Well said, pfren!
Super GM's who play 1...e5 a lot?
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So there is a heavy consesus that Arnoian, Carlsen, Adams, Keres, and Spassky are really the main guys who use 1...e5 the most?
IN RESPONSE TO E4 :P
Jan 5, 2013
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#45
Chessteenager, my reading of this thread is that most players rated +2700 use 1...e5 regularly, about as regularly as they use 1...c5.
If you want a list of players rated +2700 who play 1...e5, you would do well just to look at a rating list! Yes, there will be a few who don't play 1...e5, but they will be in a very small minority.
chessteenager wrote:
So there is a heavy consesus that Arnoian, Carlsen, Adams, Keres, and Spassky are really the main guys who use 1...e5 the most?
Your original question is really too general to answer imo. If you are interested in some more specific opening variation then one could perhaps name some famous practioners but it's pretty pointless to give any specific players using 1... e5 as that list should really include most of the famous players (past and present).
Anyway, of the current players Kramnik is perhaps the main guy seeing how much his opening choices influence the other players. Aronian also plays e5 reqularily but isn't maybe quite as big opening expert as Kramnik/Anand. Carlsen plays just about anything and his main strengths lay elsewhere than in the opening although he too possibly most often chooses e5 these days. Actually, in general todays top GM's tend to have wide opening repertoires (for one thing it's more important than ever to suprise opponent due to computer assisted preparation) and are not just stuck playing few favourite lines.
e5 has always been well-respected move so you can find many other important practioners among past legends besides Spasky and Keres as well - probably majority of top players have used e5 with at least some regularity during their career.
This game is brilliant, but more or less a sideline- white can also have a slight pull with the simple 6.Nxc6.
The real Kramnik contribution is that he showed us there is life in the "dull" variation 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.d4 ed4 (4...Bb4 is by the way very playable, although I'm not 100% sure it equalizes) 5.Nxd4 Bb4 6.Nxc6 bc6 7.Bd3 0-0 8.0-0 d5 9.ed5 cd5, when his deceptively simple 10.h3! holds more promise than the established move 10.Bg5, which with sane play is no more than a draw.
I think that Black should be equal with best play, but on the other hand white's plan is crystal clear: He will put her majesty on f3, his bishop on f4, his rooks on e1 and d1, the mule normally on e2, and then try giving black pawn weaknesses with b2-b3 and an eventual c2-c4. The evaluation of the position depends mainly on black's ...d4 option after c2-c4- if he can succesfully maintain a pawn there, then he is fine. Else, he has to defend for many moves a structurally inferior position, while his counterplay is very limited.
While it may not be the most ambitious white plan against 1...e5, it is extremely good for newbies, because it's a dead simple strategy, which does not require memorizing any long variations. Oh, and it's also applicable against the Petroff, by the way (the only other serious option for Black is 3...Bb4, which with best play is a very slight white advantage (maybe not really, but OTB white's play is a tad easier than Black's).