CHOOSING OPENINGS FOR DIFFERENT OCCASIONS

The issue I want to discuss this week is in choosing openings for different opponents. This tends to be a relatively minor issue for most players because the game is likely to leave the book early on. For stronger players, let's say over 2,000 Elo, it starts to become more problematic. Will an opponent be prepared for your usual choices? Will you be playing into their hands with regard to the type of position you reach? Are you worried that the game will become dull or drawish, when you'd really like to play for a win?

There's no easy or one dimensional answer, but I can offer the following guidelines:

First and foremost it's good to have a decent opening repertoire, something you like and understand, that contains robust lines and gives you plenty of alternative options. If your repertoire depends on a single sharp line, what will you do if you lose confidence in this line? Will you also need to study your openings on an ongoing basis? Do you have time to do this? Most main line openings are suitable, and it's probably best to steer clear of very sharp ones.

Secondly you should consider the relative strength of your opponent. If they are a better player it makes sense to minimize the importance of their improvisational skills by playing as many moves of theory as you can. On the other hand you might want to throw weaker players on their own resources, unless you know that they have poor theoretical knowledge. 

A third consideration is whether an opening should be chosen because it is more likely to produce a desired result, either a win or a draw. This one is a particular minefield because you can end up playing something you don't know. Playing for a draw is dangerous because it can put you in a defensive frame of mind, playing for a win can cause you to throw caution to the wind when that is what is required. The best approach that I know of is to simply keep playing, and hopefully your main repertoire will give you some small imbalances to work with.

The openings I recommend at Tiger Chess tend to be suitable for most amateur players, and a suped up version of these lines should be good enough for most professionals. There are other options too, but I give the best lines I know of in terms of simplicity and economy.

Training Tournaments

This week's training tournaments return to the King's Indian Petrosian, which is a great line for learning more about pawn structures with a closed centre:

Sunday January 12th at 5pm UK Time: King's Indian Petrosian with 7...a5

Sunday January 12th at 6.15pm UK Time: King's Indian Petrosian with 7...Nbd7

My Upcoming Events

Here's my schedule over the coming months, though it is subject to change. I often don't know until fairly late in the day:

January 17-19: Huddersfield 4NCL Congress
I really enjoy the 4NCL Congresses as they're played under excellent conditions in nice hotels. This is the first one in Huddersfield, you can find details here.

January 27th: Stockport Rapidplay
I've played in this event with some regularity, so probably I'll go for it again. You can find details here.

February 16-27, 2025: World Senior Team Championship
I've accepted a place in the 50+ second team which means I'll play a much stronger field than on bottom board of the first team. Although this diminishes my chances of winning a medal I'm looking forward to the challenge.

July/August 2025: British Championships
Will these be held in Liverpool next year or maybe Torquay? I've heard rumours about both venues, if they're held in Liverpool I'd probably go for the 50+ event.

I've been waiting to hear about the selections for the European Senior Team Championships (Poland, April 4-14) in which I've said I'll play in any team and on any board. I guess I'll find out fairly soon, hopefully I'll be picked as I've been holding these dates open for a long time, in fact since July 23rd 2024!

Regretfully I've had to pass on two events in Slovenia and Serbia:

January 24-31, 2025: HIT Open in Nova Gorica: Details can be found here.

February 5-10, 2025: Senta, Hotel Fantastico: Details can be found here.

Twitch Channel

Last Monday I made the first show for my new Twitch channel in which I gave my view on the Scotch Opening, next Monday I'll be discussing the merits of the English Opening. Please follow it if you'd like to get updates etc, all the shows will be available to Premium members in the Tiger Chess members area even when they are no longer available on Twitch.

Have a good weekend.

Nigel