7

My style favors aggressive, complicated openings. I have constructed a suitable repertoire with White beginning with 1. d4 with one exception. I have so far been unable to find a satisfactory response to 

[fen ""]
1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6.

I would prefer not to play the Exchange Variation because it is extremely popular among my regular opponents, but if it is the only option I would consider it. However, this would mean also finding something against the Alatortsev (3... Be7).

Can anyone give me a good suggestion? I'm willing to go into less popular lines if they have been tested by a 2700+ at least once.

Edit: To be clear, I'm already set vs. the Slav/Semi-Slav. I'm purely concerned with situations where Black does not play c6 at some point.

Improve this question
4
  • Could you say a little more about which approaches you've already found unsatisfactory thus far?
    – ETD
    Commented May 9, 2015 at 23:34
  • I played the Exchange for a while and was generally unhappy with it; the new top-level idea for Black of Ne4 and 0-0-0 was particularly annoying. I tried a Catalan setup and got positions that I was uncomfortable with because there was little to calculate. I tried just d4, c4, Nc3, e3, Nf3, Bd3 but found that opponents were equalizing too easily.
    – Cleveland
    Commented May 10, 2015 at 1:14
  • I have so far been unable to find a satisfactory response to 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6. What is wrong with Nge2 setup? Find Playing 1.d4 - The Queen's Gambit by Lars Schandorff book for details. However, this would mean also finding something against the Alatortsev Botvinnik plan with early g4 is very strong, giving complex struggle. The lines are also described in the book I mentioned. the new top-level idea for Black of Ne4 and 0-0-0 was particularly annoying.I tried just d4, c4, Nc3, e3, Nf3, Bd3 but found that opponents were equalizing too easily. Show sample lines please.
    – AlwaysLearningNewStuff
    Commented May 10, 2015 at 17:55
  • 1.d4 is positional players style, I would offer you to play 1.e4 if you are really aggressive.
    – Saeed Amiri
    Commented May 16, 2015 at 19:22

4 Answers 4

Reset to default
3

Maybe the 5.Bf4 lines are a good fit. In the 5.Bg5 lines, black can often exchange bishops with the Lasker/Capablance maneuver, involving an early ...Ne4 or ...Nd5 forcing the bishop exchange, and it is hard to get aggressive play against that. 5.Bf4 avoids that, with the drawback that there is less pressure on d5, allowing ...c5 by black. Usually white takes the pawn.

There's an all star list of top players who have used it -- Kasparov, Topalov, Ivanchuk, Kramnik, Gelfand, Korchnoi, et cetera.

I should probably add an example game here but I don't know one from the top of my head and I don't have much time...

A recent book that advocates this line is Burgess' "A Cunning Repertoire for White", which is a generic 1.d4 opening repertoire book.

Improve this answer
1

I'm pretty sure I have seen strong grandmasters play a setup with Nf3, e3 and g4!?. You may want to look closer at this.

Improve this answer
0

I recommend the Rubinstein Attack for an aggressive variation against the Queen's Gambit Declined.

[fen ""]

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Nbd7 5.e3 Be7 6.Nf3 O-O 7.Qc2

The main idea is to play Qc2 to castle queenside and launch a pawn storm against the black king. This is in contrast to the Exchange Variation, where the typical strategies are to play Qc2 for a break in the center or minority attack on the queenside while castling kingside.

Improve this answer
-2

For your style my suggestion is e4 followed by f3 if he capture with the pawn, if he capture with the knight,take knight and then f3!

Improve this answer
1
  • 2
    "Aggressive, complicated opening" should note be mistaken for "playing whatever unsound gambit"...
    – Evargalo
    Commented Nov 13, 2018 at 14:44

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.