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Hot Topic (More than 10 Replies) Repertoires for Black vs. the English / Flank Op. (Read 11764 times)
Stigma
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Re: Repertoires for Black vs. the English / Flank Op.
Reply #7 - 09/16/20 at 23:50:48
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If you have patience, Chessable have a "Lifetime Repertoire: Symmetrical English" by David Vigorito in the pipeline.

All I have seen is a call for beta testers, so I have no information on the contents. Nor on the quality obviously, but off the top of my head I can't recall any opening works by Vigorito that weren't well received.
  

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Seeley
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Re: Repertoires for Black vs. the English / Flank Op.
Reply #6 - 09/16/20 at 21:13:02
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whatteaux wrote on 09/16/20 at 00:07:40:
If you find Mikhalevski's book heavy going (it's a QC GM Rep book), then Attacking the English/Reti (Delchev & Semkov, Chess Stars, 2016) might be more digestible.

I wouldn't dispute this, but the potential drawback of the Chess Stars book is that it only examines 1.Nf3 d5, so if your opponent decides not to play a Reti after all but to continue with 2.d4, you might find that you've been move-ordered away from what you usually play against 1.d4. As nestor indicates above, Mikhalevski provides coverage of a greater variety of options for Black.
  
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Re: Repertoires for Black vs. the English / Flank Op.
Reply #5 - 09/16/20 at 19:56:36
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Modern-chess.com has a three-part, Hedgehog-based repertoire against 1.Nf3 by Marin. He doesn't cover 1.c4.
  
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LeeRoth
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Re: Repertoires for Black vs. the English / Flank Op.
Reply #4 - 09/16/20 at 15:36:06
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In addition to what has already been mentioned, with respect to 1..e5:   

Kotronias's Beating the Flank Openings used to be very good, but it is now almost 25 years old and I don't know if it has held up.

There are two chessable courses that recommend 1..e5 for Black, one by Bojkov and the other by Barrish.  I don't have either and would appreciate hearing from anyone who can comment.

It does seem that most of the sources on 1..e5 are avoiding the old main lines of the Reverse Dragon.  Is there a problem with the Reverse Dragon or are there other reasons for doing this? 

I ask about other reasons because, in general and not just related to the English, one does get the feeling that, when it comes to repertoire books and courses, there's a trend these days for authors to opt for comparative sidelines to save space, cut down on theory, or just offer something new.  Yes, there's occasionally something interesting, but if you want to stick to the tried and true, you have to turn to a general book on the opening, check the White repertoire books, and/or keep up to date with chesspublishing.com.   

 

  
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whatteaux
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Re: Repertoires for Black vs. the English / Flank Op.
Reply #3 - 09/16/20 at 00:07:40
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If you find Mikhalevski's book heavy going (it's a QC GM Rep book), then Attacking the English/Reti (Delchev & Semkov, Chess Stars, 2016) might be more digestible.
  
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Seeley
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Re: Repertoires for Black vs. the English / Flank Op.
Reply #2 - 09/15/20 at 15:56:52
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nestor wrote on 09/15/20 at 15:26:51:
if you want to play a reversed Dragon, you are probably better off with Avrukh's two-part database from Modern Chess.

Be aware, though, that Avrukh only advocates a reversed Dragon after 1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.g3, when after ... d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.Bg2, he opts for the recently popular 6...Bc5 rather than the traditional 6...Nb6. He doesn't examine the reversed Dragon after 1.c4 e5 2.g3 (when he gives ... c6), or after 1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.g3 (when his recommendation is Bb4).
  
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nestor
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Re: Repertoires for Black vs. the English / Flank Op.
Reply #1 - 09/15/20 at 15:26:51
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If you want to play 1. c4 e5, the obvious answer is Beating Minor Openings by Victor Mikhalevski (Quality Chess, 2016). This book also provides three separate responses to 1. Nf3 based on 1...d5, 1...Nf6 2. c4 e6 and 1...Nf6 2. c4 g6, and covers all of the minor first moves. The main 1. c4 e5 coverage is based on an early ...Bb4; if you want to play a reversed Dragon, you are probably better off with Avrukh's two-part database from Modern Chess.

If you want to play a hedgehog set-up, then definitely The Hedgehog vs The English / Reti by Lysyj and Ovetchkin (Chess Stars, 2017). This book only covers 1. c4 and 1. Nf3. It assumes the move order 1. Nf3 c5, which doesn't help if you would be caught out after 2.e4; however the repertoire also works with 1. Nf3 Nf6 in my experience.

If you like a standard symmetrical English with 1. c4 c5, the older book Beating Unusual Chess Openings by Richard Palliser (Everyman, 2006) should still be good enough almost everywhere. It covers all of the minor first moves in addition to 1. c4 and 1. Nf3, and is very good on early move orders. However you would need to update for recent discoveries in the sharpest lines, e.g. after 1. c4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Qb6 5. Nb3 e6 6. Nc3 Nf6 7. g3.

I dare say Sam Shankland's database Black vs The English, Reti and Sidelines (Chessable) is very good, but I haven't seen it myself.
  
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grandpatzer
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Repertoires for Black vs. the English / Flank Op.
09/15/20 at 11:15:49
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As subject above, what are the best repertoire books vs. the English and eventually other Flank Openings?
  
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