Patience my friend!  We are going to cover everything besides 1.e4, yes. At present i haven't get my hands on things like 1.f4, 1.g4, 1.b4 etc but after 1.c4 and 1.Nf3 we already have our lines. I don't know to what extend readers would be interested to get recommendations against more rare first moves. I would be interested very much of everybody's thoughts and suggestions on that. For example, in my life i have only once faced 1.b3 in a tournament game and this was the only rare first move i have ever faced. I reacted classicaly over the board (without any kind of preparation) and i won rather easily. Should the readers want cover of such moves also? I guess that, at least 1.f4 will be covered (i have in my mind a Tarrasch-like solution) and also 1.b3 because we can use again a Tarrasch set-up. Ideas for other moves?

BabySnake wrote on 03/15/11 at 14:14:28:


This will be discussed in "GM Rep: The Tarrasch" by Aagaard and Ntirlis for sure! By the way, i think it is probably a good time to make a seperate thread on the Tarrasch. This one is heavily loaded already and in a seperate thread about the book we can discuss other things also.

A quick question on move orders when using the Tarrasch as a universal weapon against everything but 1.e4.

Vs 1. Nf3 I guess 1...d5 is pretty obivous.

However vs 1. c4 I would think 1...e6 followed up by 2...d5 is best rather than 1...Nf6. Because black doesn't want to develop the king's knight too early in the Tarrasch?
Or maybe black should play 1...c5 and if 2.Nf3 e6 3. d4 then 3...d5.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of each first move for black, in your opinion?

Perhaps this is discussed for example in "Meeting 1.d4" by Aagard and Lund? I don't have that book yet.

Markovich wrote on 03/06/11 at 02:05:19:


Well then, I wonder how Keres differed with ECO, which (including in the first edition, in which the relevant section was written by Larsen, and which came out when you were in your twenties ...) has thought that White should get a clear advantage with 10. 0-0 (as in the games mentioned at #360).

alyechin wrote on 03/05/11 at 06:56:42:


It has been thought that Black gets compensation in the case of 9. Nb3 Bb6 10. Nxd5 Nxd5 11. Qxd5, and an edge in the case of 11. Bxd5.

Oops -- Avrukh actually played Nxc6 in a different position (with 0-0 in instead of Nc3), which looks like a better environment for it (though it is still a significant possibility in the Nc3 version).

alyechin wrote on 03/04/11 at 14:03:28:


I notice that ECO thinks that should be clearly better for White; it cites Rubinstein-Spielmann, Karlovy Vary 1923 and Rashkin-Klaman, USSR 1973.  (It thinks 9...Bb4, transposing to a line of the English, is better, but still slightly better for White.)  Incidentally Avrukh played 9. Nxc6 in the game I referred to at #357.

Recently i am preparing for my first tournament and i have based my repertoire on 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.dxc5! which seems to promise advantage for white in all cases except the one where black plays 6.d4 Na4 b5! 7.cxb6 axb6 now black seems to have some compensation for the pawn....the book move continues with 8.b3 but i have found a novelty here with 8. e4! and i think this is enough to play for a win against my unprepared opponent.