There have been a lot of posts recently on different openings. I think it would be a good idea to discuss some of the openings you play and the ideas behind them.

I've always had trouble against the Caro-Kann. I have tried different variations but none of them really suited me until I found the Panov-Botvinnik Attack. It leads to exciting games where both sides have chances and the center isn't locked.

This is my description of the opening:

"Panov-Botvinnik Attack"


1. e4 c6 2. c4

Different move order to reach the same opening. Always be
careful of transpositions.

(2. c4 e5 3. Nf3 d6 4. d4 Nd7 5. Nc3 Ngf6 6. Be2 Be7 7. O-O O-O)
{Old Indian Defense.}

(2. d4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. c4 {Transposition})

I like playing the 2.c4 instead of 2.d4 variation although both lead to the same position. It throws new Caro-Kann players off sometimes.

2... d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. d4

{Caro-Kann: Panov-Botvinnik Attack.
White accepts an isolated d-pawn but gains more rooms for his pieces.}

4...Nf6 5.Nc3 {Adding more pressure on the d5-pawn.}

5...e6

A blunder would be (5... Bf5 ? 6. Qb3)
{Double attack against the b7 and d5 pawn.}

6. Nf3 Bb4
{Pins the knight. I prefer this move over the less aggressive Be7.}

(6... Be7 {Allows White to post his bishop along the b1-h7 diagonal.} 7. cxd5 Nxd5 8. Bd3 Nc6 9. O-O O-O 10. Re1)

7. cxd5
{Taking the pawn allows White's light squared
bishop to enter the game without losing tempo similiar to the Queen's Gambit
Declined.}

(7. Bd3 dxc4 8. Bxc4
{Transposing into the Nimzo-Indian. Notice how White lost a tempo recapturing the pawn.})

7... Nxd5 8. Qc2
{Defending his Knight}

8...Nc6 9. Be2

(9. Bd3
{The bishop looks nicer on this square but isn't very secure. Black can fork the Queen and Bishop if he can get a knight to b4 and thus, White would lose the bishop pair.}

9...Ba5 10. a3 {Preventing Nb4.} Nxc3 11. bxc3 Nxd4 12. Nxd4 Qxd4
{White is down a pawn after the combination.}

13. Bb5+ {Not allowing black to castle.} Bd7 14. O-O Qd5
{Threatening to capture the b5 bishop.} 15. c4 Qf5 16. Bxd7+ Kxd7

{An interesting position has arisen. Black is a pawn up but his King is exposed. I believe White has a slight advantage but the position is pretty even here according to master games. I don't think blacks lack of king safety is that significant.})

[b]9... O-O 10. O-O



A typical position in this opening has arisen.

Grandmasters who have played the White side are:

1.M.Adams 2. J. Polgar 3.L. Christiansen

Black Side: 1.Karpov 2.Seirawan 3.Bologan

Both sides have equal chances here. White has a temporary
outpost on e5 and a half open e-file. Black has a permanent outpost on d5 and both sides have an open c-file. White will probably set up a Queen and Bishop battery along the b1-h7 diagonal, post a knight on e5, play Bg5 or Bh6 depending on the situation. White will place a Rook on d1 to defend the d-pawn. White will play for a kingside attack.

Black will try maintaining a Knight on d5, and attacking the isolated d-pawn, with Be7-Bf6 and Rooks on the d-file. Blacks light squared bishop will be activated via Bd7-Bc6 or b6-Bb7. In some cases Black may capture the knight on c3 and after bxc3, the d-pawn is no longer isolated but the c-pawn will now sit on a half open file for Black to attack. The side with the isolated pawn will sometimes try pushing the pawn forward to get rid of the weakness so look out for that. "Weakness" depends on the situation so an isolated pawn may or may not be a weakness. Just like Knight vs Bishop and which one is better. It depends on the situation.


Black will try trading off pieces and look forward to an endgame when White's Isolated pawn will be a weakness.


Anyone else want to discuss their openings? It would be cool going through all the openings and discussing the plans each side should follow.

Rahim K

Originally posted by RahimK
Anyone else want to discuss their openings?

Originally posted by GinoJ
Not really.

Originally posted by HomerJSimpson
rahim even though I dont like you, ignore this guy

Against 1.e4 I play the Pirc

1.e4...d6
2.d4...Nf6
3.Nc3...g6
4.f4 this move enters the Austrian Attack but white has a few choices here.

4....Bg7
5. Nf3...c5
6.e5...Nfd7
7. exd6....cxd4
8. Nb5...0-0
9.Nc7...Nc5

The above is from the game V.Kramnik - A.Grischuk Wijk aan Zee 2005 which ended in a draw but is a good taster of some of the early moves in this line.

Some don't think the Pirc is sound because super GM's don't usually play it in the top tournaments. However GM's do play it with success. It can lead to both sharp tactical games and also positional games.

The idea of the Pirc is to allow the white player the benefit (and the responsibility) of a big centre ..then set about undermining it. There is a 2000 plus player here (MotownDave) who plays the pirc and his games are worth looking through to get an idea of practical play - I'm still on the nursery slopes with it!

Originally posted by RahimKAnyone else want to discuss their openings? It would be cool going through all the openings and discussing the plans each side should follow.

Rahim K

okay I'll give it a try:

1.e4 d6

Here we have extremely interesting position. White has total control of center (black has no pawns there) and also white has some mobility for his bishop and queen. White can continue expanding with brave and uncompromising 2.d4 which gives him absolute domination over the center. White also hasn't yet developed his knights which gives him flexibility. His overall plan is to take total control of the game and mate black.

Black on the other hand has infinitely solid set-up (pawns on c7,d7,e7,f7)
This has been experimentally proven to be very hard to crack down, only weak point here is the f7, but right now white has no way to attack it effectively. Plus black also has sustained flexibility for his knights by not developing them on the first move. Also there is no way for white to know on which side black is about to castle and that means white has to have very open-ended game plan here. Extremely important to have flexibility. That said, Black has very little piece mobility as his bishop has only one sensible square (g7) where to go. Fortunately, its exactly this almost magical g7-square which happens to be the ultimately best square for his bishop. Black's overall plan here is to mate white.

2.d4

Stunning, simply stunning!!! White shows no fear by making this kind of brave dual-expand with his pawns. He completely exposes his king and queen to enemy forces by removing the key defenders, d- and e-pawns from 2nd file.

2...Nf6 "You asked for it!!!", says black with this mind-blowing reply. Although he could have just played carefully (like 2...a6 keeping solid defence), he decided to go for it. Exposing his knight this way shows he has no respect whatsoever towards white's army. Also black's aggressive respond leads to the fact that white's poor pawn on e4 is now under attack. WAR HAS BEEN DECLARED!!!

3. Nc3 Oh my God, can you believe it??? Just when things where going south for white player, he makes calm and sound defending move. I can't believe my eyes here. White keeps his head cold and does not crack under extreme pressure. He does not go for suicidal e5 but simply just responds by developing his knight AND defending his pawn at once. Huge move!!!

3...Bg7 Keeping the tension alive. Its like a moment of silence before storm. Moves like this are the ones which separate good players from great ones. Black has no rush.

4.f4 OMG!!! OMG!!! What else can one say? This is kind of move which makes spectators faint. Either total lack of respect towards black or mental crackdown can only explain this move. White removes last defending pawn around his king and commits it to be part of fierceful, all-or-nothing invasion. Now white king is like sitting duck. Even the slightest error from white would mean the end for him.

4...O-O With this move black simply says "I ain't nuts like you dude. My king is my top priority, and I will get it safe first" Excellent judgement from black. He does not launch any futile attacks.

5. Nf3 Finally white calms down. e5 would have resulted mass destruction of his pieces, meaning the end of his existence. Now the position becomes level and stable. But hell, what a ride it was.

Originally posted by Jusuh
okay I'll give it a try:

Originally posted by Jusuh
okay I'll give it a try:

1.e4 d6

Here we have extremely interesting position. White has total control of center (black has no pawns there) and also white has some mobility for his bishop and queen. White can continue expanding with brave and uncompromising 2.d4 which gives him absolute domination over the center. White also hasn't yet developed his knig ...[text shortened]... existence. Now the position becomes level and stable. But hell, what a ride it was.

Originally posted by Restless Soul
how did black play Bg7 before moving his pawn?? interesting

Originally posted by Restless Soul
how did black play Bg7 before moving his pawn?? interesting

Originally posted by zebano
I was wondering the same thing anyway....

French defense, Winawer, Fingerslip variation...
1. e4 white releases his bishop and queen upon the board.
... e6!? Black prepares a fierce counterattack while locking his light squared bishop away

2. d4 white thinks to take full control of the center
... d5! denied

3. Nc3 developing and securing his pawn ...[text shortened]... empo on the queen
... Qe5

9. 0-0-0 securing the king and placing the rook on the open file.

Originally posted by Jusuh
okay I'll give it a try:

1.e4 d6

Here we have extremely interesting position. White has total control of center (black has no pawns there) and also white has some mobility for his bishop and queen. White can continue expanding with brave and uncompromising 2.d4 which gives him absolute domination over the center. White also hasn't yet developed his knig ...[text shortened]... existence. Now the position becomes level and stable. But hell, what a ride it was.

Originally posted by zebano
I was wondering the same thing anyway....

French defense, Winawer, Fingerslip variation...
1. e4 white releases his bishop and queen upon the board.
... e6!? Black prepares a fierce counterattack while locking his light squared bishop away

2. d4 white thinks to take full control of the center
... d5! denied

3. Nc3 developing and securing his pawn ...[text shortened]... empo on the queen
... Qe5

9. 0-0-0 securing the king and placing the rook on the open file.

I'm really boring OTB As white I play d4 with either a Colle setup or a BDG depending on my mood. Also Reti and KIA. As black vs e4 I play either the Latvian gambit, St George, or the French. Against d4 Nimzo/Queens Indian.

Forgot, I usually play Bb4 but have taken a liking to Nf6 lately in the french.