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Queen's Gambit Questions

Queen's Gambit Questions

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The what? How does it go?

The only reason I like Bg5 so far is because it seems to take away black's only good bishop, giving him less counterplay. White has an easier time unwinding his position.

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Originally posted by exigentsky
The what? How does it go?

The only reason I like Bg5 so far is because it seems to take away black's only good bishop, giving him less counterplay. White has an easier time unwinding his position.
1.c4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 c6 4.Nf3 dxc4 5.e3 b5 6.a4 Bb4 7.Bd2 a5 8.axb5 Bxc3 9.Bxc3 cxb5 10.b3 Bb7 11.bxc4 b4 12.Bb2 Nf6 13.Bd3 Nbd7 14.0-0 0-0 15.Re1
The Noteboom/Abrahams variation. An unbalanced fight between white's center and black's passed pawns

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Originally posted by exigentsky
Nc3 is rather weak statistically if compared to the other choices. bg5 scores almost 10% better and the average ELO of players using it is higher than for any other movev in that position. This leads me to believe that it is an inferior move. On the other hand, engines think it is best. Who am I to believe?
1. g4 wins 62% of the time. 1. e4 wins 37.1% of the time.

Does that mean that 1. e4 is weaker than 1. g4?

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Originally posted by Red Night
1. g4 wins 62% of the time. 1. e4 wins 37.1% of the time.

Does that mean that 1. e4 is weaker than 1. g4?
Read my earlier response to this argument. It's a page back.

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Originally posted by exigentsky
That's not even true. As I mentioned earlier, the BEST GMs you refer to actually play Bg5. This is the move chosen by players with the highest ELO and it scores a lot better than Nc3 also. Players using Nc3 (711 games, scoring 55😵 have an average ELO of 2418 while those using Bg5 (97 games, scoring 62😵 are averaged to 2490 according to Chessbase.

Of ...[text shortened]... ove, that's why I started this thread. But keep in mind that Nc3 is not the GM favourite atm.
You're basing your conclusions of Bg5 on 97 games. That's not enough for accuracy so early in the game.

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It's enough for me to at least consider it. 😉

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I can't seem to be having much success against the Nimzo/Queen's Indian players. Any ideas on how to combat those openings? Should I even play c4?

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What I play when I am playing d4 (which I currently am) is Tromp 1..Nf6 and play the QG against d5. But c4 is the best move. Try something really straightforward against the Nimzo players like 4. a3 or 4. f3.

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Interesting, how is it working for you?

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Not bad actually. I have scored some awesome victories, especially in the QGA. I started out playing all 1. e4, so open positions I think are slightly more my style, but I really enjoy having slightly more solid positions to base an attack off of. I also find that the Qc2 and g4 line against the Semi Slav is an awesome weapon at my level. It seems that most semi slav players only concentrate on the Meran or the Nc3 then Bg5 lines, and aren't prepared at all. I can't tell you how many miniatures I have won from the white side of that opening. The Tromp is somewhat difficult to wrap your head around, since alot of the positions are different from any other opening out there, but it seems like if you know them, then you have great chances for an advantage out of the opening.

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Sounds good, I'll give it a try sometime. Thanks for the advice.