Jay wrote on 02/07/11 at 14:39:12:


You haven't looked very hard, have you? Try Brunello or Sokolov.

Meat wrote on 02/07/11 at 13:22:19:


In perspective of learning something you should play the Closed Lines (Chigorin, Breyer,...) - but to achieve this goal you need an intermediate solution which could be 3...g6!?

What about chess 960 for those new to the game?  Basically avoiding all openings and learning about attack and control?

MNb wrote on 02/02/11 at 02:36:12:


Surely 9...d5 10.ed5 Nd5 is not a problem for Black? 

1…e5 is the most classical response. Every chess player should be able to play it. It means if you have never played 1…e5 for black, you definitely should do it for some time. Otherwise, you have a huge gap in your chess education. After 2.Nf3 black has a good choice from the Spanish game (2…Nc6) and Petrov's Defense (2…Nf6). Both of these systems are very solid. 

The disadvantage of Petrov’s Defense is that it is hard to play it for a win. White can make a draw quite easily if he wants one. For example, in the exchange variation: 3.Ne5-d6 4.Nf3-Ne4 5.Qe2-Qe7 6.d3-Nf6 and white transfers the game into a symmetrical endgame. That’s why I don’t recommend you use Petrov’s defense as your main weapon. You should at least have one more variation against 1.e4.

Spanish Game (1…e5 2.Nf3-Nc6) is one of the oldest defenses, and it still works very well. I recommend that you play the Marshal counter-attack: 3.Bb5-a6 4.Ba4-Nf6 5.00-Be7 6.Re1-b5 7.Bb3-00 8.c3-d5. It allows black to get an attacking position and it is quite solid in the same time.

By the way, the Marshal Attack and Petrov’s Defense are two main reasons why some top Grandmasters play the 1.d4 move. In these two openings, white still hasn't found the way of getting an advantage. 

Another good choice for black is a Sicilian Defense (1…c5). The c5 move helps black develop the queen in the future, since in the Sicilian black usually plays Qc7 or Qa5 at some point. C5 doesn’t help black to develop his minor pieces, but it hampers white’s movement also. I mean that 1…c5 move hampers white’s move “d4”.

The Sicilian is also a classical opening which every chess player should be able to play. It requires good preparation because it contains a lot of forcing lines. That’s why some players are afraid of playing the Sicilian Defense. 

If you haven’t played the Sicilian for black before, I recommend you learn the Kan variation first (1…c5 2.Nf3-e6 3.d4-cd 4.Nd4-a6). It is the most positional and solid system of the Sicilian. By using this variation, you will ensure that you are safe against white’s quick attacks in the opening which are the biggest problem for the beginner Sicilian players. 

The most aggressive variations of Sicilian defense are: Dragon variation, Najdorf variation, Pelican (Sveshnikov) variation. That’s why they bring the best results for black. These variations are very complicated certainly, so I recommend you play them starting from the Master’s level.

King’s Indian Defense (1…Nf6 2.c4-g6) makes the same set up of the pieces like Pirc defense, so it is not the best for black either. 

Perhaps you are thinking, “It can't be that bad. Kasparov and many other Grandmasters have played the King’s Indian”. I agree, but Grandmasters have a lot of reasons to choose one opening or another. A strong player can win the game in King’s Indian defense not because of the opening but because he is a strong player.

The World Champion Tigran Petrosian once said: “I have fed my family for about 15 years due to my opponents who played the King’s Indian defense.” )   

The most classical variation is the Queen’s Gambit Declined (1…d5 2.c4-e6). It is very good and solid for sure. A little disadvantage is that it is quite calm, and sometimes it is hard to play it for win. In case you are ready to make draw in a certain game, the Queen’s Gambit Declined is a good choice. 

Nimzo-Indian (1…Nf6 2.c4-e6 3.Nc3-Bb4) and Queen’s Indian (3.Nf3-b6) defenses are very good openings. They are solid, correct and contain a lot of interesting possibilities. If you study these openings, they will help you a lot during your whole chess career. You may play it against any opponent with any goals. (I mean that you can play it for win and to make a draw as well). 

Slav Defense (1…d5 2.c4-c6) is also very popular among the strong players. It helps black to keep control in the center and not to close the c8-h3 diagonal for light-squared bishop, like in the Queen’s Gambit Declined. 

In the Slav Defense, white can force a drawish position by playing 3.cd-cd, but black can prevent it choosing another order of moves: 1.d4-d5 2.c4-e6 first and only then play c6 in the future. 

The Slav Defense is quite a sharp and complicated opening. If black makes the wrong moves, he could lose the game quickly. You need to learn the theory very well if you are going to play it. 

Another sharp line is the Gruenfeld Defense (1…Nf6 2.c4-g6 3.Nc3-d5). Black allows white to create a strong pawn center (4.cd-Nd5 5.e4-Nc3 6.bc-Bg7) hoping to attack it then. It is an active opening which follows the base strategy principles of a chess game. It is quite a recommended choice. The practical disadvantage of Gruenfeld is that it contains a lot of theory. These lines are forcing and you need to know them well. Some theoretical lines in the Gruenfeld continue to the 35th move! The best thing you can do is to postpone playing the Gruenfeld until you reach the Master’s level. 

I can say pretty similar things about the Benoni Defense (1…Nf6 2.c4-c5 3.d5-e6 4.Nc3-ed 5.cd). It creates an unbalanced position with a lot of different sharp lines. Though it is a good opening, it requires hard work to learn it. If you don’t know the theory, you can easily lose the game in the opening. 

The easier option is to play the Benko Gambit (1…Nf6 2.c4-c5 3.d5-b5). The strategical ideas of these openings are pretty similar: black is going to use his fianchettoed bishop to put pressure on white’s queen-side. The practical advantage of Benko is that it is much easier to study. Normally, black uses only one setup of his pieces in all the lines. It is for this reason that it's possible to learn the Benko quickly. 

The Benko Gambit is one of the most aggressive responses to 1.d4 move, which is another huge advantage of the opening. 

Some players consider the Benko as a dubious line because black sacrifices a pawn on the 3rd move. I don’t agree with this, because the positional sacrifice of a pawn is a very well-known idea which works very often in a chess game.

some conclusions

Note: the opening variations for players over 2300 are marked with another color.

1.The good responses for black against 1.e4:
   Spanish game (Marshal counter-attack); 

   Petrov’s defense;

   Sicilian defense (Kan variation; Pelican variation; Najdorf variation; Dragon variation);
  Scandinavian defense.

 

2.    The good responses for black against 1.d4:

   Queen’s Gambit Declined;

    Nimzo-Indian and Queen’s Indian Defense; 

   Benko gambit;

    Gruenfeld Defense;

    Benoni Defense;

   Slav Defense.

That´s the end of my doctrine! 

Quote:


First, let me say that I accept your point of view about the Slav, that is an opening that I like too and I accept the opinions that claim that any respected opening could be used, althought I prefer the narrow number of options until master level. When I say Shirov´s analysis, I am not refering to any particular book or DVD, but only in general and following the opinion of E. Dearing about 1.d4 d5 openings in is book about the Nimzo. I understand your point of view about the easy way to play the Slav. Far more theoretical I do not know because there are a lot of sharp and theoretical lines in the Slav too, but I agree that a more conservative repertoire a la Vigus is a good choice. 
Here is part of what I think in general about the subject with some important points in a kind of doctrine for a player choices:   

What does it mean “the good opening repertoire”? They are the variations which follow the base strategical principles of a chess game. A player should create a good opening repertoire and play it. 
I mean that after the creating of a good opening repertoire one should not spend much time on the opening preparation. 
In the opening you basically need to realize the 3 main opening’s tasks: 

- Develop the pieces;

- Castle;

- Connect the rooks (moving the queen). 

“How to choose the openings?”  The biggest problem regarding this topic is that a player understands the answers only after losing lots of time. 

1.You should play the correct openings. 
 
Do all the well-known openings follow these principles? Definitely not. Look at the super-tournaments. The top Grandmasters play only a few openings. They almost never play Pirc defense for example. 
   
What to think about the Caro-Kann defense? First, we know that we should develop the pieces in the opening. 1…c6 doesn’t help black to develop anything. Quite the contrary, it does not allow black to develop the “b8” knight. Second, we should move the pawns and the pieces forward as quickly as possible, so the pawn should go on the 5th rank. We can see that the Caro-Kann breaks several base principles right from the beginning. In the main line after 3.Nc3-de 4.Ne4 black usually plays e6 in the future and also creates the solid position. It is a way of playing safely, but it is quite passive. That’s why it is hard to play the position for a win. 

What about the “Dutch”? Quite the same: f5 is a pawn move, which doesn’t help black develop anything.
These openings are not loosing certainly. They are just not the best. Think about this. You are playing against a strong opponent. This situation is already not so easy for you. If you are not making the best moves you make it even harder for yourself. Do you want that?

You may tell me: “But quite a lot of Masters and Grandmasters play the opening lines which you call dubious.” Ok, they could have a lot of reasons. For example, a strong player could play it to try to create an unknown complicated position. He thinks that it would be easier for him to gain a victory over a lower rated opponent in such a situation. Maybe he knows this line better. Maybe he has prepared something in this line. Or maybe he simply doesn’t know what to play. So it is not an argument. If these openings are good for them it doesn’t mean they will be good for you. You should play the good normal openings first since you should learn the rules before the exceptions. 

1.You should play the attacking openings. 
 
The attack is one of the basic principles of a chess game. 
Quite often players play the openings, which are not bad, but not very active at the same time. Take for example, the Petrov’s defense. It is a very solid classical opening, but I don’t recommend you play such openings until the Master’s level. Why? An attack is the main thing which helps you win the game. That’s why you should train this skill before any other. 

Another argument is that it is easier to attack than to defend. An attacker simply makes the moves forward and creates some problems for an opponent, while the defender has to solve the hard problems. It is really well-known among the professional players that it is enough only to start an attack (even an incorrect attack) to win against an opponent below 2300. To avoid this situation you should play the attacking openings. Then you will force your opponent to solve hard defensive problems. 

1.Don’t play too complicated opening lines.   

There are some openings, which contain a lot of long forcing theory. For example, the Najdorf variation:

1.e4-c5 2.Nf3-d6 3.d4-cd 4.Nd4-Nf6 5.Nc3-a6 

Here is the initial position of the Najdorf variation, which contains the endless theory lines. White can play Bg5, Be3, Bc4, Be2, f4, g3, h3 and those are only the main lines. In one of these lines after 6.Bg5-e6 7.f4-Qb6 we’ve got another complicated position. White usually sacrifices the b2 pawn after 8.Qd2-Qb2 9.Rb1 getting good compensation. You may spend several weeks only for analysis of this position. And you have to do it if you play Najdorf because it is very sharp. If you don’t know one of the following forcing lines you will be shattered quickly. It is hard to play such a complicated position without serious preparation. It means you will need to learn these lines all the time. You will find and analyze new games in the Najdorf regularly. You will need to find all the novelties and the correct answers. All this stuff will take a lot of time. One should not spend too much time on the openings until the master level. when I am saying “the complicated openings” I mean most of all the openings, which contain a lot of forcing theory lines. 

1.e4-e5 2.Nf3-Nc6 3.Bb5-a6 4.Ba4-Nf6 5.00-Be7 6.Re1-b5 7.Bb3-00 8.c3-d6 9.h3

At first sight it is also quite a complicated position as both sides have a lot of possible moves. But these moves don’t change the whole situation too much. There is no contact between white’s and black’s pieces, because both players have all their pieces on his or her own territory of the board. So there are no forcing variations here. That’s why even if you make not the best move in this position you will only get a slightly worse position, but you will not lose the game immediately. That’s why you can play this position easily even if you don’t know its theory very well. Opponents prepare for game seriously using a computer. But it doesn’t help them, because it is not a forcing position and the strategical understanding has the biggest value here.

Which openings fit my playing style the best?» 

During an interview, a journalist asked Anatoly Karpov about his style. Journalist said: “Is that right that you like to play the endgames and use your excellent technique most of all?” Karpov answered: “If I can see the best move in the current position, I do it no matter how complicated is it. Only if I have several absolutely equal possibilities I choose the simplification.” This is the style. 

That’s why you should first get all the chess skills. You should try to find the best moves all the time. You should become a universal player first and only after that you may start thinking about your style. There is the similar rule in bodybuilding. It says: “If you want to give a special form to your muscles, you should get the muscles first )

To use the opponent’s weaknesses you should be able to play every type of position. In this case you have a choice of how to play against the given opponent. It means you should be a universal player. Otherwise, your preparation against the concrete opponent makes no sense. That’s why in modern chess, all the strong players aspire to be universal players.

The choice of opening depends on your chess power. Some openings could be highly recommendable for Grandmasters but extremely bad for beginners.   
Another possible response for black is the French Defense (1…e6). 1…e6 is also a pawn move, but it prepares the development of the bishop. That’s why it is OK. The French Defense breaks only 1 strategical principle: The Principle of Maximum Activity. If you want to move the “e” pawn, it should go on the e5. You can see that the French is better than the Caro-Kann but not the best anyway. 

Pirc Defense (1…d6) very seldom in the super-tournaments. The reasons are still the same: 1…d6 is more passive than 1…d5 and it breaks the principle of maximum activity. After 2.d4-Nf6 3.Nc3-g6 we can see the initial position of Pirc Defense. What white should do here? Well, nearly any logical move. Black doesn’t create any problems for white, so white can easily put his pieces on good squares. There is a classical system with the following moves Nf3, Be2, 0-0. It is pretty simple, and you may play it even without knowing much about it. The more aggressive way for white to play is with the move 4.f4, but it is more complicated at the same time.

Alekhine’s Defense (1…Nf6) is pretty interesting. It seems like white gets a lot of extra tempos here: 2.e5-Nd5 3.c4-Nb6 4.d4. That’s true, but these advanced pawns become an object of attack for black’s pieces. It is possible that black could get quite an active position here, so white should be very careful. That’s why in the past, the Alekhine’s Defense was quite successful for black. Nowadays, however, white has found several good ways to restrict black’s activity, and most players know them. One of these ways is a modern system 4…d6 5.ed-cd 6.Nc3-g6 7.Be3-Bg7 8.Rc1-00 9.b3. White has protected the center very well and it is hard for black to do something really. The best thing which black can do here is to play 9…e5 trying to get a draw in a slightly worse endgame (10.de-de 11.Qd8). As a conclusion, I don’t recommend that you play the Alekhine’s Defense. 

Scandinavian Defense (1…d5) has one disadvantage because it is not so easy to take back the pawn without positional concessions. If black takes with a queen 2…Qd5 it gives white an extra tempo for development of the knight with 3.Nc3. If black tries to take back the pawn with the knight 2…Nf6, white can use this time to create a powerful center: 3.d4-Nd5 4.c4. 

Short answer:  the Møller is with ...a6, the Classical isn't.

I was a bit struck by the comment that you have played the Chigorin "to the point where I know the theory 12 moves deep," since the Chigorin only starts with (is defined by) Black's 11th move, I would think.

Fromper wrote on 01/31/11 at 20:43:59:

This already has been answered: the Classical Defence (...Bc5).

fanat wrote on 01/31/11 at 20:47:17:

That was my experience too. The Benkö suited me much better. And it was not a problem that about half of the players refused to anwer d4-d5. Eg after 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.e3 I transposed to a line of the Panov with cxd4 4.exd4 d5 5.cxd5 Nf6 6.Nc3 g6, a line my opponents did not understand at all (which is also an answer to B.Paulsen).
I know this is meant to be +=; point is that at a 1500 level nobody is able to prove it while Black has a good development of his pieces.
Btw I learned to play with the IQP from other openings. I just don't like the fianchetto defence against it.

Fromper wrote on 01/31/11 at 22:31:48:

Because it's not true. 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c5 4.e3 Nf6 5.Nf3 a6 6.Bd3 dxc4 7.Bxc4 b5 and a later ...cxd4.
As White: 1.e4 e5. 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 d5 4.exd5 Qxd5 5.cxd4 or 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.c4.
These are just a few examples. It's possible indeed to avoid IQP-positions all together, but the point is that a beginner shouldn't.

Fromper wrote on 01/31/11 at 23:35:01:

At a 1700 level handling open positions from the Open Games should not be a relative weakness. One should be able to beat a weaker opponent with say the Two Knights Defence with either colour.
Or you will hit a wall later, like B.Paulsen described.