Best Opening To Get Decisive Result!

I have a tournament coming up and need advice so that I can get a decisive result in all the games I play (Of course, I am playing to win 😛).

1. I need an opening (like Latvian Gambit) so that the game gets into high gear from the beginning itself and doesn't end up as a draw.
2. I am a big fan of Latvian Gambit. Any Pros and Cons while playing this white/black?

Thanks in advance.

For white:
1. f4

For black:
1. d4 f4

OR

1. e4 Nf6


There will not be a draw unless you mess up.

I don`t know what rating you are RamP.

Originally posted by RamP
I have a tournament coming up and need advice so that I can get a decisive result in all the games I play (Of course, I am playing to win 😛).

1. I need an opening (like Latvian Gambit) so that the game gets into high gear from the beginning itself and doesn't end up as a draw.
2. I am a big fan of Latvian Gambit. Any Pros and Cons while playing this white/black?

Thanks in advance.

There is a whole community of players who live for this opening, but the fact that no grandmasters use it speaks volumes for its true lack of soundness.

IM Jeremy Silman

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IM Silman has written extensively on the Latvian, and there is an interesting synopsis here:

http://www.jeremysilman.com/chess_opng_anlys/040410_latvian_gambit.html

Thanks @Tiwaking 🙂 1. d4 f4 is one of the lines I am planning to prepare.

@National Master Dale, my rating on FICS is somewhere hovering between 1700 and 1800.

@Mathurine, Thanks for the link. I didn't find too many GM games in the lines of Latvian but I do have a fancy for it 🙂
1. e4 e5
2. Nf6 f4
3. exf5 e4
4. Ng1
[I read somewhere that white is pretty comfortable here].

Found a gem from GP 😀

http://www.chessedinburgh.co.uk/chandlerarticle.php?ChandID=97

Originally posted by Mathurine
There is a whole community of players who live for this opening, but the fact that no grandmasters use it speaks volumes for its true lack of soundness.

IM Jeremy Silman

It always irritates me when someone says "You shouldn't play that because GMs don't play it". On another site there is an ass who trots that out every time someone asks about an opening. His games are an endless parade of Slavs and Semi-Slavs mostly ending in dull draws because "that is what GMs play". The thing is none of us are GMs (GM Nogginthenog excepted of course) and are unlikely to understand everything GMs do. There is also the matter of preferred style, if you don't enjoy the sort of positions GMs play for why do it? You are likely to get better results from something you enjoy than the latest theoretical novelty found by Anand and co.

If the Latvian suits you play it! What's the worst that can happen? You lose a game and that's OK, it's not as if this is your day job.

Hi RamP

Yes there are some good Lats on that Corner but it's one-sided.
For every Lat win I show I can show you four losses in the same line.

Latvian players are born, you cannot just decide to be a Latvian gambiteer.
They look happy and jolly but behind that smile is a nervous wreck
who has spent his chess career skating on thin ice snatching wins
from lost postions.

"...and need advice so that I can get a decisive result in all the games I play."

If anyone can give you advice so that you would get a decisive result
in all the games you played then it would not be tossed away on a forum post.

It would be published in the best selling chess book of all time making
every other chess book totally defunct.

The advice about ignoring GM openings is good.
Start studying GM games when you are at a level when you will be meeting GM's,
then you will not need advice from me or anyone else on here.

Just play what you want to play. Play what makes you happy not
what anyone tells you should play.
Listen to them, look at what they are saying, but in the end it's always down to you.

Originally posted by Tiwaking
For white:
1. f4

For black:
1. d4 f4

OR

1. e4 Nf6


There will not be a draw unless you mess up.

This advice bothers me. There is nothing specific to the Bird or the Alekhine opening that cause them to be less drawish than any other opening save possibly the exchange french, exchange slav, and the exchange KID.

Originally posted by RamP
I have a tournament coming up and need advice so that I can get a decisive result in all the games I play (Of course, I am playing to win 😛).

1. I need an opening (like Latvian Gambit) so that the game gets into high gear from the beginning itself and doesn't end up as a draw.
2. I am a big fan of Latvian Gambit. Any Pros and Cons while playing this white/black?

Thanks in advance.

If your goal is to get decisive games and you are 1700ish

1) Don't get fixated on openings, just avoid completely symmetrical positions. Look for opportunities to play Knight vs Bishop, minority pawn play etc.

2) Don't accept a draw, don't offer a draw. Play until naked kings.

Originally posted by nimzo5
This advice bothers me. There is nothing specific to the Bird or the Alekhine opening that cause them to be less drawish than any other opening save possibly the exchange french, exchange slav, and the exchange KID.

All those drawish openings are exchange variations. Maybe that is what makes for a draw?

Judging from my database (100 000 modern CC games) the Alekhine is not less likely to produce a draw but will improve white's chances of a win! I would have thought the Alekhine would have done better considering it was played by Berliner in his world championship final.

Provided black doesn't do anything stupid in response to 1. f4 (e5 comes to mind here) the chances of a draw are no worse but the chances of a black win are definitely increased.

So the moral of this little tale is, if you want a decisive opening persuade your opponent to play one of these moves!

rec'd

drawish, safe play forces boring draws.

fearless, active risk taking forces decisive games.




nothing to do with the openings.

Originally posted by Diophantus
It always irritates me when someone says "You shouldn't play that because GMs don't play it". On another site there is an ass who trots that out every time someone asks about an opening. His games are an endless parade of Slavs and Semi-Slavs mostly ending in dull draws because "that is what GMs play". The thing is none of us are GMs (GM Nogginthenog exce ...[text shortened]... t that can happen? You lose a game and that's OK, it's not as if this is your day job.

Rec'd for the piece on style- it's a human game, and a huge part of it's attraction is that there is room for a player's personality and style to manifest and flourish.

An opening selection is the chess equivalent of selecting the type of medium for art- brush, canvas, stone, etc.

Originally posted by National Master Dale
I don`t know what rating you are RamP.

He is currently rated at p1200 😛