Is E4 Solved?

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Avatar of VladimirHerceg91
kracker12345 wrote:
VladimirHerceg91 wrote:
kracker12345 wrote:
VladimirHerceg91 wrote:

There is an old quote by the legendary Bob Fischer students of our sport have seen repeatedly, “E4, best by test”.

Today, I wish to discuss this platitude.  With modern advancement in theory and computer evaluation, is this still the case?

For this study, I have decided to use myself as the basis for testing. Therefore, I have employed E4 almost exclusively as my opening as white in my blitz games.

However, my current blitz rating at the moment is at an impressive, however, not brilliant, 1149.

As such, this trial run begs the question, have modern computers and chess theory rendered E4 a solved win for black?

 

Do you have something against bobby -_-

Of course not. He’s probably in the top 30 of the greatest players of all time. As a student of Chess, I respect him tremendously. 

You created another forum against him in 2016 or smth

Against him? No, was just being reasonable with where he should be placed amongst the greats! 

Avatar of Redgreenorangeyellow
VladimirHerceg91 wrote:

There is an old quote by the legendary Bob Fischer students of our sport have seen repeatedly, “E4, best by test”.

Today, I wish to discuss this platitude.  With modern advancement in theory and computer evaluation, is this still the case?

For this study, I have decided to use myself as the basis for testing. Therefore, I have employed E4 almost exclusively as my opening as white in my blitz games.

However, my current blitz rating at the moment is at an impressive, however, not brilliant, 1149.

As such, this trial run begs the question, have modern computers and chess theory rendered E4 a solved win for black?

1150 is not impressive. It is the level of an average player and this is coming from a 1300 (1300 is also trash. 1500 is the baseline for showing true dedication.)

 

 

Avatar of athlblue

2000 is not 1500

Avatar of ponz111

1. e4  ends in a draw with best play for both sides.

Avatar of Laskersnephew

You do realize, don't you, that this is an elaborate troll thread?

Avatar of Laskersnephew
Steven-ODonoghue wrote:

Wouldn't call it elaborate

Elaborate considering the source

Avatar of IpswichMatt
VladimirHerceg91 wrote:

Do you have something against bobby -_-

Of course not. He’s probably in the top 30 of the greatest players of all time. 

You're good at this Vlad

Avatar of Smositional_Player

Yes it is!

Avatar of NikkiLikeChikki
Ridiculous. Leela scores 55 out of 100 with the Ruy Lopez. Granted, she prefers d4, but a 55 is a long way from solved. Against the French she scores around 70. With humans there is no solving since they are incapable of knowing best replies to all possible variations. Often, a theoretically inferior move is superior because the opponent simply doesn’t know the lines.
Avatar of Sred

Not every commentator here seems to know what the technical term "solved game" even means. Just a reminder: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solved_game.

Avatar of m_connors

Didn't know e4 had to be solved . . . wink.png

 

Avatar of pinkblueecho

For guys of our level playing blitz online the openings are not so important, as long as you´re not losing out of the opening. Here, for example, is a rated blitz victory against a 2000 using the reviled Englund Gambit. He refused the gambit and ended up with a transposed French exchange. The biggest issue was his weak light squares which allowed the Queen to enter and dominate.

 

 

Avatar of TeacherOfPain

@pinkblueecho 

This has nothing to do with the topic

And as for the topic, no, no opening is solved; d4 is slighlty better but e4 is just a good in the hands of many if not better. It all depends on how you view it. 

If it was solved, that would make things much simpler, since it would be less openings, but since it is not then it is more complex, and therefore more people can play more openings to get betteer chances within specific openings, namely for e4 due to the topic.

I don't think any opening will be solved, but if it does you can always tell me! thumbup.png

Avatar of Commando_Droid

There is no "best first move". Some GM's preferred e4, others prefer d4, c4, Nf3, ect

Avatar of TeacherOfPain

Who said there was a "best first move" @kingandqueen2017

Avatar of pinkblueecho
TeacherOfPain hat geschrieben:

@pinkblueecho 

This has nothing to do with the topic

 

Of course it does. Let me explain further: The OP said that his performances prove that E4 was solved. I made the counter argument that first move is irrelevant for low level players like us by demonstrating a win against a 2000 using a trash first move. Ergo he can make no conclusions about the strength of a first move using his own games as a datapoint.

Avatar of NikkiLikeChikki
This experiment proves nothing about the relative merits of e4 across a generalized population. One subject in research is called a case study, and these are notoriously flawed when trying to make a generalized claim. It’s like picking one person in a poll who said that Brussels sprouts are the best food, and concluding that pizza is refuted. It is commonly asserted that e4 leads to sharper lines while d4 leads to more positional play. If you like sharp tactical play, then perhaps e4 is better for you. If you prefer trying to outplay your opponent strategically, then perhaps d4 suits you best. Inferences made from one data point are meaningless.
Avatar of teju17

I think e4 is really good. I get a slight advantage from mistakes black makes and thats all you need from the opening!  What I mean by mistake is:

We grab the center with d5 and its smooth sailing!

Avatar of MrIndia
Sred wrote:

Not every commentator here seems to know what the technical term "solved game" even means. Just a reminder: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solved_game.

This shows 1.e3 is a win for white (weakly)

What does that mean

Avatar of teju17

It means white has a slight advantage Obviously as white moves first.