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d-pawn Specials - justifying it to yourself (Read 19239 times)

Bibs YaBB Moderator Offline Posts: 2342 Joined: 10/24/06	Re: d-pawn Specials - justifying it to yourself Reply #5 - 07/19/10 at 10:43:23	Post Tools	Print Post
	I justify using them by getting massive results using them versus 1900-2200s. I use against lower-rated players who play more regularly, read more theory stuff, but are weaker and have less experience and positional understanding. Tromp/Torre very effective for this, as not just one-trick ponies. Complex and positionally sound. Check out some old Petrosian games for Torre. I use once a tournament, maybe more if tired, out of practice. For when I just want to play a game of chess. Not have a sharp theoretical argument.


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MNb God Member Offline Rudolf Spielmann forever Posts: 10778 Location: Moengo Joined: 01/05/04 Gender:	Re: d-pawn Specials - justifying it to yourself Reply #4 - 07/18/10 at 22:28:31	Post Tools	Print Post
	winawer77 wrote on 07/18/10 at 22:08:29: Absolutely, I don't play the Tromp/Torre on autopilot; I play them because of the resulting positions. Regard yourself on a mission: prove in your games and analysis that the Tromp and Torre are valid openings to create winning chances. Don't care if the rest of the world (including me) disagrees. Only give up this mission if you yourself are convinced that it has failed. My point is this. Chess would die quickly if everybody agreed. You run one possible risk though. A few years from now you might reach the conclusion that the Tromp and Torre don't offer anything at all. Switching to 2.c4 (or 2.Nf3/3.c4) from scratch is no peanuts. So you must keep an open eye for interesting ideas and attractive lines vs. the KID, GID etcetera; you must even make notes which you eventually may use later.

	The book had the effect good books usually have: it made the stupids more stupid, the intelligent more intelligent and the other thousands of readers remained unchanged. GC Lichtenberg
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Stigma God Member Offline There is a crack in everything. Posts: 3277 Joined: 11/07/06 Gender:	Re: d-pawn Specials - justifying it to yourself Reply #3 - 07/18/10 at 22:14:37	Post Tools	Print Post
	winawer77 wrote on 07/18/10 at 22:08:29: Quote: But even they must be played concretely with thought, not on auto-pilot. Absolutely, I don't play the Tromp/Torre on autopilot; I play them because of the resulting positions. I've studied the ChessPub anlayses on these variations and done a lot of my own research on the Torre King's Indian in particular. I'm very much interested in playing these openings with an idea of finding the best moves within them rather than simply as a way of avoiding theory for its own sake. These openings are often used for that reason and are discredited as a result. Then everything is fine, isn't it? Knowing/understanding the opening better than the opponent is more important than "objective" evaluations on almost any level, except maybe high-level corr.

	Improvement begins at the edge of your comfort zone. -Jonathan Rowson
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winawer77 Full Member Offline Posts: 249 Location: UK Joined: 03/31/07 Gender:	Re: d-pawn Specials - justifying it to yourself Reply #2 - 07/18/10 at 22:08:29	Post Tools	Print Post
	Quote: But even they must be played concretely with thought, not on auto-pilot. Absolutely, I don't play the Tromp/Torre on autopilot; I play them because of the resulting positions. I've studied the ChessPub anlayses on these variations and done a lot of my own research on the Torre King's Indian in particular. I'm very much interested in playing these openings with an idea of finding the best moves within them rather than simply as a way of avoiding theory for its own sake. These openings are often used for that reason and are discredited as a result.


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Stigma God Member Offline There is a crack in everything. Posts: 3277 Joined: 11/07/06 Gender:	Re: d-pawn Specials - justifying it to yourself Reply #1 - 07/18/10 at 21:26:48	Post Tools	Print Post
	I was 'hooked' on d-pawn specials years ago, but now I play them only rarely. I think most people will develop faster if they learn about all the different Indians and Queen's Gambits, but as part of a wider repertoire d-pawn specials are fine. Chess is a draw, and our opponent must make mistakes for us to win. Against some opponents and in some tournament situations, "specials" are more likely to induce that, even though theoretically Black should equalise more quickly than in a main line. So you can keep a theoretical ideal of playing the best moves, while justifying the occasional sideline with "play the man, not the board" thinking! If I always play the lines I think are absolutely best there's a tradeoff since I also become very predictable. "System" openings like the London, Colle and Torre are useful against aggressive opponents, when you don't have time to prepare, or on tired days. But even they must be played concretely with thought, not on auto-pilot.

	Improvement begins at the edge of your comfort zone. -Jonathan Rowson
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winawer77 Full Member Offline Posts: 249 Location: UK Joined: 03/31/07 Gender:	d-pawn Specials - justifying it to yourself 07/18/10 at 19:09:12	Post Tools	Print Post
	Ok, I'm a decent enough player, rated between 2190 -2250 FIDE for the past 5 to 6 years. I take my chess seriously and do well in most tournaments. The thing is, I really like simple d-pawn openings. In particular the Torre and Trompowsky. I have no particular love for the Colle, London or Veresov, although I would consider the last two. My trouble is mainly ideological - even though I like, understand, and feel comfortable, playing the Tromp/Torre, I have always limited my use of them (often just for a brief change of scenery, or specific opponent) and forced myself to play more mainstream openings. Its these openings that I play in any big tournament. So, what I'm wondering is, and I ask this in knowledge that we know there are more testing openings out there and we are playing sound, but ultimately limited, variations......how do d-pawn specials players justify what they are doing? I want to be taken seriously, yet also to take myself seriously. I don't want to play deliberately substandard moves, yet I do want to play openings I'm comfortable with. I'm holding two contradictory thoughts in my head. Must we, as d-pawn special players, adopt some kind of chess doublethink? It troubles me, it really does.


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