Opening Discussion

The Trompovsky Attack: I find this a dynamic opening that invites creative play on both sides:

1.d4 some call this dull - but I don't - dull or not depends on what you do with it. 1.d4 opens the b1-h6 diagonal for whites dark squared bishop and moves a defended (by the queen) pawn to occupy the centre.

2....Nf6 flexible response possibly thinking of a Nimzo Indian defense (1.d4...Nf6, 2.c4...e6)

2.Bg5 apparently breaking the knights before Bishops rule - but if this rule is just an extension of the idea to "only develop a piece when you can be sure of finding it's best square" as John Emms suggests in his recent book "Discovering Chess Openings" then the move does have some credibility because it is attacking the knight on f6 and this fact makes it a reasonable square to develop the Bishop to.

2....Ne4 Blacks not having this so jumps out of the way wasting a tempo but forcing white to do the same as the knight now attacks the undefended Bishop. (Other black responses here are; 2....c5 - then white takes the Bishop on f6, 2...e6 blacks 2nd most popular response often followed by 3.e4...d5 where black may attempt to steer the game towards the French Defence)

3.Bf4 a move now favored over retreating the Bishop to h4 which used to be played in the early days of this opening...Bh4 does still have it's adherents and there is debate about the relative benefits of both moves. So after 3. Bf4 "we can ask ourselves how is the battle of tempi unfolding?" to quote Peter Wells from his excellent book on the Trompowsky.

3...c5 a dark squared response aiming at d4 (3...d5 is an alternative.)

4.f3 Kicking the knight

4....Qa5+ PW's book again: "the most frequently encountered and most respectable move here. White is all but forced to block the check with the c pawn, removing the most natural developing square from the b1 knight."

5.c2...Nf6, 6.d5...d6, 7e4...g6, 8. Qd2....Bg7

An alternative line is 6....Qb6, 7.Bc1...e6 which leads to "tense theoretical battles" so the line given above is suggested as being easier for black to play.

Originally posted by RahimK
You must play the black side of the french right?

What about:

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Bd2 dxe4 5. Qg4

[b]Qxd4 Capturing the d-pawn and protecting the g7 pawn.

6. Nf3 6... Nh6 7. Qxe6+ Bxe6 8. Nxd4 Bd7 9. Nxe4 Bxd2+ 10. Nxd2 Nc6 11. Nxc6 Bxc6

Looks dead even after those trades.

Thanks[/b]

Originally posted by exigentsky
You gave e6!? 🙁 Maybe I'll start playing something else... 😀

Originally posted by zebano
I believe that's playable, I just don't have the time to learn more than one line and mine is wild enough to provide many many interesting games.
For instance..
Game 2504018

Originally posted by Mahout
The Trompovsky Attack: I find this a dynamic opening that invites creative play on both sides:

1.d4 some call this dull - but I don't - dull or not depends on what you do with it. 1.d4 opens the b1-h6 diagonal for whites dark squared bishop and moves a defended (by the queen) pawn to occupy the centre.

2....Nf6 flexible response possibly thinking of a N ...[text shortened]... l battles" so the line given above is suggested as being easier for black to play.

Originally posted by RahimK
Cool,

I got some nice lines against the Tromp. as Black.

Similiar line compared to yours also except

6...Qb6 7.b3 instead of Bc1.

Then black can play 7...g6, Bg7, 0-0, with a Kings Indian type position.

Originally posted by Mahout
OK - first do please excuse me from quoting from a book as I'm studying this so I looked up a response to 7.b3 instead of Bc1 and theres a lot of ideas presented in Peter Wells book... but here's an extract:

"7.Bc1 Of course this outrageous un-developing move rarely passes without comment.....in reality such a move as 7.Bc1 can only fully be explained in ...[text shortened]... way to go with my study to grasp the ideas properly but I can't help liking the Tromp!