Sokolsky Opening. Has anyone had success persisting with the lines

e3 instead of g3. I always liked e3 in many sokolsky openings depending on positions. Mainly for pushing the b4 pawn to b5 if not playing the exchange.But every game is played on its merits I guess.

As a footnote , after my draw against a chess coach which I said was my goal in playing this opening ( draws against higher ranked opponents) he mentioned that he shouldn’t have been drawn into positional play. That’s the point though. If you go down this path it has a high chance of being positional play by design. In my case playing for a draw with defensive mindset from move one in my mind.Others play to win of course but I like this opening for draws against higher ranked players. Of course this is not often but better than losing all my matches playing standard openings against masters of openings

I can't find the moves you refer to ????

Post #971

If I had played 17. e6, Black's replies could have been Qc7, Qe7 or Qf6 to keep the game level. Had he played, 17. .. Bf6, than White's best move was probably 18. Nxc4. Certainly not 18. Qg4, when Black can take the White knight on d2.

You are correct. I looked at it too fast. I didn't see the knight hanging on d2. 18)Qg4,... would not be a good move.

Qc7, Qe7, and Qf6 all lead to tactical complications because white has a knight sacrifice with Nxd5.

Most of the scenarios I have looked at in my head so far, involved white losing 10 points and black losing 11. Unless I have missed an intermediate move in one of the scenarios.

The black queen is not a true defender of the f7 pawn.

Qd6 maybe better.

The game in post #972 ended in a draw indeed, after:

62. Kf2 a3

63. Ke2 Qe8

64. Kd2 a2

Black offered a draw.

Could you perhaps elaborate more on your proposed lines? I will try to find to time myself as well. Most importantl is that if we follow the previous moves in the game, that it could learn us something as Sokolsky players for future evolving lines in such a game, and / or secondly as chess players in general coping with the Sokolsky.

Hey Optimissed, I believe I sent a message a while ago, and yes interested ;-)

I think that the knight sacrifice is only possible if black plays any of the three Queen moves that you suggested.

I think that Qd6 stops the knight sacrifice.

#984 not if your opponent knows theory

Here's the true test of how good you really are, and whether you actually understand or just memorize openings.

Note what color I am in he following game:

https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/120784786801?tab=review

And here's proof that I still have it as White. Slightly different mover order that allows and disallows certain things, but this one transposed in a line that can also arrive from 1.b4.

https://www.chess.com/game/live/120785396477

Good games Thrillerfan! Is there a reason why you didn't play 24) Qx rook check?

Did I miss a tactical response by black?

The evaluation bar was sitting about 5.2 for white and then it dropped to 2.something after 24) rh5,... which told me something was there and confirmed that I had seen the rook capture.

The answer is that it was a complete oversight, and with a minute and 3 seconds left, I was on auto drive going for the attack on the Black King and completely failed to even notice his moving the rook to f7 causing the other rook to hang.

So long story short, no, you didn't miss any tactics. I did, but luckily enough, White was in total control and it didn't change the result, just lengthened the game (or should I say the time scramble?).

And normally most people hate facing their own opening, but that game as Black was actually fun (helps when white screws up). Amazing the difference between knowing the theory and playing against 1.b4 blindly and watching my over the board opponents grovel.

Here is another high rated 15/10 game win with 1.b4 by yours truly.

https://www.chess.com/game/live/120832272485

ThrillerFan,

The first game you posted as black against the Polish was well done as well. In my opinion, you played probably 5 to 10 moves of theory in the e5 exchange variation as black.

Your opponent playing white was developing but had no real understanding of the position which was evident by some of the moves he chose.

A queen sac followed by a really pretty mate, which is actually an ideal mate - that is where every square the king could potentially move to is covered exactly once, including capture scenarios.

Just some bad 1600 level chess in the Polish Opening. After looking at the game review the computer says he had a better move on move 16.