katar wrote on 11/20/09 at 00:16:08:

Sure, the poor lawyer never got the chance to read The Pirc in Black and White or Pirc Alert! 



OK no more jokes. Good luck playing open positions, I really should have taken that route long ago too. 

PS katar; I love your Ulvestad video and have recommended it to several juniors.

Go with Tarrasch instead of Albin.
With Tarrasch you have a reasonable gambit option in the Hennig-Schara gambit, which is about as OPEN a game as you can possibly get in the QG.

I would also advise you to consider the Two Knights Defense as the backbone to your 1...e5 repertoire vs 1.e4.  Two knights is very open and tactical, and historically very rich...

Congrats on your new approach to the openings.  Chess does not have to be a difficult game if we simply play normal, straightforward logical moves in the opening.  IMO there's a reason why it never occurred to Morphy to play the PIRC defense or the Hippopotamus!!

Against the Sicilian 1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.Nf3 is only useful, IMHO, if you want to avoid certain Open Sicilian lines (chiefly the lines without ...d6) with a transposition to the Morra with a quick c3.   It also tempts Black into playing the dubious 3...e5.  Otherwise it doesn't really have any advantages over 2.Nf3 and 3.d4.

I agree with Markovich that 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.Nf3 is a poor way to try to reach the Scotch in view of 3...Bb4+ (though it does tempt the dubious 3...c5).  I was amazed to see a recent GM game where White tried this move order and Black obligingly played 3...Nc6.   Again this move order is OK only if you are happy to play a gambit- after 3...Bb4+, 4.Bd2 and 4.Nbd2 can be met by a quick ...c5 (or Black can return the pawn and have equality).  4.c3 dxc3 5.Nxc3 Nc6 is a Goring Gambit, which works well at the 1600-1700 level despite being theoretically dubious- but again, it's only good if you're happy to play a gambit.

Also worthy of note is 3...Bc5!?, as 4.Nxd4 Nf6 is a poor version of the Scotch for White, while 4.Bc4 is a Scotch Gambit and 4.c3 leads to Goring Gambit type positions.

The Petroff is fine for your case and I have a recommendation for a sideline according to your plans:
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 Nxe4

http://www.volki.at/cgi-bin/ana.pl?FILE=overview On this site or/and in SOS Vol. 10 the article of Or Cohen is everything you need to get a positive score with the Petroff against players of your level.

There still is 3.d4 and white declining the gambit. But you have the choice then which Petroff you like. This gambit won't probably be used on the 2600+ level ever. But ask someone around 2200 why? When you know it, you'll see that they don't know. And it gives positions with loads of 2 or 3 move combinational patterns.

considering your intention to play early & safe e4-d4, your opening choices are ok. Against sicilian, you can improve with 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 and then 3.d4, avoiding some tricks in the 2.d4 move order (such as ...a6 followed by ...e5). Against 1.e4 e5, the scotch suggests itself (2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4). Against russian game (2.Nf3 Nf6) 3.d4 is also correct. there's no stopping you now!

"3. The Petroff?  Really?  I don't quite see how you get pawns to e5 and d5 after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5.  I suspect you're likely better off biting the bullet and studying the Open Games more generally.  It will probably be better for your chess in the long run."

ok, i'm not aiming for e5 and d5 to build a pawn center necessarily, but rather to ensure development and equality in the center. if white can exchange off one of those pawns, so be it. 

the reason i'm going with the petroff over 2...Nc6 is that white can make sure that the game is NOT open, by playing some italian with d3,c3, or with the main line ruy lopez. 

incidentally, i'm not sure why the classical ruy is called an "open" game. it's usually very closed in the center and based on slow manouvering. a lot of times, there aren't even any pawn exchanges in the first 20 moves or so, and when a pawn exchange finally does happen, it's usually axb5. the QGA for example seems a heck of a lot more "open" than the ruy lopez to me.

the basic idea is 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d4 <d5>. once that e4 pawn is gone, white can't really stop ...d5 from happening. in fact, i can't find a main line of the petroff where white can stop ...d5 from happening. this is the main reason i'm considering playing it.

here's my basic idea - i'm going to play openings that allow me to play P-K4 and P-Q4 as soon as possible, as long there is no major concession involved.

i'm tired of screwing around with openings like the torre and the colle, KIA, i've tried every e4 defense under the sun, and it's not really getting me anywhere. i know entirely too much theory for my own good, but my tactical play is lacking. i can destroy someone as black in 25 memorized moves in the marshall attack, but then lose in some sideline of the exchange variation after making a tactical blunder. my rating hovers around 1600-1700 ICC.

so how can i improve my tactical play and calculation? smarter people than me have suggested that playing OPEN games is the key to improving tactical play. the simplest way to get an open game is to aim for P-K4 and P-Q4. as long as i can get away with those 2 moves without serious concessions, i should get into an open position with reasonable play, right?

i won't be basing repertoire choices on anything other objective evaluations. i won't be trying to unbalance the positions for winning chances, i need to focus myself on more simple concerns like 2 move tactics. i'm not going to make repertoire choices based on level of theory either. if a move looks good, i'll consider it, even if theory ignores it. on the other hand, if a move makes sense to me but comes with the baggage of lots of theory, i'll just learn the theory. and i won't necessarily consider the reputation of any opening line at the 2700 level, only the objective evaluation. i don't care if the petrov is drawish for kramnik - there are no drawish openings at my level.

so this leads me to my choices of specific lines, i would appreciate anyone's suggestions. 

<<<white pieces>>>

ok, after 1.d4, black has ways of making e4 very difficult. after 1.e4, black has no way to stop d4. so we'll go with 1.e4. that was easy, right? 

now, any response from black that doesn't prevent 2.d4, my choice is clear - 2.d4. so french, caro-kann, pirc, modern, i'll play 2.d4 and then go about the business of simple development. against french and caro, i'm considering 3.exd5 and 4.c4 systems, with lots of open lines. otherwise, main lines with 3.Nc3. i'm going to avoid locking up frenches and caros with e5, as i want OPEN positions for myself.

for the scandinavian, i'm fine with main lines. i've gotten away with e4 and d4 with no concessions, i have an open position, i'm happy.

that leaves the other moves that deal with the "threat" of 2.d4 - 1...e5 and 1...c5.

for 1.e4 e5, i'm considering 2.d4, and after 2...exd4, not 3.Qxd4, but 3.Nf3 transposing into the scotch. 3...c5 4.c3 looks ok to me for white, am i wrong? so, can anyone suggest a simple, open line to play in the scotch for white?

for 1.e4 c5, i'm considering 2.d4, then 2...cxd4 3.Nf3, not the smith morra, but straight development. i'll pick lines in the open sicilian that make sense to me, and i'm not going to avoid them because of the burden of theory. probably i'll be using Bc4 sozin/fischer lines, which have always made sense to me. 

does anyone see any serious problems in the lines i've suggested above?

<<<black pieces>>>

ok, probably not as simple here. white has ways of keeping the position closed for several moves. we've got 1.e4, 1.d4, and the other stuff.

<the other stuff> - pretty simple, i'm going to play e5 and d5 as quick as possible, and go from there. 

<1.d4> - what exactly is the objective evaluation of the Albin Countergambit? if it is objectively playable, i would like to play it. otherwise, Tarrasch defense, in which black has in effect accomplished e5 and d5, and has no bad pieces. i'd like to play with the IQP, which is why i'm also considering lines like panov-botvinnik as white. i tend to feel less comfortable with the IQP than against the IQP, and i would like to change that. any suggestions?

<1.e4> 1...e5, aiming for ...d5 as quick as possible. king's gambit - i'll play the falkbeer, into the abbazia. vienna - i like the 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.f4 d5 lines. four knights - metger defense is ok with me, i also like rubinstein's Nd4 line.

that leaves 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3. here, i'll go with petroff. once again, no opening is drawish at my level, and i'm not going to base my choices on the reputation of some opening at the 2700 level. in the petroff, black accomplishes ...e5 and ...d5 without making serious concessions. open position, no bad pieces, slightest of slight white advantage, sounds good to me. my problem with 2...Nc6 is that white has ways of preventing ...d5 for a long long time and keeping the position closed. black gets away with ...d5 in the petroff in almost all lines. 

so that's my basic idea for my repertoire. any suggestions of input would be greatly appreciated.