Martin vs the world analysis thread #4

Let’s make this one a fight to remember 

Ok 🥊 here ya go. 

watermelon

watermelon cookies

watermelon 2

that looks inappropiate........

how? it's HARRY STYLES

-_____- lol

Hi ry, I'm on board.

If we really want to make this a fight to remember, take it to him, then… how about...

Vote Event Start.

We go first, and at least we know half of what we're getting into, and this before we've even made the first move.  And it just seems like the way to go given the last game's events… our way of showing we're "back in the saddle."

Watermelon

muskmelon

cantaloupe

wot

I vote 1. d4.

I don't think we have to start an event right away. But we should be a bit careful about when we start an event. Maybe it's best to first take control of the centre and castle and only then think about starting an event (this is just a guess I have and it could be wrong, so please take this with a grain of salt).

I think 1. d4 is slightly tricky to deal with in event chess as black. Many 1. d4 openings for black (such as the Grúnfeld defense and the KID) rely on developing your pieces first and kind of neglecting the centre (letting white take the centre), and only later fightning back in the centre with pawn moves.

This backfired for us in the last game against Martin when we played the Grúnfeld defense. The first event favored Martin (white) because he had more space in the centre (which meant he had lots of space behind his centre pawns to put his bishops on 4 squares). It didn't matter much if we tried to fight back in the centre with ...c5 or ...e5;; it was too late and white already had too much space. Our position was to bad that we couldn't safely castle kingside and when the second event started we were completely lost because of some tactics that were possible because our king was still in the centre.

Of course we got extremely unlucky last game with the events, but maybe some openings like the Grúnfeld defense and the KID are slightly inaccurate to play for black on average in event chess, since they don't give black much direct control of the centre early on and events (might) slightly favor the person with more space. Of course I can't say this with any degree of certainty, since I'm not familiar with the 100+ events that can occur.

But it's obvious that starting an event when your king is exposed (such as when it's in the centre and the centre is open) could allow tactics on the very next move because of checks (I'm not saying this is likely but it's something to keep in mind).

This is why I think it might be a good idea to take control of the centre and castle before starting an event, but I could be wrong.

White might have a slight advantage in event chess (a slightly bigger advantage than in regular chess). Or maybe this is just true for some openings, but I don't know which black openings would be good against 1. d4. But at least I feel like it's more difficult to play as black in event chess. I feel like if we start an event right away then we would give away some of our advantage. Martin would (to some extent) know how to play from move 1.

Delaying starting an event would keep Martin guessing. Yes it would involve more risk, but we could minimize that risk by playing carefully. I think the odds are usually in white's favor when it comes to events.

Also I think it's somewhat likely that Martin would play the KID against 1. d4 and I think white has a very slight edge (on average) in that opening in event chess because white has more space in the centre.

I agree. It might be my bias as a d4 player, but I think it seems best in event chess.

wow.

I vote 1. e4 because its more fun

I'm an e4 player but I'm not going to argue with chess_pro's analysis. I'm not sure immediately starting an event is a great idea when we're white. Perhaps as black it is better to do so quickly, but as white I think we should do as chess_pro suggests... take the centre, and castle quickly. 

I don't know if 1. d4 is actually better than 1. e4. It might be because many 1. d4 openings for black don't directly fight for control of the centre (with pawns) early on, while pretty much every 1. e4 opening for black (1...e5, 1...c5, 1...e6 and 1...c6 (and kind of 1...d5 too)) fight for control of the centre on move 1 or 2, but I guess you could just play a 1. d4 opening for black that does fight for control of the centre.

I'm also slightly biased because I'm a d4 player. 1. e4 might be just as good in event chess, I don't know. It could maybe be fun to experiment with it. But my vote is still for d4.

As a loyal player of d4, my vote is for d4.

I'd guess the Scandinavian is not the best opening for black after 1. e4, at least not the main line. Let's say 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 and now we can start an event with black's queen in the centre, which is dangerous. But on the other hand, I'd expect some variations of Sicilian to be fine, though not the Naidjorf due to d6. The dragon is probably fine though, or any e6 variation. Also, Alekhine's defence is probably bad, as white can gain a great deal of space employing the four pawns attack. 

I think if we were black, facing 1. e4, I'd be suggesting the dragon Sicilian, but facing 1. d4 we saw how vulnerable the Grunfeld is, and KID does have its flaws too.

I don't think we should invite the Nimzo Indian though, as that could be a problematic pin on c3.