Originally posted by Sicilian SmaugHey, don't ignore the sweet opening I suggested. That's where your success lies! 😀
It looks not so boring to me, an open board with opportunities for tactical play, white has the isolani and must always keep it in mind..maybe use it as a battering ram, or keep an eye on it in defence.. What I am trying to avoid is that horrific diagonal line of pawns in the Winawer where black's Queen causes grief down white's Queen side and white's tter open play where I can shine. Exchange against the French is most likely my way forward.
EDIT:Haha, oops, spoke too soon!
😞
I used to hate the french too. Probably beacause i didn't know the lines very well.Now i started playing it and it's great also i feel more confident facing it now, i've stopped using the french exchange as a defence against it, but i'm still uncomfortable facing the classical line e4 e6 d4 d5 nc3 nf6. You cand try using the Tarrasch as a defence....the main line leads to a somewhat open position. Now that was a lot of offtopic, I've never faced the Millner-Barry gambit but i've watched 2 lectures on it on fics wich were pretty interesting.
Originally posted by Sicilian SmaugOh yeah, Tarrasch is pretty cool, but still...Reti Gambit is amazing.
I tried the tarrasch once Game 2189865,lost but quite liked it, I believe it's drawish at master level but it does seem quite open. Maybe I should try that for a few more games as well.
Originally posted by Sicilian SmaugI think you may have made a mistake: Doesn't 4 Bg2 lose to 4...exf3? What am I missing here?
That may have to be first on my list to try next actually.. Looks good..
Here's another one I tried :
Game 1814134
2.g3 (or is it 2.g3? or 2.g3?! or 2.g3 !? 😉)
Usual follow on:
1.e4, e6
2.g3, d5
3.Nf3 de
4. Bg2
In this game, black transposed to a Sicilian, suiting me down to the ground.. but despite an early string of wins when using it I saw it to be suspect after a while.
Morphy always played the Exchange Variation against the French ( 1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 ed ed. It suited his aggressive style without making any positional concessions except the Black's "problem child", the Queen's Bishop, can find a happy home which is difficult to achieve in other variations of the French.
Playing the french, as white I like playing the Tarrasch, as black I particularly like playing against the advanced or Winawer. I love the French, but when white plays the exchange variation, I want to throw my keyboard through a window. I'll have to give the Reti gambit a go (thanks cmsMaster 😉) next time I play the French as white.
Originally posted by bosintangOne of the biggest prevelant myths in chess is that the Exchange French (1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 ed ed) significantly reduces Black's winning chances. Of course, that's true if Black plays symmetrically and trades off all of the rooks on the open e-file. But, if Black instead plays ...Bd6 and then ...Ne7 early on, the game becomes quite lively. See Capablanca-Alekhine, 1st Match Game, 1927 for an example of a nice win by Black.
Playing the french, as white I like playing the Tarrasch, as black I particularly like playing against the advanced or Winawer. I love the French, but when white plays the exchange variation, I want to throw my keyboard through a window. I'll have to give the Reti gambit a go (thanks cmsMaster 😉) next time I play the French as white.