Questions tagged [opening]
Questions relating to the initial moves of the game and their aims
1,419
questions
5
votes
3answers
920 views
The value of less common moves
If you look at openings explorer, you can see the most popular moves and their respective win percentages. Most lines have top 2 or 3 moves that number in the (ten) thousands. However, there are ...
2
votes
1answer
125 views
King's Gambit Quaade Variation forces a piece sac or worse
From this position King's Gambit Quaade Variation,
[fen "rnbqkbnr/ppp2p1p/3p4/6p1/4Pp2/2N2N2/PPPP2PP/R1BQKB1R w KQkq - 0 5"]
If white plays 1. d4 then 1... g4 2. Bxf4 gxf3 3. Qxf3 is forced....
2
votes
1answer
156 views
Center Game: Von der Lasa Gambit
I am looking at this game and saw this opening.
[FEN ""]
1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Qh5+ g6 6.Qd5+ Kg7 7.Qxc5
The 3.Bc4 is new to me. I think people usually play 3.Qxd4. So, ...
1
vote
0answers
131 views
Three pieces vs Queen in the opening [closed]
Please, does someone have good information on the Grünfeld Defence, Russian System, three minor pieces vs Queen variation?
2
votes
2answers
292 views
How do you punish this opening?
I’m a fairly new player, with a FIDE rating of around 1000. I'm really wondering what’s wrong with this opening. It’s the Indian variation of the Nimzo-Larsen, but it’s a different line.
I like to ...
1
vote
0answers
25 views
What chess openings should I play If I am an offensive and aggressive chess player? [duplicate]
What chess books should I read If I am an offensive player? I have read a few chess books and they usually are opening books and I'm quite not sure on which openings I should play. Currently, I play ...
2
votes
1answer
98 views
Find opening names from fen online query
I have the fen(arbitrary), I would like to get the completely opening names for the move list by passing the fen to the site. Are there any sites like this that are pretty exhaustive and free? It ...
11
votes
3answers
2k views
Why is KID considered more sound than Pirc?
I have an impression that at the high level, the Pirc defense is considered to be much more off-beat than the King's Indian defense; at least the latter has been a main weapon for many top players, ...
3
votes
3answers
1k views
Why is 1.e4 e5 2.d4 Qh4 a blunder?
In Lichess, this sequence is rated as a blunder. However, black can take the pawn afterwards without white being able to prevent it (3.Nf3 Qxe4), so it seems like a good move to me.
Furthermore, if ...
2
votes
1answer
93 views
Feedback and advice on a slav position for White
I play d4 with White and against the slav/semislav I start with the order of d4,c4,e3,Nc3 usually. But when I face the 3...Bf5 variation in the slav I do 4.Nf3. My problem is with a certain variation ...
1
vote
1answer
107 views
Why is this a better move?
Playing on chess.com against the first advanced bot, "Antonio", I've lost a game and looked at the analysis.
The following is the state of the game not far from the beginning, where I had ...
-1
votes
2answers
106 views
Why is bishop to h8 the best move in this position?
I don't understand how that move is a good move, much less the best move according to this chess.com analysis.
0
votes
2answers
205 views
Patterns in Chess960 positions
I have two questions.
Where can I find more studies like this Lichess one, please? I got it from this answer elsewhere on this site.
The Lichess study is talking about this position
[White "...
14
votes
1answer
4k views
Is 1...d5 ever a bad move?
I notice that as Black, I virtually always play d5 as my first move. It's usually in response to 1. e4 (Scandinavian Defense) or 1. d4 (Queen's Pawn Game). As a hypothetical, if I premoved 1... d5, ...
2
votes
3answers
194 views
How would you play this opening as black?
I keep fumbling through my openings and would love to improve and learn from others. How would you play this position as black?
r1bqkbnr/p1pp2pp/1p3p2/n3P3/2B1P3/1P3N2/P1P2PPP/RNBQK2R b KQkq - 0 1
14
votes
3answers
3k views
What is the earliest queen move in any strong, modern opening?
I have noticed a tendency of weaker players to move their queen out very early (e.g. move 2-5), and conversely, a tendency for strong players to move their queen much later (usually later than move 5, ...
3
votes
2answers
353 views
Is this opening a joke or serious?
I was watching Daniel Naroditsky's speedrun on YouTube and in his 1870 video (https://youtu.be/3UqPa5eV2e0?t=987) his opponent (rated 1889, playing black) played a very bizarre opening by pushing ...
-2
votes
1answer
67 views
Openings with Black [closed]
Can you play openings like Evan’s Gambit or London with black or does that only apply to white? Or is it better to just react to whites opening? Would love to hear your thoughts!
7
votes
3answers
3k views
Can playing an opening that violates many opening principles be bad for positional understanding?
As the title says, and I have a concrete example in mind, g5 attack against the Italian:
[FEN ""]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 h6
5. O-O d6 6. c3 g5
Which can go like this:
[FEN &...
6
votes
2answers
224 views
How to exercise an opening variation with a chess engine?
I am reading an opening book in King's Gambit, and been writing down the lines to study later. But I wish there was a chess engine, that goes for those lines so I can play against them. I want to play ...
2
votes
2answers
658 views
How do you read this opening table presented in Modern Openings?
How do I read this table presented in the book "Modern Openings"? Specifically, what do the rows, columns and the dashed lines represent? Finally, there are also little letters like (a) ...
2
votes
0answers
179 views
Response in antichess to 1. e3 b5 2. Bxb5 Bb7
I've been playing a lot of blitz Giveaway Chess (aka Antichess, etc; a chess variant in which capturing is compulsory, the goal is to lose all the pieces or be stalemated, there is no castling, and ...
3
votes
2answers
750 views
Being an Anti-Sicilian vs. Sicilian player
So I have been developing my opening repertoire on ChessBase recently and established that, as a 1.e4 player, I have to properly memorize Open Sicilian main line, Dragon, Hyper Dragon, Taimanov, ...
3
votes
1answer
108 views
Resources to study benchmark opening positions, or "ideal setups"
I noticed that strong players often discuss openings in the following terms: "this is an ideal setup in this opening", or "this play in opening X is bad because all you get is a worse ...
1
vote
2answers
175 views
Is the Four Pawns Attack against the Alekhine opening promising for White?
The latest version of Stockfish 12 thinks that the Four Pawns Attack is the most promising variation for White against the Alekhine Defense 1.e4 Nf6, But it evaluated the position resulting from the ...
4
votes
1answer
580 views
What is this opening trap I keep encountering in the Englund Gambit?
[FEN ""]
1. d4 e5 { A40 Englund Gambit } 2. dxe5 Bc5 3. Nc3 b5 4. Nxb5 d6 5. exd6 Ne7 6. dxe7 Bxf2+ 7. Kxf2 Qxd1 8. Na3 Kxe7 9. Nf3 Qd6 10. Nb5 Qc6 11. a4 Qxc2 12. g3 Qc3 13. Nxc3 { Black ...
3
votes
1answer
253 views
3...c5 in the Advance Caro-Kann
Consider the following side line of the Advance Caro-Kann:
[FEN ""]
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.dxc5 e6 5.a3 Bxc5
In master OTB games, the move 3...c5 is one third as common as the main move ....
3
votes
3answers
451 views
Building a repertoire on lichess
I have decided I wanted to understand one basic opening against 1. e4 and one against 1. d4 as black. After watching a few videos on multiple openings and systems, I decided I wanted to try and pick ...
15
votes
4answers
6k views
Are there any gambits where I HAVE to decline?
I know popular openings like the Queen's Gambit can be accepted with an initiative for white. Is there any gambit where accepting it would lead to a forced mate for the player that accepted it?
5
votes
3answers
2k views
How do I respond as Black to 1. e4 e6 2.e5?
What is the best way to respond in the French Defense to 2. e5? It has to be wrong to play this way. I am of the opinion that d5 is a good answer. I can find no reference to this move in MCO.
2
votes
1answer
159 views
Does 4.Ng5 in Two Knights Defense have a name?
Just like the title says, is there a name for the line starting with 4.Ng5 in 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 called?
Wikipedia article https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_Knights_Defense, does not ...
3
votes
2answers
184 views
Why should black trade knights in this position?
After playing the following game, Stockfish advised me to play ...Nxd2 after white played Nd2 (which I did not play during the game).
However, I am not sure why. Certainly, in the worst case, this is ...
2
votes
0answers
67 views
I cannot for the life of me settle on some openings for black [closed]
I've started to pick chess back up after a few years where I wasn't playing. (~1750 rating) I can't figure out what to play as black against either d4 or e4
For a long time, I've been very happy with ...
5
votes
2answers
740 views
Some strange moves in Polgar vs Najer (2009)
In the 2009 match between Judit Polgar and Evgeniy Najer in Richard Riordan GM Blitz the following strange(?) opening sequence of the Najdorf was played
[White "Judit Polgar"]
[Black "...
14
votes
2answers
601 views
How many moves of head start does white need for a guaranteed win?
As we all know, it is not known whether white can always win in chess with optimal play. If, however, white got to make two moves before black made their first move would they be able to win with ...
1
vote
2answers
301 views
What is the best way to research openings and endgames in a browser?
Basically, I just want to know if there’s any easy way to use websites to practice endgames and openings by just opening my browser. I keep finding downloads to Windows programs, which is a problem ...
2
votes
1answer
176 views
Did the 2018 World Chess Championship feature any theoretical novelties in the Sveshnikov Sicilian?
I am interested in how the Sveshnikov theory developed in the last decade, and one of the biggest events heavily featuring it was the WCC match in 2018. Very few books on the opening were published ...
5
votes
3answers
334 views
Easy variation to learn with White against Semislav with not many lines and avoiding the Slav at the same time if possible
I'm looking for an easy variation to learn against the Semislav. Note that I play d4, c4, Nc3 against many openings. I tried to play the 5.Bg5 line but I felt that it was full of memorization:
[FEN &...
5
votes
3answers
987 views
How good is 4. d3, the Anti-Berlin?
The Berlin Defense is drawish if we reach the Berlin endgame. Yet White doesn't have to go into the endgame, and can instead play 4; d3. However, I hear that the Ruy Lopez is getting less popular in ...
4
votes
1answer
141 views
Continuation for white in the Bishops opening variation: 1.e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Qxd4 Nf6
I am currently reading Chess Openings: Theory and Practice - I.A Horowitz. The first opening displayed in the book is a variation of the bishops opening: 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nf3. ...
10
votes
4answers
3k views
How can I punish the "bad" knight on c3?
I play the Caro–Kann Defence against 1.e4 as black, and for whatever reason it feels like I get the following line way too frequently:
[FEN ""]
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. Nc3?!
This ...
4
votes
2answers
147 views
Are gambits a good way to improve tactical awareness (for strong amateurs)?
As gambits are all about activity, initiative, and attack, should I start playing gambits to increase my awareness and all these things?
3
votes
1answer
118 views
Is Rover opening sound in crazyhouse opening theory?
The rover opening 1. a4 is played a lot on the lichess server and there have been some high level games in it. The opening is not gaining any initiative or tempo, it is just rook lifting prematurely, ...
1
vote
1answer
73 views
What is the theory if black goes 4 Nxc4 in evan's gambit?
Ive been learning the theory for this opening but cant find anything if black chooses this line.
4
votes
1answer
124 views
Positionally Rich Opening Suggestions?
I really want to play some positionally rich openings. Openings which require strategic planning and understanding, and not much direct attack and defence. I want the battle to be a "who can ...
-1
votes
2answers
258 views
The Ryder Gambit
I am learning the Ryder Gambit with a book by FM Eric Schiller called The Ryder Gambit Accepted updated in 2011: A Chess Works Publication so I can play it in tournaments. Is it worse than the Danish ...
8
votes
4answers
1k views
Empirical question: Is a drawish opening line really a concern for an ambitious player?
While similar questions have been asked before and many comments were given, I couldn't find a thread dealing with my particular experiences. So:
Whenever I discuss openings with professional and even ...
5
votes
3answers
800 views
When is a fianchetto strategic to play?
I know that some openings include fianchettoing the bishop. But sometimes, this isn't part of the opening, but I still need to decide whether to bring my bishop one rank forward (like Bg7) or to the ...
3
votes
4answers
1k views
Non-Standard Knight Development
From its starting square, a knight has 3 legal moves: The “standard” one (c3, f3, c6, f6), the “weird” one (a3, h3, a6, h6) and the “other” one (d2, e2, d7, e7).
In my games, I almost always do the ...
3
votes
2answers
283 views
How to prepare opening for correspondence thematic tournament
I like to play correspondence thematic tournaments as a way to practice/learn new openings/variations. Since they are unrated, I sometimes try wild/unusual moves to see what happens. However, I was ...
