Questions tagged [opening]
Questions relating to the initial moves of the game and their aims
1,211
questions
6
votes
1answer
159 views
What is the Sicilian Cochrane Attack?
In my club and local tournaments, opponents playing White often do an early Bc4 when I start a Sicilian. Usually I begin an Old Sicilian, eg 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6. My opponents may play Bc4 on the 2nd, ...
3
votes
1answer
81 views
Opening preparation
I have observed that I can beat the Lichess computer at level 5 most of the time if I use the computer hint function for the first 13 moves (basically the opening). If I do not so, I end up losing 6 ...
3
votes
1answer
70 views
What's the plan against Black's kingside fianchetto when playing Queen's pawn game?
I often play 1. d4. In many of the variations that arise, Black decides to castle kingside with the bishop fianchetto.
I do not know what the general plan is in this case. Normally without the ...
4
votes
1answer
268 views
Weakness in the Stonewall setup?
In the following setup of Stonewall Attack:
[FEN ""]
1. c3 null 2. d4 null 3. e3 null 4. f4 null 5. Bd3
Wouldn't that make the king vulnerable to diagonal attacks from a bishop or a queen?
If yes, ...
3
votes
1answer
119 views
King's Indian Defense - When to play 6…c5 or 6…e5
I'm a casual player who enjoys playing the King's Indian Defense as Black, but I don't fully understand yet when it is better to play 6...e5 or 6...c5. These are my main doubts:
What are the aims and ...
6
votes
2answers
198 views
Creating a Opening Lines Book in ' tree-like' format
I came across this Opening tree graph question where a very elegant Opening tree as displayed.
Is there a way I could make a personal opening book in this format? If yes, then which software should ...
3
votes
1answer
58 views
E6 Pin in Classical Dutch
In a classical dutch setup, if white doesn't fianchetto and instead moves bishop c4 then it pins the e6 pawn. I don't really want to go into the stonewall even though that's the recommendation of the ...
2
votes
1answer
75 views
How do I keep my bishop pair in this Ruy Lopez line?
I am learning Ruy Lopez. And I always play Ruy Lopez opening while I am playing with the white pieces. I recently played the game with Ruy-Lopez and my moves are
[FEN ""]
[StartPly "10"]
1.e4 e5 2....
4
votes
2answers
182 views
Good books to learn the Ruy Lopez with
I have a very poor repertoire; with White I only play d4, and though I'm quite familiarized with the possibilities on this opening move, I'm lost regarding 1. e4.
Trying to gain flexibility, I want ...
2
votes
0answers
51 views
Alekhine Defense Variations [closed]
I am seeking for a high-level and in-depth discussion of the Alekhine Defense, including variations, mainlines, and sidelines that favors black.
e4 Nf6
3
votes
2answers
497 views
Seeking in-depth coverage of this French defense sideline
[FEN ""]
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nc6
I am seeking high-level, in-depth coverage of the above line.
I was able to find small coverage in ECO C and liked what I saw there.
Is there any book/...
4
votes
2answers
113 views
Good and in-depth books on Queen's Gambit and French Defense?
After following the studying advises of a Chess Stack Exchange fellow (PhishMaster, if you read this, thank you!) I'm about to break 2200 Lichess elo finally. I think it is time to truly and deeply ...
1
vote
2answers
103 views
Openings that reach endgames? [duplicate]
I'm looking for some openings for white and black that have a high probability of trading queens early on without being significantly worse. Does anyone know any openings that fit this criteria?
3
votes
3answers
236 views
How do we identify opening lines?
How many opening moves are needed before we can identify that such moves fall into a particular well-known opening such as Ruy Lopez, London, kings gambit, an so on? And after such identifying moves, ...
16
votes
3answers
5k views
Why does the London System have the reputation it has?
After being out of chess for many years, I became interested again. While I never studied in my earlier playing days, I always played e4 openings when white. That was partly due to that being ...
2
votes
1answer
126 views
Caro-Kann Defense: Advance Variation, Botvinnik-Carls Defense
I seem to keep losing games as white in this opening. What systems is good for white and what are the developing ideas before the middlegame for white after 4. dxc5?
[FEN ""]
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 ...
3
votes
2answers
1k views
Help with the Sicilian Defence - I need to understand those early pawn moves
Why we often see many pawn moves in the Sicilian Defense? I would imagine that this harms the development of the black pieces. For instance, there is this line:
[FEN ""]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 a6 ...
4
votes
1answer
81 views
What's the best way to learn the French?
Recently, I have been very attracted to the French defense, as I feel as though it is perfect for my style. However, I am aware that the French is highly theoretical, which is why I need a good, ...
0
votes
1answer
113 views
Polerio Gambit game for review
Please analyze and comment about this game I played as an anonymous uer. I played the Polerio Gambit in the game. I would also like remarks about the Polerio Gambit (1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. d4) as ...
9
votes
1answer
2k views
Why Are Openings Named After Countries?
This has been bothering me from when I was little. Why are openings most commonly named after a country? For example: Sicilian, Scotch, Spanish, etc...
5
votes
1answer
113 views
Does the Réti opening continuing to evolve?
"How to win in the chess openings" by I.A. Horowitz states, regarding the Réti opening, that "there is no known way which leads to an advantage for white" which leads to the conclusion that it should ...
8
votes
2answers
543 views
1. e4 e6 2. d4 c5 - is this opening worth it?
While doing my spring cleaning, I came across an old book claiming to give a good opening chance for black. It's called the "Barcza-Larsen opening" and it is characterized by 2 .. c5:
[fen ""]
1. e4 ...
4
votes
1answer
198 views
Black repertoire for players who love the English Opening
When I started playing chess I picked 3 openings (Queens Gambit as white, Caro-Kann and QGD as black) and pretty much stopped studying the openings to focus on endgames and middlegames.
Some months ...
11
votes
4answers
6k views
Why is it funny to say Giri played the Evans Gambit?
At 0:55 in this video, Youtuber agadmator claims Anish Giri played the Evans Gambit in the Italian Game:
[fen ""]
[Black "Anish Giri"]
[White "Kirill Alekseenko"]
[Event "Candidates 2020 (Joke Line)"]...
5
votes
1answer
137 views
What is White's compensation in the Smith-Morra Gambit, Paulsen Formation (a6, e6, Nc6) after an early …Na5?
The variation is almost forced if White aims for the standard Smith-Morra setup. At the end White is a pawn down and no longer has two bishops, but is well developed. However Black's setup does not ...
5
votes
2answers
469 views
Why not 7.Qa4+ in Carlsen vs Navara QGD
In the game of Carlsen vs Navara Biel Chess 2018, on move 7 why did Carlsen play e3 instead of playing Qa4+ and taking that hanging bishop?
1
vote
0answers
92 views
What Sicilian Defence variation has the most similarity to the Dutch?
Given that in GM Simon William's book The Killer Dutch, Williams says that the Sicilian and the Dutch are mirror images of each other, as Williams states "If you look at the first move, you can see ...
7
votes
1answer
640 views
Isn't the Bogo-Indian just busted with this line?
I know openings often tend not to be busted, and I'm obviously not really suggesting that the Bogo is busted. But I recently played a Bogo-Indian where I just couldn't find any follow up quite early ...
5
votes
2answers
213 views
Why was 3…c5 for black was a bad move?
I played a player ranked about 450 points higher, and I was out-played. I managed to give a fight but was trailing all along.
The player used the English opening and on third move I (black) played c5....
12
votes
3answers
2k views
What to play if someone ignores your King's Gambit?
So I'm an (unranked, but ~1500 on lichess) amateur who's been working on developing my opening strategy for some time, and I've basically been using the King's Gambit for a variety of reasons:
It is ...
1
vote
1answer
33 views
Moving f6 pawn in Max Lange Attack
In the position at 14:28 of this video, why can't black just make the move f6? I wish to know as it was stated in the video that black will lose the other rook.
[FEN "2k3r1/ppp1qpPp/2n1b3/2b3B1/...
1
vote
1answer
611 views
Can Black reach full equality?
[FEN "r3kb1r/ppqn1ppp/2p1pn2/4Nb2/2BP4/2N5/PPPBQPPP/2KR3R b kq - 0 10"]
This position is taken from super GM game, so I am fully aware that Black might be busted here and that this question might ...
4
votes
2answers
511 views
Contemporary Alekhine Defence Players
Recently I started playing Alekhine's Defense and I really like, especially the Scandinavian Variation (the line with strong centralized queen and an annoying knight to kick it around).
I want to ...
5
votes
1answer
252 views
In this YouTube video, the author says that 10…f6 “leads to disaster”…Why?
Why is that at 10:44 of the video, 10...f6 leads to a disaster?
https://youtu.be/BrbChWI89ek
[FEN ""]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. O-O Nxe4 6. Re1 d5 7. Bxd5 Qxd5 8. Nc3 Qa5 9. ...
4
votes
1answer
617 views
How to use Polyglot opening book bin file
I previously asked how to use polyglot in c# with a chess engine. My question then was not accurate. What I want to know is, what property(ies) of the bin file object I need to do the following:
I ...
0
votes
2answers
187 views
Queen's gambit declined: is it too late to counter-offer my c pawn if white pins my f-knight? Will this overload my f bishop?
In the traditional queen's gambit, white offers their c pawn to the e5 pawn, threatening to take back with their f bishop and enjoying a central pawn advantage. My response is to play symmetrically, ...
5
votes
2answers
382 views
Why is the Cozio defense in the Ruy Lopez not played more often and what's white's best try to defeat it?
The Cozio defense arises after these moves:
[FEN ""]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nge7
At first, this looks like just another dubious opening, but I found it surprisingly hard to prove an advantage with ...
1
vote
1answer
103 views
Chess Position Trainer in Conjunction with Chessbase or Similar
I have a repertoire stored in Chessbase and currently export these as PGNs when updated, and train them in ChessTempo for its spaced repetition. I do not like the Chessbase repertoire training feature,...
5
votes
2answers
265 views
French defense: Key ideas on the Winawer
I am beginning to study the Winawer variation (1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4), mainly because the only line I actually know against 3.Nc3 is the Rubinstein (3...dxe4), which is very dry and boring to my ...
10
votes
2answers
993 views
Finding a plan in the Archangels Spanish when white plays Be3 to exchange the dark-squared bishop
Black to play and find a plan:
[FEN ""]
[StartFlipped "1"]
[StartPly "25"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O b5 6. Bb3 Bc5 7. c3 d6 8. h3 O-O 9. Qe2 Bb7 10. d3 Ne7 11. Be3 Bxe3 12. ...
1
vote
1answer
103 views
Most different openings by transpositions?
What sequence of opening moves can include most different named Openings or Defenses by transpositions?
For example, I just played a bullet game that went:
1.d4 e5 2. e4 d6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. Bb5.
In ...
2
votes
1answer
298 views
Can anyone find any redeeming qualities in “The Vulture”?
"The Vulture" is an off-beat line of the Benoni, and while I have seen many off-beat lines over the years, I cannot see any redeeming qualities in this opening if white plays the natural 4.Qc2.
...
13
votes
2answers
2k views
Trading queens in the opening
Which standard openings in chess usually pave the way for an early queen trade in the game? In other words, which opening has a high probability of exchanging the queens in the opening itself? Does ...
4
votes
1answer
119 views
How to Create Positional Theory
I've been playing Kraton Chess, which is basically standard chess except there are 96 different possible starting positions that are similar to the standard starting position. All the rules of ...
11
votes
5answers
947 views
As a coach what is the process to create a repertoire for a child?
I started coaching a child (11 yo) part-time.
Has to be said that I am passionate about chess, and I am myself 1992 ELO and am new to coaching, but I like sharing and explaining.
At first I was ...
8
votes
2answers
2k views
Why isn't the English Attack popular vs. the Sicilian Kan?
As title above states, why isn't the "English Attack" popular vs. the Sicilian Kan? I mean the White setup in the Open Sicilian with Be3, Qd2, f3 and eventually g4 and h4. As far as I know, it is ...
5
votes
1answer
588 views
Popularity of the Scotch Game
I was looking back at a game played between Hikaru Nakamura and Magnus Carlsen at the 2017 London Chess Classics in which Hikaru employed the Scotch game and played very creatively getting a winning ...
1
vote
1answer
85 views
How should white push for advantage in the Nimzowitsh attack of the Petrov's defense?
This line of the Petrov defense can often lead to opposite side castling and the general rule for that is attacks happening on both sides of the board. However, I noticed that it's very difficult to ...
2
votes
1answer
209 views
Where are the opening trends heading at the start of the decade?
Nearly every era has its opening trends like at the beginning of the millennia the Berlin started to become the trend and so much that e4 was starting to be avoided. With the 2018 world chess ...
7
votes
3answers
1k views
Beating the King's Indian Defense: strategic ideas?
I'm a Queen's Gambit player and quite often I find myself against the King's Indian Defense. Usually all the lines of the Queen's Gambit that lead to a closed center with white playing d5 (King's ...
