the position, but that’s less likely than black).
I think this is good upto GM level otb, not just for blitz. Very hard to believe an e5 player memorizes every single variation when it is not their main repertoire (and it has many details, there is no single magical move by black to turn the game to a drawish line).
goldenbeer wrote:
@ChesswithNickolay, with that opening I slaughter 2300-2400 blitz players. For 2000 blitz players there is no need to play any specific opening.
Of course for 2000 otb game, one has to play a decent opening (even for much lower rated players). But in blitz this line I’m showing is a killer line and hard to resist if they fall for it (of course white could also mess up the position, but that’s less likely than black).
I think this is good upto GM level otb, not just for blitz. Very hard to believe an e5 player memorizes every single variation when it is not their main repertoire (and it has many details, there is no single magical move by black to turn the game to a drawish line).
Of course for 2000 otb game, one has to play a decent opening (even for much lower rated players). But in blitz this line I’m showing is a killer line and hard to resist if they fall for it (of course white could also mess up the position, but that’s less likely than black).
I think this is good upto GM level otb, not just for blitz. Very hard to believe an e5 player memorizes every single variation when it is not their main repertoire (and it has many details, there is no single magical move by black to turn the game to a drawish line).
can you please make a specific playlist of all your scotch videos? and link it here that would be really helpful! thanks!
@Batman2508, sure, that’s a very good idea, I’ll make it soon. At least they are very clearly numbered and have a similar looking thumbnail.
@ChesswithNickolay, I’ve considered the line you mentioned as the most critical lines and covered it and just today I finished with that line. It is composed of 6 videos, they range from 3 min to 12 min each, let’s say average of 7-8 min, it counts for 40-50 minutes of relatively tense lesson (so it could take a week to exactly examine every one of them, one per day for 30 min by setting up the board).
Test
I have some otb on march 10th so I watched all ur vids on scotch so far and I believe we covered all of Bxd4 and In ur 1st video road to 2500 rapid or something you covered the exd4 line, so I guess that leaves nxd4 and some sidelines like after d4 what in bb6 but honestly I think that will be pretty brief. So in how much time do you plan this series on scotch to end?
btw, my playing field I like is 1600-2300 fide I think, only like one 2300 but a lot of 2000 and 2100's
@Batman2508, before deciding to play it otb, you should play enough many blitz and rapid games on these lines, they are relatively tactically/strategically heavy. I hope you did that (still it is hard for white to go wrong, but black can make many mistakes). However, always black can mix it up, today in a blitz game I’ve seen a variationin Qf6 that I’ve never seen it before and in short time couldn’t find a break through (I won at the end, but I had a minor advantage when the game finished). Then I’ve checked it with engine and saw that there was a nice temporary piece sac that was an immediate win (well the main idea was to open f file then grab the f7 pawn, but black played g5? and I had to temporarily sac a piece to break the pawn structure and win). So, playing blitz and rapid on this line with your friends of similar strength is recommended.
For exd4 line, you should be always alert to not lose a queen by playing Qxb7 (I don’t say it’s always ending in trapped Q but sometimes it does). The rest is just an imbalance game to be played by you as a player (well one could claim it has a deep theory, but I don’t think it is applicable to the range of players you mentioned).
Nxd4 shares ideas with Smith Morra and some other well known e4 openings. I guess I’ll go for that this week, but can’t promise it (it’s unlikely to see anyone plays that since looks very scary for black, but who knows).
For exd4 line, you should be always alert to not lose a queen by playing Qxb7 (I don’t say it’s always ending in trapped Q but sometimes it does). The rest is just an imbalance game to be played by you as a player (well one could claim it has a deep theory, but I don’t think it is applicable to the range of players you mentioned).
Nxd4 shares ideas with Smith Morra and some other well known e4 openings. I guess I’ll go for that this week, but can’t promise it (it’s unlikely to see anyone plays that since looks very scary for black, but who knows).
Part 7, Nxd4 is out! If you didn’t see previous ones, don’t worry, go with this one!
https://youtu.be/TcQwYED_Ozo
#41 you ended the line thinking this is good because the Black King looks exposed but after 9... d5! Black acts in the center and flips the tables
9...d5 is just where modern theory of the line begins. After 10.0-0 dxe4 11.c3 it's a nice mess.
And anyway, the video is a very bad demo: it fails to notice that after 9...d6 10.Qb5 Qe7?! 11.Nd2 a6?! 12.Qb3+? (12.Qd3 is better for white) 12...Be6 white cannot take the b7 pawn because after 13.Qxb7?? Qd7 the Queen is trapped.
Basically, it is a bunch of mutual bad moves.