Even though the French is my only response to e4, I've never yet faced the KIA in a tournament game. Is that weird, or not? Dunno. I live in San Francisco, where at least half the people I'm playing against are Russian, and they've never been a big KIA people. I PLAN to use the 3...Nf6, 4...Bc5 variation, because by luring White's center forward, that looks like it leads to more normal Frenchie pawn structures I'm used to from the rest of my repetoire.
Against the Exchange I also study almost no theory, since the play is so unforcing. If White castles 0-0, I like to castle ...0-0-0, and vice versa, but in a lot of these games I somehow spend a couple tempos to get the bishop pair.
I love playing against the Advance. Black's moves all seem so natural. I usually play the 3...c5, 4...Nc6, 5...Qb6 with ...f6 as early as comfortable. I've been playing this line since I was 10. I love the way both sides play all over the board.
Against the Tarrasch, I like the 3...Nf6 lines. It's true these lines can be a bit of a mess, but I love the structures. Locked centers rule! And these lines are so similar to the ones in the Steinitz.
Which brings up 3. Nc3, when I play 3...Nf6. Usually this means a Steinitz with 4. e5, and leads into lines similar to the 3...Nf6 Tarrasch, often transposing exactly.
When White does rarely play 4. Bg5, I get into my favorite line, the McCutcheon. When I first started playing chess as a kid in the '70s, this was the line I could most often count on getting, but as club players follow the fashion of super-GMs, it's pretty rare I get to it these days.
I like this repetoire because I get similar pawn structures in almost every case. That's one reason I hate the non-3...Nf6 lines against the Tarrasch. I might as well be playing a completely different opening. There are a few cases where I end up with a much different game, like the Exchange, or the 5. exd5 or 6. exf6 McCutcheon, etc., but that's fewer than 10% of my games.
If only I could find openings against d4 and c4 that were so consistent! Against 1. d4 I do open 1...e6, and I'd say a third of the time they opt for the French. There must be a lot of people who play 1. d4 because they hate the Sicilian!
|