Chess Forum
austinfilmfestival.org << - < - > - >>
| From | Message |
| Posted by andy94 austinfilmfestival.org 10/07/2008 12:09:55 play online chess |  Subject: Chess opening.Message: I started to use English opening and I won about 90% of games played. But, in theory, what are English opening's pros? And what opening do you play more? Thanks for reading and, please, comment. |
| Posted by dysfl austinfilmfestival.org 10/07/2008 13:19:31 play online chess | Just enjoy it for now Message: I'm another beginner. I don't think the choice for first move would make that much difference, at least at your level or mine. I have never played other than 1. d4 for a while, but even I play 1. h4, my winning rate would not change more than 5% to either way. I have played many other players in GK, with a little higher than my level, and some play pretty lame opening moves, but beats me down to the ground in the middle game. If you have 90% success with English, that’s great. Maybe it suits you for now. If it happens to me, I would enjoy it while it lasts. |
| Posted by tugger austinfilmfestival.org 10/07/2008 16:44:16 play online chess | Message: As Black, I tend to variate a little. I usually reply to 1. e4 with 1... c5 (Sicilian), but am comfortable with 1... Nf6 (Alekhine). Sicilian, statistically speaking, is Black's strongest defence, but most players are familiar with this opening, so sometimes I think it's best to play a defence that white is less comfortable with. As for 1. d4, I do not play this myself. I religiously defend as Black with 1... f5 (Dutch), and take the Leningrad line (g6 followed by Bg7, and castling behind). I have a win rate of better than 50%, I suspect this is because the majority of players at my level are not prepared for the kingside attack that comes with this defence. I have never played 1. c4, though I have had it played against me a few times. The database suggests 1... c5 is best reply, but I always take the opportunity to play Dutch in this event, since as Black I am very comfortable with this. If opening theory is something you wish to learn more about, then first stop should be the database here at GK. Before I started playing here, my opening knowledge was very limited. No sooner had I started to study, my rating soared by 200 points to 1600 over a couple of months. It's a very useful tool. |
| Posted by ccmcacollister austinfilmfestival.org 10/12/2008 13:19:53 play online chess | English = Message: You might want to check into IM John Watson and CCM Stephen Gerzadowicz for some interesting English and closed opening ideas. 1.c4 and 1.g3 type |
Chess news: Wisdom of Chess Champions -- It is always fascinating to read what the world chess champions have to say about their clashes with other strong players and about chess in general. Last year, Russell Enterprises published two classic tournament books, using figurine algebraic notation. In "St. Petersburg 1909" the world chess champion Emanuel Lasker comments on all the games of the event, in which he shared first place with Akiba Rubinstein. Alexander Alekhine's "New York 1924" has been hailed as one of the best tournament books. It was another triumph for Lasker, in which he finished ahead of Jose Raul Capablanca and Alekhine. The book is valuable for its deep verbal annotations with ... Alexander Motylev wins Karpov tournament -- The 10th annual Karpov chess tournament ended June 12 in Poikovsky, a small city of 20,000 in western Siberia. Former world chess champion Anatoly Karpov designed this event as a 10-player round robin, and the tradition has continued as the chess tournament has gradually grown into one of the world's strongest, with an average rating of 2695. A Russian gas company helps sponsor the tournament. Alexander Motylev of Russia took first prize by defeating chief rival Vugar Gashimov of Azerbaijan in the penultimate round. Motylev scored an undefeated 7-2, while Gashimov finished second with 6-3. Alexander Onischuk of Maryland, the 2006 U.S. chess champion, scored ... Bennett and King on chess: Short-Berg, Malmö 2009 -- Black is tied down to defence, but how can White, to play, make progress? RB We've been looking at zugzwang over the last few weeks so here I'm going to imagine it's Black to move. 1...Kg8 obviously leads to disaster after 2 Re8+ Rxe8 3 Qxe8+ Kh7 4 Qd7. 1...Bh8 would allow 2 Qh3, threatening Qd7, and is also catastrophic. Nor can the queen move: after 1...Qc8, for example, 2 c7 would lead to wholesale exchanges on e8 followed by promotion of the c-pawn. That leaves the rook. Is 1...Ra8 a viable waiting move? White is clearly better but I can't see how to continue and Black's position doesn't fall apart the way it should in a zugzwang ... | |