One of the main revelations in my approach to chess training was that choosing particular openings can help a lot. Studying different pawn structures is one thing, actually playing them is a way to learn actively, with heightened attention levels during the games in which they are employed. Another factor is that they should have relatively low maintenance, by which I mean that they shouldn't overburden a player's memory or require constant study to keep up to date. The main reason for this is that there are lots of aspects of chess that need to be studied, and openings are only one small part of this.
What are some good examples of such openings? Against 1.e4 I have tended to recommend the French Defence, and in particular the lines with ...dxe4 such as the Rubinstein (1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7). This creates a pawn structure known as the little centre, which together with the Exchange Variation (3.exd5) and Advance Variation (3.e5) provides three important position types that players can learn from. Similarly there is the Caro-Kann (1.e4 c6) which can lead to a little centre (2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 dxe4 4.Nxe4), a blocked centre (2.d4 d5 3.e5), a Carlsbad formation (2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.Bd3) or an isolated d-pawn (2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.c4). These are all excellent positions to learn from and I discuss the Caro in this week's Chess Questions Answered video.
There a similarly good choices against 1.d4, such as the Queen's Gambit Declined (1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6) and Nimzo-Indian (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4) whilst with White I've long felt that 1.d4 is the simplest approach to creating an opening repertoire with a good range of typical positions. Such openings form the backbone of the repertoires I suggest and can help take your positional play to the next level.
Training Tournaments
Here are the latest scheduled events:
Sunday April 19th, 5pm UK Catalan
Sunday April 19th, 6.15pm UK French Rubinstein
Sunday April 26th, 5pm UK Colle Dutch Stonewall
Sunday April 26th, 6.15pm UK French Fort Knox
Video Discounts
This week's discount is 40% off the purchase of the White 1.d4 Repertoire using the code 'apr17to25'. This is a stand-alone opening course in which White is still playing 1.d4 followed by 2.Nf3 but will then follow up with 3.c4 against most of Black's defences. A particularly important aspect of this course for the developing player is the inclusion of openings which act as touchstones for the understanding of positional play, including the Queen's Gambit Declined Exchange Variation (1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.cxd5 exd5) and King's Indian Petrosian System (1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.c4 Bg7 4.Nc3 0-0 5.e4 d6 6.Be2 e5 7.d5). These openings are particularly rich in plans and pawn levers, which helps students develop a deeper positional understanding.
Last week's offer was 40% off buying Crafting Your Own Opening Repertoire using the code 'apr10to18'. Developing an opening repertoire is a key aspect of any player's development, and the most effective way to do this is to craft your own. This video series demonstrates how to go about this, covering opening selection, choosing sources and assembling your lines.
Upcoming Events
This is how things look right now, with the World Senior Team Championships starting on Sunday. I'm hoping to get invites to the British Championships (August), European Senior Team Championships (late August) and English Senior Championships (October), but there's nothing definite as yet.
April 18 - 29: World Senior Team Championships, Durres, Albania
I've had confirmation that I'll be in the 50+ first team for this one.
July 7-12: South Wales International, Bridgend, Wales
I've been invited to this event and will be accepting.
Have a good weekend.
Nigel
