You know, it's a game of chess.  I personally always play 2.c4 and I consider it the best move, but I don't think that anyone who studies the Tromp is wasting his time.  Down here at the lowly 2200-level where I play, I have my doubts that Black's game is really so much easier against the Tromp than it is against 2.c4.  What, is it so freaking easy for White to get the advantage against the Nimzo/QID, that he should never consider an alternative to 2.c4?  

I do think that anyone who plays the Tromp should get ahold of Dembo's excellent Fighting the Anti-King's Indians, which has a long section devoted to 2...c5.

[Apropos of nothing, my spellchecker doesn't recognize get ahold.  I see from googling that some prisses don't consider ahold to be a standard English word, and that the only correct expression is get a hold.  Idiots.  Charlatans.]

TRW,

I partially agree with you when you say its a lazzy man's opening. Though I would say a better wording can be "it is better for people with less time for chess opening study" (like me working full time as a consultant)

I also cannot agree fully that one misses out chess positional depth. Yes I do not know tons of 'paper' theory but I think Tromp provides good enough chance to get the exposure (lets compare that players who play 1.b3 or 1.g3)

2...c5 and 2..e6 are pretty reasonable  as is 2..ne4 and 3...c5 and as others have said people are booked up - the tromp is not a shock move anymore. 2...d5 is a very solid equaliser

saubhikr wrote on 12/23/08 at 02:59:12:


Whilst the Tromp is pretty dangerous to an unprepared opponent, any Black who has the chance to prepare has a choice of playable defences, to suit all tastes. Black needs only to know one defence well, whereas White needs a complete grasp of the forcing lines, plus the wide variety of differently unbalanced Tromp middlegames.

I know a 2200 who has played it all the time for about a decade. He knows he should change but he's a bit lazy (that's why he picked up the Tromp in the first place). Also he is a bit scared to change, since by playing the Tromp exclusively he has missed out on becoming familiar with a huge chunk of positional themes that are found in other openings. He still often murders weaker players in weekend opens with it, but he keeps running into prep in serious tournaments and leagues, where his score with it is rather less than what is expected with the white pieces.

A few years ago, there was very little published theory on the Tromp and great scope for private research or over-the-board inspiration, hence its appeal to Julian Hodgson and even Michael Adams.

Now the theory is quite extensive, and I guess most masters feel that the positions reached are just not good enough to justify the effort of learning all the theory or doing original research on it - it's simply not promising or reliable enough for a pro to make it the mainstay of his white repertoire.

There's another factor; it seems that the stronger the player, the more reluctant they are to part with their bishop pair at an early stage of the game, particularly with White.

I suggest that Shereshevsky (in his book "The Soviet Chess Conveyer") was probably right, when he included the Tromp in the category of "one-game openings", good against certain opponents, or when you simply don't feel like taking on your opponent in his pet main line opening. I guess it is still actually quite useful to be able to punt the Tromp say once per tournament (as I think Chris Ward used to do), since it adds to your opponent's prep. and probably still has some psychological "fear value" as well - nobody likes to lose to the Tromp!

Willempie wrote on 01/20/09 at 09:48:39:


I agree with you again, it is an impressive endgame. I've found with my play and experience of the Trompowsky that the opening isn't about pressuring black so much as creating a dynamic position where the player with the better "imagination," so to speak, will fare better than his or her opponent. 

Are there better openings which are more aggressive and require sharper play by both players? Yes. Are there sharper answers and opening lines to 1...Nf6 in response to 1.d4 ? Of course.  I simply state that the Trompowsky is by no means a "novelty" but a solid, positionally sound opening, and a good alternative to the better known lines of say, the Semi-Slav or Colle-Zuke.

Willempie wrote on 01/19/09 at 12:46:54:


That is indeed a superb endgame from Karpov, but I would NOT attribute his win to the play of the opening. In the transition from opening to middlegame, let's say move 18...Kg7, white's position is at least =+. Black's knight is on the h-file and away from the bulk of the action, white boasts a better development and I prefer white's pawn structure in this position.  When we get to the endgame it is poorly played by White, and from my short analysis of the position I'd label it as a draw.

Yes, it is true the all the best defences are well known to Black, in any number of openings. I remember in the early 2000s the Scandinavian was popular, around the same time as the Trompovsky boom (possibly due to Wells' book). Over the last few years the Dutch has been popular, but now this too is starting to wane. I believe that any opening that gains wide popularity eventually becomes a victim of its own success in that the best lines against it are found.

Incidentally, I reckon Anand's use of it was as much due to the surprise factor as the actual merits of the opening itself. Also, the game was played in 1998, so theory has advanced considerably since then as White isn't getting so much out of the opening now.

Don't get me wrong, I like the Trompovsky too and have played it myself. Its immensely playable even at Grandmaster level, although there is a reason why 2700+ players don't touch it any more, save for rapid games.

Despite my fondness for the opening I am only too aware of the drawbacks associated with the early queen's bishop development.

Well, I guess tromp gives white at least better chance than exchage Slav (played by Kramnik in WC)......

Is there any partiular line (by black) which is causing this mindset ?