Originally posted by lloydkYeah, the scandinavian forces white to make moves - but only because they're good moves that put black at a disadvantage. Having to move your queen around to avoid attack while allowing your opponent to develop all of his pieces is generally not desirable. Or, you can lose two tempos and play 3. ... Qd8 after white's Nc3, if having an opened e-file is that important to you.
I like Alekhine's too - it seems to be all I'm playing on this site since there are so few d4 players. SLaLot's right about the risk of passive positions, although some serious correspondence players (Harding) have played it successfully. But you have to be willing to live with unbalanced and unclear positions. It ain't no Caro-Kann!😛
I'm trying t ...[text shortened]... uppose ("is any other first move better?" - Bronstein).
Has anyone tried the Latvian? 🙄
-mike
Originally posted by legionnaireYou can play it the icelandic way,2.exd5,Nf6! That's a very sound gambit!
Yeah, the scandinavian forces white to make moves - but only because they're good moves that put black at a disadvantage. Having to move your queen around to avoid attack while allowing your opponent to develop all of his pieces is generally not desirable. Or, you can lose two tempos and play 3. ... Qd8 after white's Nc3, if having an opened e-file is that important to you.
-mike
Originally posted by lloydkI play the Latvian sometimes, although it's a bit odd. I played it against Schliemann a very long time ago.....I would post the game I.D. but I'm too lazy too find it! Very interesting game though. If anyone is willing to find it it's pretty neat, and not exactly a crusher. It turned into a 3 pawns vs. knight in which I didn't wanna bother trying to stop them! 😀
I like Alekhine's too - it seems to be all I'm playing on this site since there are so few d4 players. SLaLot's right about the risk of passive positions, although some serious correspondence players (Harding) have played it successfully. But you have to be willing to live with unbalanced and unclear positions. It ain't no Caro-Kann!😛
I'm trying t ...[text shortened]... uppose ("is any other first move better?" - Bronstein).
Has anyone tried the Latvian? 🙄
I went and looked and there are actually some grandmaster games with the Latvian - usually when the GM is playing someone you've never heard of. Keres played it a few times (and won), Joel Benjamin played it in a game back in 1992 (draw). But I like this one best, where Boris shows you how it's done:
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1128428
My dodgy computer thinks black equalized with White's move 9, and scores the game more or less equal 'til Spassky's 23 move...it predicted virtually all of white's moves correctly, BTW! 🙄
Boris could play a little. There's a devil on my shoulder whispering "be like Boris..." 🙄
To answer the opening question from the thread, here is my advice:
- If you're normal, try the French and Nimzo-Indian.
- If you're aggressive, try Alekhine's Defense and the Benko Gambit.
- If you're insane, try the Latvian and the Budapest Defense.
I like aggressive openings for black. No matter what opening Black plays, White has the advantage with correct play, so why not fight from move 1? Jan Pinski has a really good comment on this in his book on the Dutch:
"You let go of the idea of the perfect game and instead indulge yourself in a terrible fight. You will lose more games than in the Queen's Gambit Declined, but I promise you that you will win many more too, and you will have more fun doing so! No opening really promises Black even chances in all the critical lines. It is the nature of the game."