erm, yes - amazon for some reason do not post to my country...

that 2060 player is probably doing it the right way (although playing variations against his pc before trying them out in tournaments would save - not shave- points off his ELO). Sometimes playing otb and then checking with theory ends in one having a deeper understanding of the chosen defence.  Although many variations have been mentioned in this thread, I feel that it is better to stick to one variation and understand it deeply - pawn structure, placement of pieces, dynamism inherent in the position, the battle array - as chances are that your opponent would not have gone so deep into the position. When faced with defences such as the KID and GID, I prefer to take the game directly into the endgame and practice that at home. There was an old book by Mednis ('From the Opening into the Endgame') on such a repetoire which, while looking dry, certainly brings in the points as the opponent would really have no clue what to do! I mislaid mine - anyone knows if it is still in print or if there is a similar more updated book on the subject?

Well you would have beaten that 2060 with just about anything, eh?

The anti-Gruenfeld (recommended by Khalifman) and 7.Be3 (with or without Nf3) are by no means side lines.

If you are looking for a White repertoire, Khalifman's series is really recommended specially now that he is updating all the volumes (for example he will have Catalan instead of QGD in volume 5). Here is what he has to say about the new series:

The first edition of the "Opening for White according Kramnik" was realised in 2000-2004. In 2006 started a FULL renovation of the series. My analysis and recommendations significantly differ from the first edition in a number of variations. However, the bare bones of the series remained practically the same as a whole. There will be only one change of front � while the fifth volume of the first edition examined the Classical queen's gambit, the new edition will cover the Catalan. I have also altered the structure of openings in volume 2. In contrast to the first edition, I dare to advocate to meet 2...e6 by 3.g3. Is this move objectively better than 3.Nc3, we can argue about that forever. What is clear is that White does not wish to enter classical Queen's Gambit, the Ragozin Defence or the Vienna variation, since he must be well prepared to do that after 3.Nc3 d5. Instead, he invites his opponent to the ground of the Catalan Opening (3.g3 d5 4.d4), which has brought to Vladimir Kramnik numerous brilliant victories in the recent tournaments. My own personal bias and long-formed opinion that the Catalan suits best Kramnik's playing style could have made me choose this opening even for the first edition. Still I had to reckon back then with the fact that Kramnik played the Catalan very rarely in those years. Lately the situation has considerably changed. Today the ex-world champion is the leading protagonist of this opening. We can witness it at every tournament with his participation. That called for the above-mentioned restructuring of the second edition of the series. Chess Stars has published so far volumes 1a and 1b (to replace the old volume 1), and volume 2 (replacing the old volume 2). In 2009 volumes 3a and 3b (replacing the old volume 3) are bound to appear. At the same time I keep on working on the new volumes 4 and 5.

Seth_Xoma wrote on 07/22/09 at 16:18:45:


Well to be honest I am kind of puzzled here. You don't like to learn much theory but you play 6.Bg5 against Najdorf and the main lines against the classical French! I don't know what to tell you but the following comes to mind:

(1) English move order: 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 (otherwise 4.e4) as recommended by Khalifman in the "Opening for White according to Kramnik" volume 1A.
(2) 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Bd2. I think Dreev plays this line.
(3) Look into 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Be3 when White avoids playing Nf3.
(4) Switch back to 1.e4!

PS: If you played the advanced against Caro-Kann why did not you try it against the French?

F22 wrote on 07/18/09 at 19:11:01:


Sorry for taking so long to respond.

I'm afraid I don't have much of a "stable" 1.e4 repertoire.

Against the Najdorf it's been 6.Bg5 and 6.Bc4 (with a Bg5 thrown in early).
Against the Caro it's normally been the largely theory-less 4.Nd2 in the Advanced variation.
Vs the French...well... I've tried the main lines and liked them in the Classical but haven't found anything I liked against the Winawer. Sometimes I played the KIA and got good results because I knew the resulting positions better than my opponents.
Vs the Pirc...Since I never play against this except online, the most consistently seen answer has been 4.h4, 5.h5 Nxh5 6.Rxh5   I'd probably play 4.Bg5 in an otb game.
Vs 1...e5 Ruy Lopez, often a d3 system.

Never let anyone tell you you need a great opening repertoire to get to 2300 USCF  

Well, I notice that ECO and NCO are in line with the view that 7...0-0 8. Be2 c5 is suboptimal for Black.  I'm going to guess that ErictheRed meant ...c5 when he was writing ...Nc6, and that he knows what the "book" answer to that Nf3/Bf4/Rc1 line is.

Somewhat oddly, several books I looked at only mention 9. Nxd4 after 6. Rc1 dc 7. e3 c5 8. Bxc4 cd (though it seems that for a few decades the knight recapture was considered very good for White).  

ErictheRed wrote on 07/19/09 at 01:37:12:


Interesting comments. I think the 4.Bf4 lines in general should suit switching 1.e4 players, because White relies more on tactical play than on a huge space advantage in most of the lines. And you can always vary with 4.Bf4/5.Nf3/6.Rc1, 4.Bf4/5.e3, 4.Bf4/5.Rc1, etc. to drive opponents nuts.

I didn't get why this has to be a move order problem for a Sämisch KID player though; after 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 you can meet 3...Bg7 with 4.e4 d6 5.f3 and 3...d5 with 4.Nf3 (or 4.Bf4) Bg7 5.Bf4 etc. What am I missing?

Another line to look into is 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Bd2. I've looked at Moskalenko's favorite line 5.Bd2 Bg7 6.e4 Nb6 7.Be3 0-0 8.f4!? which is not as well-known as the alternatives, but can get very sharp. One of the main lines runs

8... Nc6 9. d5 Na5 10. Bd4 e5 11. Bxe5 Bxe5 12. fxe5 Qh4+ 13. g3 Qe7 14. Qd4 Rd8 15. b4 Nac4 16. Nf3 Bg4 17. Bxc4 Bxf3 18.0-0 and while White's pawn structure is compromised, Black must be very careful with his weakened king with rather few defenders, and the open f-file leading up to it (a frequent problem for Black after the g7 bishop is exchanged). Often the e5-e6-break gives White a very strong attack.

In the same line, I think 8.h3 (planning Nf3 while stopping ...Bg4) has been underestimated in some sources (Dembo, for example) who recommend a quick ...f5 (?!) for Black. The problem is 8...e5! 9.Nf3 exd4 10.Bxd4 Bxd4 11.Qxd4 is so dead equal I would only use 8.h3 against much stronger opponents.