tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37675897.post8258668901564784873..comments2023-12-28T02:11:22.501+00:00Comments on The Streatham & Brixton Chess Blog: Blue or Red Pill? XIXTom Chivershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850710685193416732noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37675897.post-12780544084053743922013-05-23T22:56:33.875+01:002013-05-23T22:56:33.875+01:00Play your normal game, you'll have more famili...Play your normal game, you'll have more familiarity with the positions that arise. <br />I did break this rule once with Black, playing a player 400 points or so below me. I played g6 in response to e4 with the idea of putting the bishop on g7 and my opponent forgetting about it and pushing the b-pawn at some stage and leaving his rook en prise. Genius eh? <br />The funny thing is, that's exactly what happened.<br /><br />The reason I did it? Last round of the day, too tired to think, didn't fancy playing and just hoping to get it over quickly. <br /><br />NiallAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37675897.post-63881228010906556882013-05-23T17:13:22.378+01:002013-05-23T17:13:22.378+01:00Generally I play the same lines regardless of stre...Generally I play the same lines regardless of strength - don't have the time or energy to learn two repertoires. Depending on my mood there are a couple of gambit lines I sometimes play having learned them as a junior, but I do tend to bottle out of them against players above about 175.Matt Fletcherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13885091955173203114noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37675897.post-64503754025259111352013-05-23T13:27:04.180+01:002013-05-23T13:27:04.180+01:00I'm not sure I agree that dxc3 "displaces...I'm not sure I agree that dxc3 "displaces" the king. With the Queens off I think it improves the king if anything.<br /><br />Not that necessarily makes it the "best" move. I'm sure that's bxc3 as Anonymous says.Jonathan Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00293162543015231439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37675897.post-5633216547227009502013-05-22T19:37:08.532+01:002013-05-22T19:37:08.532+01:00dxc3 is anti-positional and displaces your own kin...<i>dxc3 is anti-positional and displaces your own king.</i><br /><br />Yes, but that's the appeal.<br /><br /><i>Should I play differently according to strength of opponent?</i><br /><br />Unless you want to play exclusively sharp or dubious lines I'm not sure it can completely be avoided, can it?<br />ejhhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01582272075999298935noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37675897.post-66286504166166361002013-05-22T18:27:32.439+01:002013-05-22T18:27:32.439+01:00"There's a number of games in that ending...<i>"There's a number of games in that ending by well known players, so there's a reasonable amount to study if you like middlegames without Queens."</i><br /><br />Indeed. More on this next week or possibly the week after.<br /><br />In an ideal world I'd have a few lines up my sleeve, but is it realistic I could be fully tooled up against the Grunfeld as well as everything else Black could play?<br /><br />Anyhoo, the general question is more interesting than any particular difficulties I might have with my personal opening repertoire. Should I play differently according to strength of opponent? Should anyone? I'm not sure.Jonathan Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00293162543015231439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37675897.post-44154848346850694512013-05-22T18:11:42.903+01:002013-05-22T18:11:42.903+01:00dxc3 is anti-positional and displaces your own kin...dxc3 is anti-positional and displaces your own king. Just play the best move bxc3. Who cares about the opponent? You're in a quickplay not contesting the World Championship.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37675897.post-52688404782632116352013-05-22T11:07:48.917+01:002013-05-22T11:07:48.917+01:00After 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5, there's a...After 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5, there's also 4. d4 transposing to a Gruenfeld without disclosing which line you play, other than it's got Nf3 in it. Perhaps the real choice is at move 4 where, as suggested by ejh, you only play e4 if prepared to follow up with 5. dxc3. <br /><br />There's a number of games in that ending by well known players, so there's a reasonable amount to study if you like middlegames without Queens. <br /><br />RdC Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37675897.post-65958173224812671622013-05-22T09:57:21.528+01:002013-05-22T09:57:21.528+01:00Personally I wouldn't play 3.Nc3 here (assumin...Personally I wouldn't play 3.Nc3 here (assuming 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6) unless I was prepared to play the queen swap. And if I wanted to play an Exchange Grunfeld I'd play 1.d4 in the first place.<br /><br /><i>Whether you regard a draw as a acceptable result, can affect the choice of opening move</i><br /><br />I think it's bound to above a certain level, that level being some distance below the level Jonathan plays at. Admittedly this is more a question of one's Black choices than one's White ones.ejhhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01582272075999298935noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37675897.post-68610299188543611582013-05-22T09:13:13.619+01:002013-05-22T09:13:13.619+01:00After taking a look at the position after dxc3, th...After taking a look at the position after dxc3, the ending with the exchange of queens has been played at the highest level, mostly though with quick draws. If you were up against a lower rated player who was very solid, you might find it difficult to find enough to break them down. <br /><br />So choose the complex bxc3 unless you are confident that you can break down the defences of a lower graded player and conversely that you can at least hold it against a higher graded player. Against a player of the same standard, play bxc3 if an early draw offer is acceptable. <br /><br />RdCAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37675897.post-56262325838271506222013-05-22T09:02:34.369+01:002013-05-22T09:02:34.369+01:00There's a third, Haldane Pill, here: 6.Qc2, sa...There's a third, Haldane Pill, here: 6.Qc2, sacrificing a pawn.Tom Chivershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09850710685193416732noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37675897.post-8241550779613583832013-05-22T08:46:09.803+01:002013-05-22T08:46:09.803+01:00Playing bxc3 will likely transpose back to mainstr...Playing bxc3 will likely transpose back to mainstream lines of the Gruenfeld. Perhaps you know the lines better than your opponent. Perhaps not as Black may deliberately be angling for such a transposition.<br /><br />Against a lower graded and presumably less experienced player the choice may not matter.<br /><br /> It's a comfort of sorts in main lines to know that you are following Kramnik even if it appears your opponent is following Kasparov.<br /><br />Exchanging queens with dxc3 is likely to lead to a longer game. <br /><br />It might be a style issue, but I would feel uncomfortable entering the ending against Peter or similar players unless I had done some work earlier to establish how people play that ending. What happens is that they slowly improve their position and you get blown away without ever putting up a fight.<br /><br />One other point is that if you play Nf3 and c4 in either order early on, you are entering a jungle of potential transpositions. Knowing mainstream d4 openings can be an advantage if you can trick your opponent into a defence he doesn't usually play.<br /><br />RdC<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com