Looks like some form of closed Sicilian system. Here's the game where I figured out that I liked the opening. http://www.chess.com/echess/game.html?id=16205349
Ah...yea that's not really a reversed closed sicilian. That's more like white not knowing any theory.
Still! The closed sicilian reversed is a perfectly respectable option for black.
Minus the e4-thrust it played pretty damn well like a sicilian, though I guess it's really just a four knights english since the c-file was never opened. And correct, I know next to nothing about the english, or at least that variation of it.
ericmittens> That's more like what not knowing any theory.
Agreed. Ibiwisi is pretty good over-the-board, so I was curious why he played 3.e4 when the generally accepted moves are 3.Nc3 or 3.g3. It seems out of his last five games as White this is the only one where he opened with 1.c4.
I like the English. :) It throws a lot of people that I play with (in person)
I enjoy the English, but my coach won't let me play it anymore.
Hopefully, it's only a matter of time until I get to use it again.
I am a 1600 player, and I have had outstanding results with the English (Botvinnk setup) even against higher rated opponents.
I remember when I use to play Scholastic Chess about 7 years ago, 95% of the players would open 1. e4, 4% of the field would play 1. d4, and 1% would play everything else.
I only met one other person than myself who liked 1. c4. The idea of developing in the wings, carving into the center, and using your own center to break the game open really intrigued me. Of course, most of my friends rejected the hypermodern movement because they felt that you can just make a strong center and challenge the flanks from there.
I don't play the English much anymore because I prefer more direct styles of play (1. e4 and 1. d4) or just off-beat stuff like Nimzo-Larsen, KIA, Bird, etc. But I still use it every now and then.
I guess one of the main reasons why I don't play English much anymore is because of chess engines and Kasparov, the opening has lost a lot of its surprise value. 10 years ago, almost no one is playing the English. Then Fischer/Kasparov starts using it and then before you know it, everyone and their mom is using it. Same thing happened with the Sicilian, Ruy Lopez, etc.
PerfectGent,
As a 1300-1500 Scholastic Chess player, I had fine results with the English. It's tactics that decided these games anyhow. So by just picking up a book and reading the theory behind it, I was able to play the opening very successfully. I beat the players who were tactically worse than me, and I lost to the ones that were better. It probably had little to do with the opening.
Of course, having people scratch their heads when I opened 1. c4 in high school tournaments was priceless :))
The English Opening is by far my favorite. I've been playing it for the past year or so and it's been working out pretty well. I like the opening because it's not as commonly played as e4 or d4. Typically I play the accelerated fianchetto variation.
The few times I've played it OTB I've had good results (granted I don't blunder halfway through my games).
Sicilian a tempo up can't be bad, can it.
FYI it's not a Sicilian unless black plays e5