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Sicilian: Forced Draw Woes

Sicilian: Forced Draw Woes

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Originally posted by RahimK
Do what you gotta do.

I think you spend a lot of time on your openings though?

I seen you posting a whole bunch about different opening system. Are you studying other parts of chess also or just the opening?

Spend more time on the other parts. If the person doesn't play the opening you studied then that would be a waste of time.
I do study the opening phase at least 40% of the time I study chess, however, this is because I don't yet have a complete repertoire. Also, if my opponent plays an opening I studied, that would be fantastic because he is surely inferior. Furthermore, since I know the ideas of the opening due to my study, I know the best plan.

Anyway, I thought about playing the pure Dragon too, but I think the Yugoslav is too dangerous for Black.

I'm curious, does the Najdorf suffer from such problems?

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Originally posted by exigentsky
I do study the opening phase at least 40% of the time I study chess, however, this is because I don't yet have a complete repertoire. Also, if my opponent plays an opening I studied, that would be fantastic because he is surely inferior. Furthermore, since I know the ideas of the opening due to my study, I know the best plan.

Anyway, I thought about pl ...[text shortened]... goslav is too dangerous for Black.

I'm curious, does the Najdorf suffer from such problems?
Well I can't blame you. Your Rhp rating is decent and opening do matter at this level. I find I play much better when I'm familiar with the opening. I like preparing an opening before the game but you can't always know who you are playing and what color you will have.

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Yeah, that's true, you never know what color you will get. But the truth is, I have completely ignored the White side of the opening. I'm focusing on Black because Black has to fight for equality while White can be equal even with moves that aren't theoretically best. When Chess Openings for White, Explained comes out, I will patch up this section of my repertoire too. 🙂

Right now, I'm still a little annoyed about the Accelerated Dragon. Sure it offers equality and a clear plan, but this comes at the price of having many draws against semi-knowledgeable opponents.

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Originally posted by exigentsky
Yeah, that's true, you never know what color you will get. But the truth is, I have completely ignored the White side of the opening. I'm focusing on Black because Black has to fight for equality while White can be equal even with moves that aren't theoretically best. When Chess Openings for White, Explained comes out, I will patch up this section of my r ...[text shortened]... plan, but this comes at the price of having many draws against semi-knowledgeable opponents.
Well you can't have everything.

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Originally posted by exigentsky
Yeah, that's true, you never know what color you will get. But the truth is, I have completely ignored the White side of the opening. I'm focusing on Black because Black has to fight for equality while White can be equal even with moves that aren't theoretically best. When Chess Openings for White, Explained comes out, I will patch up this section of my r ...[text shortened]... plan, but this comes at the price of having many draws against semi-knowledgeable opponents.
Win as white, draw as black =). Personally I rarely draw OTB when I play the najdorf, but my win rate is about 35% right now (thats good since all the people at my club who play e4 are 100-300 rating points above me).

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Yeah, actually I probably draw only about 20% of the time when playing the (Hyper) Accelerated Dragon but my worry is more theoretical. If someone is booked up, they could play that line or the Maroczy, making a draw all but inevitable.