NfNf 1
One cannot generalize about symmetry in the openings. Sometimes it is all right for Black, but it has the theoretical drawback that it cannot be carried on indefinitely. In fairly open positions this tends to be a drawback in practice also in open positions it is likely that White will be able to continue developing in aggressive style and sooner or later Black will have to play defensively. Thus it turns out here. The better development for Black is 4 Bd6, followed by Ne7 This has two...
Nbd Bd
If 6 Be7, the upshot is no different. Now if 8. e4, White would get an isolated d-pawn, after 8 cxd4, as White must retake the d-pawn before doing anything else. A simple way out is to play 8. dxc5 first, which is quite all right now that Black's f-Bishop has moved, and then e4. More subtle, however, is 8. Qe2 . This is a good developing move, and it makes e4 a threat, as cxd4 after e4 would then be answered by e5 , winning a piece for a couple of pawns. Considered best. It guards the square e5...
The Philidor Attack
The most tempting line for White is 5. f4, apparently establishing the pawn-cen-ter absolutely. Steinitz frequently played the line. The move 5. f4 is now so despised that it does not even get a mention in MCO. But the move has to be answered properly indeed, White should win if allowed to get through the opening in peace. To prevent that, Black must concentrate on White's great weakness, the d-pawn, by bringing 12 Most sources give 6 Nh6 as the main line when they bother to analyze 5. f4 at...
The Sicilian Defense 1
As my readers will remember, the essential feature of the Old Dragon is to take no steps to prevent the Maroczy Bind, so-called. If you take such steps, the Dragon Variation becomes complicated and difficult, as White can turn the game in so many different directions.1 I explained in Ch. 11 that the methods of playing White in the Maroczy Bind that gave rise to Black's dread are now regarded as inferior, and the reputedly best line for White now is the one that was formerly acknowledged as...
Opening Problems And Principles
In a thousand hours of opening study one could become a superfine opening player but in ten hours one could easily learn enough about the opening to 'get by.' The same proportion does not hold for the middlegame and endgame at all in other words, spend ten hours on these departments and you will certainly not 'get by' against good players. A correspondent seized upon that ten hours and said, Show us how We replied June 1950 , All right, we will Most players are tragically astray on the relative...
The Sicilian Defense
I now propose dealing briefly with an alternative defense to 1. e4 for those who prefer more possibilities of early aggression than yielded by the French. The alternative system that I propose is the Dragon Variant of the Sicilian Defense. This can be played two ways i allowing White to play the Maroczy bind if he wishes, and 1 This is usually called the Ac- As i needs much less study1, let us re-celerated Dragon. strict Qur attention to that line. Black's es sential moves, in this order, are...
Action Chess
How to Get a Playable Middlegame Edited by Ralph J. Tykodi Thinkers' Press, Inc. Davenport, Iowa 2000 Copyright 2000 by Thinkers' Press, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced nor transmitted in any form nor by any means, electronic nor mechanical, including photocopying and recording, nor by any information storage nor retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted by the 1976 Copyright Act or in writing from the publisher. Included in these reserved rights...
The All Purpose System Against Various Lines
I mentioned at the end of Ch. 3, that the chief virtue of the All Purpose System for Black was that it could be played not only against the Queen's Gambit but also against any opening at all except 1. e4, the Stonewall Attack, or the Colle System. Now I will give some illustrations. You will see that in every case Black's first five moves are the same, only there is an obvious transposition against 1. c4. nothing against it, and we know that been considered one of the best it is a priority move...
Nfcxd
If now 16. Qe4, then 16... Nf6 17. Qxd4 b6, with a comfortable game. Not 15... Nf4 since that accelerates the development of White s Rooks 16. Qe4 Nxd3 17. Rxd3 . 16 Nxd4 Bd7 Here 16... b6 is not so good because of 17. Qe4, which Black wants to answer with ...Nf6. The game is now level. Black could now afford time for ...Nf4, if permitted, as his back line is clear and he can challenge the open file without difficulty. White might try 17. Qe4 Nf6 18. Qh4 but after 18... Rad8 Black again has a...
THE Bxf LINE IN THE QUEENS GAMBIT
1 This comment is likely to baffle the student. Although a strong player will understand what Purely means, it really is beyond our scope for this book. I would prefer to say that 5... h6 is less flexible than castling. At White s 7th move, I indicated an important divergence, which we must now discuss. Let us run over the earlier moves briefly. Black should play this even if White has not played Bg5. But as I said, Bg5 is White s most aggressive move and therefore provides the severest test...