Larsen: Move by Move By Cyrus Lakdawala Larsen on the Dynamic Element In this, the largest chapter of the book, we look at Larsen's treatment of the initiative. Many of the games herein culminate in violent attacks. The only reason they are in this chapter, rather than earlier one on the Attack, is that Larsen's handling of initiative created the roots from which the attacks grew. Bobotsov,M - Larsen,B Busum, 1969 English Opening [A17] 1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6 3.Nf3 Bb4 4.g3 4.Qc2 is more common. There are some slight drawbacks to combining g2-g3 with an early Nc3 here. Question: What are those? Answer: There are several: In the Catalan positions that arise if White … [Read more...]
ABC of the English Opening
An Alternative Tool to Learn the Opening by Davide Nastasio ABC of the English Opening, by Lorin D'Costa, ChessBase, Video running time: 7 hours As an amateur who competes in many tournaments throughout the year, I am interested in learning about openings and the ideas behind them. Unfortunately, as an adult with limited time, I cannot really read chess books in any great depth. The magnus opus of the English Opening was written by GM Marin for Quality Chess, a beautiful set of three books in the Grandmaster Repertoire series, with a total of 1,187 pages! If I only had the time to read it. So as an alternative tool for learning the openings, I find the Fritz Trainer DVDs enormously … [Read more...]
A New Style
This is my fiftieth chronicle, but I still feel privileged to be able to write about our fine CC sport. You can find the previous columns in the ChessCafe.com Archives. Last month I wrote about my new openings: the English as white, and the Caro-Kann and King's Indian as black. My games with these new openings have advanced to between ten and twenty moves and I am satisfied with the resulting positions. I am not worse in any game and may have a small edge in a few. The English can be played in many ways. Presently, I prefer the classical variations with 1.c4, followed by 2.Nc3. After that I vary between 3.g3 and 4.g3. There is also the Kosten/Marin alternative with 2.g3, which I use … [Read more...]