Greetings,
flaviddude wrote on 12/09/08 at 23:21:24:
What no-one has mentioned is that the choice of opening and variation is a matter of style. If you are a super solid technician then the main lines of the Spanish are a great choice. You will blunt white's initiative and then have chances to outplay him.
On the other hand if you prefer to play in a dynamic style then the Marshall still stacks up well. I have the Harding CD on the Marshall which is exellent especially in demonstrating what works and what does not work.
This is certainly true in my case.
Generally, most players fall into either those who are prepared to wait until the opponent loses interest/heart, whereupon the former takes over the initiative OR those who want to take the game to the opponent.
As a teenager, back in the '70s, I fell firmly into the latter category.
I learned the Marshall through the Batsford book by Wade and Harding (1974 - all 256 pages of it!) expecting to use it against anyone playing the Ruy Lopez as white.
The only problem was that it doesn't start until Black's eighth move.
Everyone played liquorice all-sorts except the Ruy Lopez against me - and even when they did, they deviated earlier. When someone finally did allow me to nonchalantly play 7..., 0-0 ("...I'm just transposing, don't you know..."), they played 8. a4.
So I gave up 1...,e5 and switched to 1..., c5 - at least, that way I knew I could take the game to White instead of playing a waiting game.
When you're young, you don't have any sort of technique - except "KILL!!!"
When you've learned enough to realise that you can out-play opponents without behaving like the proverbial caveman, then other, "quieter" variations may appeal.
Although I still haven't played 1..., e5 in a OTB game, I've played "quieter" versions of the Sicilian.
Kindest regards,
Dragan Glas
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Attacking Spanish: Marshall, Schliemann & Gajewski (Read 60699 times)
