Hi, I am an intermediate player, and my coach introduced me to the Sicilian defense, then I researched and discovered the Dragon variation that I really like. I am having some trouble with how to use the Yugoslav attack. Also, could someone show me the difference between the regular and Acc Dragon? Thx for your help.
P.S. I am not very good at interpreting Algebraic Notation that well, so could you please say, "Knight to e4" instead of Ne4.
Again thx for the help
I've seen some of your games... You have to understand that when choosing queen pawn openings you are opening up yourself to a huge amount of theory because there are so many openings black can throw at you. You've incorrectly played against the Albin counter-gambit, which is an opening before that game you probably didn't even know existed. I'm not saying don't play 1 d4. I know someone who started out with d4 and learned e4 later. Just be aware that you are going to have to work a lot harder than you would had you of chosen 1 e4 as your opening.
The Sicilian is also very theory intensive. Most people start with e4 e5 or just play the French. I'm not saying to not play the Sicilian, I'm just saying you are starting your chess Career with two very difficult openings to master. I didn't start playing the Sicilian until about 15 years after I started playing chess regularly. You can learn the Sicilian, it's just going to be a lot harder. You are making things hard, and from your games, I can tell you to make a lot of blunders. You often forget that when you develop your bishops you are leaving a pawn left undefended. In most of your games, I saw you lost even a whole rook just because you forgot that your pawn was undefended when you tried to attack your opponent's queen.
My advice? Before studying the Yugoslav attack work on trying to eliminate the common mistakes that I see are occurring in your games. Just review the games you played so far and check and think up of ways to eliminate those mistakes.
Remember, it's all about playing games at long time controls. Maybe stop playing blitz? Not altogether just make blitz secondary to your long games.
@Daybreak57 How do I play normally then, I just click play and then I find a match. Also, thank you for the very good tips I appreciate it.
Perhaps it would be a good idea to start with Discovering Chess Openings, a book about opening principles.
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627114655/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen91.pdf
Here are some books that set out to help the reader to choose specific openings:
Openings for Amateurs by Pete Tamburro (2014)
http://kenilworthian.blogspot.com/2014/05/review-of-pete-tamburros-openings-for.html
https://chessbookreviews.wordpress.com/tag/openings-for-amateurs/
https://www.mongoosepress.com/catalog/excerpts/openings_amateurs.pdf
First Steps: 1 e4 e5
https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/7790.pdf
https://chesscafe.com/book-reviews/first-steps-1-e4-e5-by-john-emms/
First Steps: Queen's Gambit
https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/7652.pdf
My First Chess Opening Repertoire for White
https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/9033.pdf
https://chessbookreviews.wordpress.com/tag/vincent-moret/
Opening Repertoire 1 e4
https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/7819.pdf
Yasser Seirawan's Winning Chess Openings
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627132508/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen173.pdf
Be sure to try to use the openings in games in between sessions of learning. Most of the time, one faces a position with no knowledge of a specific move indicated in a book. One has to accept that as part of chess, and think of opening knowledge as a sometimes helpful aid. After a game, it makes sense to try to look up the moves in a book and see if it has some indication of how one might have played better in the opening. Many opening books are part explanation and part reference material. The reference material is included in the text with the idea that one mostly skips it on a first reading, and looks at an individual item when it applies to a game that one has just played. Resist the temptation to try to turn a book into a mass memorization project. There are many important subjects that one should not neglect because of too much time on opening study.
https://www.chess.com/article/view/learning-an-opening-to-memorize-or-understand
"... Overall, I would advise most players to stick to a fairly limited range of openings, and not to worry about learning too much by heart. ..." - FM Steve Giddins (2008)
"... I feel that the main reasons to buy an opening book are to give a good overview of the opening, and to explain general plans and ideas. ..." - GM John Nunn (2006)
"... If the book contains illustrative games, it is worth playing these over first ..." - GM John Nunn (2006)
"... the average player only needs to know a limited amount about the openings he plays. Providing he understands the main aims of the opening, a few typical plans and a handful of basic variations, that is enough. ..." - FM Steve Giddins (2008)
"... Everyman Chess has started a new series aimed at those who want to understand the basics of an opening, i.e., the not-yet-so-strong players. ... I imagine [there] will be a long series based on the premise of bringing the basic ideas of an opening to the reader through plenty of introductory text, game annotations, hints, plans and much more. ..." - FM Carsten Hansen (2002)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627055734/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen38.pdf
"The way I suggest you study this book is to play through the main games once, relatively quickly, and then start playing the variation in actual games. Playing an opening in real games is of vital importance - without this kind of live practice it is impossible to get a 'feel' for the kind of game it leads to. There is time enough later for involvement with the details, after playing your games it is good to look up the line." - GM Nigel Davies (2005)
"... Review each of your games, identifying opening (and other) mistakes with the goal of not repeatedly making the same mistake. ... It is especially critical not to continually fall into opening traps – or even lines that result in difficult positions ..." - NM Dan Heisman (2007)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627062646/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/heisman81.pdf
If one is determined to work on playing the Sicilian, one could start with the 2009 book, Starting Out: The Sicilian.
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627122350/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen123.pdf
There is some discussion of various species of Dragon.
If one is determined to work on playing 1 d4, one could start with the recent book, Opening Repertoire: 1 d4 with 2 c4.
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0080/9284/4094/files/OR__d4_c4_extract.pdf?11
Hi, I am an intermediate player, and my coach introduced me to the Sicilian defense, then I researched and discovered the Dragon variation that I really like. I am having some trouble with how to use the Yugoslav attack. Also, could someone show me the difference between the regular and Acc Dragon? Thx for your help.
P.S. I am not very good at interpreting Algebraic Notation that well, so could you please say, "Knight to e4" instead of Ne4.
Again thx for the help