I play the delayed steinitz
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One reason I like it is because if my opponent does only cursory analysis with the engine, then they think some basic moves will give them +0.4 to +0.5 easily... so they stop looking at it even though in reality those lines are just equal, plus black can often develop a big attack in some of those lines.
I play the delayed steinitz
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One reason I like it is because if my opponent does only cursory analysis with the engine, then they think some basic moves will give them +0.4 to +0.5 easily... so they stop looking at it even though in reality those lines are just equal, plus black can often develop a big attack in some of those lines.
What's the benefit of playing a6 first instead of playing d6 straightaway? Or is it just because you also enjoy playing the exchange variation?
I play the delayed steinitz
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One reason I like it is because if my opponent does only cursory analysis with the engine, then they think some basic moves will give them +0.4 to +0.5 easily... so they stop looking at it even though in reality those lines are just equal, plus black can often develop a big attack in some of those lines.
What's the benefit of playing a6 first instead of playing d6 straightaway? Or is it just because you also enjoy playing the exchange variation?
Oh, yeah, that's a good question.
Basically the regular steinitz is not very good because white can play d4. By playing a6 first, you're able to break the pin immediately.
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But in the modern steinitz (also called delayed steinitz) d4 doesn't lead to a big advantage (and usually the players who play d4 lose quickly)
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A solid choice that your opponents may not know a lot about is the open spanish.
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This is more respected than the delayed steinitz I recommended. Plenty of very strong GMs have played this.
I play the delayed steinitz
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One reason I like it is because if my opponent does only cursory analysis with the engine, then they think some basic moves will give them +0.4 to +0.5 easily... so they stop looking at it even though in reality those lines are just equal, plus black can often develop a big attack in some of those lines.
What's the benefit of playing a6 first instead of playing d6 straightaway? Or is it just because you also enjoy playing the exchange variation?
Oh, yeah, that's a good question.
Basically the regular steinitz is not very good because white can play d4. By playing a6 first, you're able to break the pin immediately.
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-
But in the modern steinitz (also called delayed steinitz) d4 doesn't lead to a big advantage (and usually the players who play d4 lose quickly)
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That's very interesting, so the point of a6 is to leave the option of playing b5 if white happens to play d4?
I played the Archangelsk variation and this ne7 line against the Exchange
I play the delayed steinitz
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-
One reason I like it is because if my opponent does only cursory analysis with the engine, then they think some basic moves will give them +0.4 to +0.5 easily... so they stop looking at it even though in reality those lines are just equal, plus black can often develop a big attack in some of those lines.
What's the benefit of playing a6 first instead of playing d6 straightaway? Or is it just because you also enjoy playing the exchange variation?
Oh, yeah, that's a good question.
Basically the regular steinitz is not very good because white can play d4. By playing a6 first, you're able to break the pin immediately.
-
-
But in the modern steinitz (also called delayed steinitz) d4 doesn't lead to a big advantage (and usually the players who play d4 lose quickly)
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That's very interesting, so the point of a6 is to leave the option of playing b5 if white happens to play d4?
Yeah, basically that's it.
those are what i play or study intending to play later. i have ntirlis's book on 1 e4 e5 so most of what i know is from there. however, this bc5 line has become quite an attractive option to play for a sharp game so i have decided to put some time studying it. the marshall is quite heavy but i just want to try it out, see if i can handle the positions as black down a pawn. the chigorin i like because of the maneuvering which i think i am better at than handling chaotic complications.
I played the Archangelsk variation and this ne7 line against the Exchange
Seems like an interesting line, might look into it!
I cannot help you much. When I did play 1...e5, it was the Berlin back in 2007-2008, often winning with it by getting the King to c6 (with pawns on c5, a5, b6, c7), and the Petroff after that, which was my secondary defense to 1.e4 for a few years in the mid-to-late 2010s. Now I play the French pretty much exclusively.
Cordel/Classical Defence
It depends on which mood I'm in. The Berlin is nice because it is rock solid, but the Open Variation is more active. Those are the two main ones I play.
I've played the Marshall Gambit for the past 30+ years, but in the last year online I've been playing the Open Defense.
It's so "obsolete" that even decently rated players sometimes have no idea how to play against it.
If you're going to play the Open Lopez as Black, don't get too greedy.
nice line I've seen that in a famous Bobby Fischer game, he really was a genius
I've played the Marshall Gambit for the past 30+ years, but in the last year online I've been playing the Open Defense.
It's so "obsolete" that even decently rated players sometimes have no idea how to play against it.
I did a deep dive into the open about a year ago. I was pretty happy with anything white could throw at me.... minus the Bernstein. Not that it's that great for white, but I felt I either had to settle for a worse position or end up in a drawish one. What's your recipe for Nbd2?
O.P. I like the Breyer and Zaitsev. The closed Ruy is complicated enough to play for a win while still being totally sound.
Not really the answer you were looking for but I stopped playing 1... e5 exclusively because of the Ruy Lopez, I had tried many different defenses but against decent players I always suffered the Spanish torture: passive pieces, lack of space, bad coordination... my feeling is that Black has to make an enormous deep positional effort to repel White's space advantage and reach a drawn position which isn't at all my definition of fun.
Not really the answer you were looking for but I stopped playing 1... e5 exclusively because of the Ruy Lopez, I had tried many different defenses but against decent players I always suffered the Spanish torture: passive pieces, lack of space, bad coordination... my feeling is that Black has to make an enormous deep positional effort to repel White's space advantage and reach a drawn position which isn't at all my definition of fun.
fair enough, although I rarely face the Ruy lopez at my level so perhaps in the future I may convert over to c5 who knows
Just wondering what some interesting options are. (Please don't say berlin defense)
I enjoy playing the exchange variation, if my opponent allows it, if not, then I follow it up with b5. I find this leads to some super fun and open tactical games.
Leave your suggestions! I haven't really invested too much time for prep against the Ruy Lopez yet, as it isn't played too often around the 1100-1200 level.
(The Ruy Lopez/Spanish opening)