phonological_loop wrote on 02/07/19 at 18:18:44:
barnaby wrote on 02/07/19 at 17:19:52:
Sacrificing pawns more freely now, playing more on the wings by using a and h pawns more, changed opening repertoire from 1.d4 to 1. c4 and 1. Nf3 and stopped playing for advantages as White through known theory and now focusing on creating better outpost squares for pieces. More actively thinking now: "what would AZ do here" and ," how can I give up material to gain positional advantage."
Thank you!
I am a (bad) amateur who plays exclusively 1. e4, so the following question comes from a place of total ignorance. What is so special about 1. c4 and Nf3 as compared to d4? My impression is that many of the lines of the former two options transpose to d4 lines anyway, so that they are tightly related.
Do you think the c4/Nf3 are somehow objectively better (and if so, for what reason? lc0, which a stronger neural network-based engine than A0, does not seem to favor c4/Nf3). Or are you making a practical decision, trying to enter positions you might be more familiar with than your opponent, and which may give them more opportunities to go wrong (because typically people are less booked up and experienced against these less common openings, for instance)? Or some other reason?
People play 1.Nf3 and 1.c4 for different reasons. Many want to play main 1.d4 lines against most defenses, but, say, avoid certain sharp defenses, playing (after 1.Nf3) an Anti-Benoni rather than a Benoni, or (after 1.c4) an Anti-Gruenfeld rather than a Gruenfeld. Of course, they have to be ready for 1..c5, in which case they cannot reach a 1.d4 mainline if their opponents do not want them to--and, in the case of 1.c4, also 1...e5 with some of the English main lines.
Other players have no intention of playing any main 1.d4 lines, and want to go into a Reti, KIA, English, etc.
Still others are winging it and just want to create fluid, unfamiliar (mostly hypermodern) situations for their opponents, as you suggested.
1.d4 2.Nf3 is a similar beast--some play it for d-pawn specials, others to play 3.c4 while avoiding certain sharp lines.
--All these lines are definitely no stronger than 1.d4 2.c4 in any objective sense--on the contrary. While that classic opening permits Black some sharp defenses (QGA, Benko, Albin, Schara), it also gives White some of his most theoretically powerful lines (the flick-knife Benoni, Saemisch KID, QGD Exchange with Ne2 and f3, etc), where pressure on Black is maintained for a long time even if eventually Black can thread through to equality.
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