All posts by NigelD

HOW TO, OPENINGS, PAWN LEVERS, POSITIONAL PLAY, TOURNAMENTS, TRAINING, WHITE 1.d2-d4 REPERTOIRE

GUESSING THE MOVE WITH SOFTWARE

One of the best known training techniques is to try guessing the move of one of the players in well played games. In my youth I did a lot of this, using books and then covering up the next move. It's a way to engage with going through a game, rather than just playing through the moves.

Can this be done more easily with chess software? I believe that it can, though there's a danger that you can end up making superficial guesses to get the task over with quickly. Perhaps some people might be disciplined enough to slow down on purpose, others might need some assistance, for example by writing their moves and reasoning down. If you can slow down then the use of software can have distinct advantages, for example you can use an engine to guage the strength of your guess vs the one that was actually played.

Which software is best? Personally I'm a big fan of HIARCS Chess Explorer, and both the regular and pro versions are great for this kind of training. There's other software too, for example I understand that Fritz allows this kind of training as do various web sites (Chess Tempo and Chess Games, for example). I have not tested them myself, but perhaps they will work for you.

Training Tournaments

This week's training tournaments are in slightly less usual lines of the Carlsbad structure, after 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Nc3 they will start from the positions after 5...Bb4 and 5...a6. This position type is covered in Mastering Key Pawn Structures: The Carlsbad Formation as well as the White 1.d4 Repertoire.

Sunday October 12th at 5pm UK Time: QGD Ragozin with 5...Bb4

Sunday October 12th at 6.15pm UK Time: QGD Janowsky with 5...a6
 

Video Discounts

This week's discount iss 40% off buying Mastering Key Pawn: The Carlsbad Formation, using the code 'oct10to18'. This structure can be seen as a touchstone for understanding planning and strategy, so learning more about it has great value.

Last week's discount is 40% off buying the Crafting Your Own Opening Repertoire series, using the code 'oct3to11. In the four parts I include coverage of opening selection, choosing sources and assembling your lines. 

My Upcoming Events

After Tenerife cancellation, I've accepted an invitation to the Scarborough congress, largely because my wife enjoyed going there last year. This is the only thing I have planeed right now, though I might also play in the Bolton Rapidplay in December.

October 24-26: Scarborough Congress
I played in this last year and it's a popular event. Details can be found here.

Have a good weekend.

Nigel

BUILDING AN OPENING REPERTOIRE, FRENCH DEFENCE, OPENINGS, PATTERN RECOGNITION, TIGER CHESS WEBINARS, TOURNAMENTS, TRAINING

HOW TO MOVE ON FROM PET OPENINGS

In this week's Chess Questions Answered video I answered a question about giving up pet openings. Replacing former favourites with better lines can be an important part of a player's development, for example my chess improved considerably when I no longer played the Modern Defence (1...g6 against everything) exclusively. I switched instead to more solid options, including the Nimzo-Indian and meeting 1.e4 with 1...e5.

What's the right time to do this? There can be various indicators, for example your results with your pet opening may have become worse, or you no longer feel you enjoy playing it (often these things will go together). Such times suggest a rethink, perhaps extending to your whole game. Alexander Kotov recommended doing this once in a while in his famous book, Think Like a Grandmaster. I've made a practice of this myself, and now tend to make minor adjustments as new information comes in.

What openings should you switch to? It makes sense not to change too much too quickly, and it might be best to go for positions in which you have some experience and understanding. I cover this topic in my video series, Crafting Your Own Opening Repertoire, which is discounted this week.

Training Tournaments

This week's training tournaments are in unusual lines of the French Defence, namely 2.b3 and 2.Nf3 d5 3.e5. These are covered in my Building an Opening Repertoire course as well as The French Defence.

Sunday October 5th at 5pm UK Time: French 2.b3

Sunday October 5th at 6.15pm UK Time: French 2.Nf3 d5 3.e5
 

Video Discounts

This week's discount is 40% off buying the Crafting Your Own Opening Repertoire series, using the code 'oct3to11. In the four parts I include coverage of opening selection, choosing sources and assembling your lines. 

Last week's discount was 40% off buying Mastering Key Pawn: The Classical Centre, using the code 'sep26tooct4' and is valid until tomorrow. This video series considers the classical centre, which can arise from a very large variety of chess openings including the Semi-Tarrasch and Gruenfeld Defences, plus many others..

My Upcoming Events

After Tenerife cancellation, I've accepted an invitation to the Scarborough congress, largely because my wife enjoyed going there last year. This is the only thing I have planeed right now, though I might also play in the Bolton Rapidplay in December.

October 24-26: Scarborough Congress
I played in this last year and it's a popular event. Details can be found here.

Have a good weekend.

Nigel

FRENCH DEFENCE, ITALIAN GAME, OPENINGS, TOURNAMENTS, TRAINING

HOW HARD IS IT TO LEARN 1.e4 e5?

I tend to recommend the French (1.e4 e6) to people who are looking for a defence against 1.e4, partly because it's relatively easy to learn and partly because it can teach a lot about chess strategy via the clear pawn structures it contains. Yet occasionally I get students who like open lines for their pieces, and they find the French too closed and restrictive. They like the sort of game you get after 1.e4 e5, but how hard is it to learn to play like that?

The answer depends on a number of factors, not least of which is the time someone has available for study. White has a lot of options after 1...e5, some being quite quiet and others being wild, for example after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4, White has both razor sharp approaches and quite ones based on d2-d3 and c2-c3. Another factor will be age, there's no doubt that younger players tend to find it easier to learn new things. Then there's the level at which you plan to use 1...e5, playing it in club chess is a very different matter to playing it against IMs and GMs.

At the same time there are exciting ways to play the French, for example after 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 there are some very sharp lines in the Winawer (3...Bb4) and MacCutcheon (3...Nf6 4.Bg5 Bb4) variations. This is true of most openings, you have a choice about how sharp you want to make things. Admittedly the potential for early hand to hand combat may not be quite as great as with 1.e4 e5. 

As with many such questions, a good way to proceed is to test the waters before diviing in. Learning a bit about 1.e4 e5, and trying it in online games, will give you valuable feedback about whether it is really for you. If you play it and feel comfortable, it may be worth a bigger time investment. If it turns out that you hate it, there's always the option of walking away.

Training Tournaments

This week's training tournaments return to the Colle System, with Black meeting 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 with 2...g6. The first one will feature the King's Indian style 3.e3 d6 positions and the second the Gruenfeld style 3...d5; both were covered in my Building an Opening Repertoire course:

Sunday September 28th at 5pm UK Time: Colle vs King's Indian 

Sunday September 28th at 6.15pm UK Time: Colle vs Gruenfeld
 

Video Discounts

This week's discount is 40% off buying Mastering Key Pawn: The Classical Centre, using the code 'sep26tooct4'. This video series considers the classical centre, which can arise from a very large variety of chess openings including the Semi-Tarrasch and Gruenfeld Defences, plus many others..

Last week's discount was 40% off buying the Mastering Key Pawn Structures: The Carlsbad Formation, using the code 'sep19to27', and it is valid until close of play tomorrow. This is a key pawn structure which I think can be used as a touchstone for understanding positional play. It occurs in several of my openings courses, this one is devoted fully to the topic.

My Upcoming Events

After Tenerife cancellation, I've accepted an invitation to the Scarborough congress, largely because my wife enjoyed going there last year. This is the only thing I have planeed right now, though I might also play in the Bolton Rapidplay in December.

October 24-26: Scarborough Congress
I played in this last year and it's a popular event. Details can be found here.

Have a good weekend.

Nigel

BUILDING AN OPENING REPERTOIRE, QUEEN'S GAMBIT DECLINED, TIGER CHESS THEMED TRAINING TOURNAMENTS, TOURNAMENTS

HOW TO BEAT WEAKER PLAYERS

There's been a lot of chat on chess forums about Hikaru Nakamura's participation in a couple of state Championships in order to secure a place in the Candidates tournament. I don't want to get into the politics of these things, yet there's an aspect of it that is not being considered. How has Nakamura been so consistent in beating weaker players? Even GMs can struggle to do this.

In this week's Chess Questions Answered video, I tried to answer this question by going through his games from the Louisiana State Championship. The openings choices interested me, with White he played very classically and with Black tried to create some kind of imbalance. One thing that I found interesting was his use of a gambit against the tedious 2.c3 Sicilian, namely 1.e4 c5 2.c3 d5 3.exd5 Nf6!?. Another was the line 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 dxc4, presumably intending to meet 5.e4 with either 5...Bb4 or 5...b5.

The games themselves were not walkovers, but he kept playing good moves which had to be matched with good moves by his opponents. Generally speaking they played well, but at certain moments did not quite match him. There were no unsound attacks or silly tricks, just good solid play.

I wish him well in his quest for the World title, and it goes without saying that the Candidates tournament, scheduled for next year, will be rather stronger. The qualifiers thus far are Fabiano Caruana (the 2024 FIDE Circuit winner) together with Anish Giri and Matthius Bluebaum, the two top finishers in the recent FIDE Grand Swiss.

Training Tournaments

This week's training tournaments are in the 5.Bg5 line of the Queen's Gambit Declined. The first one, 5...Be7, features the line I gave in my Building an Opening Repertoire course. The second is with 5...Nbd7 6.e3 Qa5, the so-called Cambridge Springs Variation which combines solidity with some very nasty traps.

Sunday September 21st at 5pm UK Time: QGD with 5.Bg5 Be7

Sunday September 21st at 6.15pm UK Time: QGD Cambridge Springs
 

Video Discounts

This week's discount is 40% off the Mastering Key Pawn Structures: The Carlsbad Formation, using the code 'sep19to27'. Rubinstein is one of the most influential players in history, largely because of his wonderful endgame play and profound strategic insights. He also came up with many new ideas in the opening.

Last week's discount was 40% off buying the Move Order Tricks series, using the code 'sep12to20', and it is still valid until close of play tomorrow. The importance of move orders in the opening is often underestimated, yet they can be used to bamboozle an opponent out of their favourite lines. In this series of videos I explains the issues, how to use cunning move orders and how to fight against them.

My Upcoming Events

After Tenerife cancellation, I've accepted an invitation to the Scarborough congress, largely because my wife enjoyed going there last year. This is the only thing I have planeed right now, though I might also play in the Bolton Rapidplay in December.

October 24-26: Scarborough Congress
I played in this last year and it's a popular event. Details can be found here.

Have a good weekend.

Nigel

BUILDING AN OPENING REPERTOIRE, OPENINGS, QUEEN'S GAMBIT DECLINED, TACTICS

COMING BACK AFTER A BREAK

Last week I discussed the pros and cons of taking a break, this week I want to look at how you can get back into the game if and when you come back to it? This is something I can talk about from personal experience, as I played very little from when my son was born in 2002 until 2021. 

The first issue is just remembering how the pieces move! By that I don't mean the legal moves they can make, but rather how they interact during a game. To a large extent this can be remedied with puzzles and training games, playing online now being the default option for training games. After doing this for a while it's worth dipping your toe into over the board tournaments because it's very different when playing someone sitting opposite you and having clerical duties such as writing down the moves. Eventually the rust should come off, though things may not be the same as when you quit.

Personally I struggled with how much the game had changed, largely because of powerful engines, extensive databases and tools designed for the rapid memorization of opening variations. At one time good opening knowledge was the preserve of full time professionals, these days I've found that many young players have extensive and computer checked repertoires. It's easier to remember things when you're young, so this works very well for young players. It gives them a distinct advantage over older players who struggle with memorization, and removes what was once a vulnerability.

It has taken me a while to fully adjust to these changes, at one time I assumed 'experience' would carry me through. There are points in the game where experience and intuition can help, but not so much in the opening any more. A good approach is to switch the emphasis of the struggle to the middle game and endgame, which explains why good endgame players have fared relatively well.

Training Tournaments

This week's training tournaments are in the Meran Variation of the Queen's Gambit Declined. The first one, with 5...Bd6, features the line given in my Building an Opening Repertoire course. The second is with 5...a6, a move I've been looking at lately, and in fact used it in my win against Stephen Gordon in the British Championships.

Sunday September 14th at 5pm UK Time: QGD Meran with 5...Bd6

Sunday September 14th at 6.15pm UK Time: QGD Meran with 5...a6
 

Video Discounts

This week's discount is 40% off buying the Move Order Tricks series, using the code 'sep12to20'. The importance of move orders in the opening is often underestimated, yet they can be used to bamboozle an opponent out of their favourite lines. In this series of videos I explains the issues, how to use cunning move orders and how to fight against them.

Last week's discount was 40% off the Learning from the Greats: Akiba Rubinstein, using the code 'sep5to13'. Rubinstein is one of the most influential players in history, largely because of his wonderful endgame play and profound strategic insights. He also came up with many new ideas in the opening.

My Upcoming Events

In the wake of the Tenerife cancellation, I've accepted an invitation to the Scarborough congress, largely because my wife enjoyed going there last year. This is the only thing I have planeed right now, though I might also play in the Bolton Rapidplay in December.:

October 24-26: Scarborough Congress
I played in this last year and it's a popular event. Details can be found here.

Have a good weekend.

Nigel

TIGER CHESS THEMED TRAINING TOURNAMENTS, TOURNAMENTS, TRAINING, WHITE 1.d2-d4 REPERTOIRE

THE PROS AND CONS OF TAKING A BREAK

Chess players will sometimes take a break from the game, sometimes because life intervenes and they don't have enough time. Another scenario can be that they have not been doing as well as they hoped, perhaps through feeling stale, tired or unprepared, and they stop playing in tournaments for a while to regroup and refocus. So what are the pros and cons of taking a break?

Curtailing chess activity to focus on other pursuits can have obvious benefits in terms of career and family, so I won't dwell too much on this. On the other hand a break because of staleness can be a more complex issue, on the one hand you have time to learn new things but on the other you can get out of practice.

I took a largely involuntary break after my son was born in 2002. I did not stop all chess activity because I was still active in writing, making videos and coaching, but I stopped playing. Over the next couple of decades I had brief periods of activity, but without studying much for myself. In retrospect I can say that a lot of rust accumulated, I came back much older, and I also didn't keep up with the rate of change with regards computerization.

It's fair to say that this was not good for my standard of play, and it would have been better had I tried to keep a certain preparedness for a return competition by playing online, keeping up to date with new developments and doing some serious training exercises along the lines of Alex Fishbein's post post-mortem. On the other hand I did spend a lot time learning and practicing tai chi and qigong, which brought its own benefits. This outcome was not really planned for, but I can say it turned out reasonably well. On the other hand I might have worked harder on my chess, had I considered the effect of my prolonged absence from competition.

I'd say that breaks are OK, whether chosen or enforced by various life events. At the same time I'd suggest considering why you are taking one, and what you are doing to maintain your chess if one day you think you might return.

Next week I'll discuss what you should do to get back into shape after taking a break.

Training Tournaments

This week's training tournaments are in the 8.Be3 Exchange Variation of the Gruenfeld Defence, with 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.c4 Bg7 4.Nc3 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.e4 Nxc3 7.bxc3 c5 8.Be3 Qa5 9.Qd2 0-0 and then 9...Nc6 This line is recommended for White in the White 1.d4 Repertoire course. 

Sunday September 7th at 5pm UK Time: Gruenfeld Exchange with 8.Be3 & 9...0-0

Sunday September 7th at 6.15pm UK Time: Gruenfeld Exchange with 8.Be3 & 9...Nc6
 

Video Discounts

This week's discount is 40% off the Learning from the Greats: Akiba Rubinstein, using the code 'sep5to13'. Rubinstein is one of the most influential players in history, largely because of his wonderful endgame play and profound strategic insights. He also came up with many new ideas in the opening.

Last week's discount was 40% off Learning from the Greats: Mikhail Botvinnik, and is still valid until close of play tomorrow. Botvinnik was a major influence on my development as a player and introduced many new ideas into the game. Please use the code 'aug29sep6' if you want to buy this series.
 

My Upcoming Events

In the wake of the Tenerife cancellation, I've accepted an invitation to the Scarborough congress, largely because my wife enjoyed going there last year. By the time you get this I'll have started play in Hull, so now there is just one event on the horizon:

September 5-7: Hull 4NCL Congress
I'm a big fan of 4NCL Congresses because they are played in nice venues, they're invariably well organized and they offer free entry and accommodation to GMs.

October 24-26: Scarborough Congress
I played in this last year and it's a popular event. Details can be found here.

Have a good weekend.

Nigel

FRENCH DEFENCE, OPENINGS, TOURNAMENTS, TRAINING, Uncategorized, UPDATES

BEYOND THE POST POST-MORTEM

In last week's post I discussed Alex Fishbein's post post-mortem that he discussed in a Perpetual Chess Podcast edition. This exercise (trying to find mistakes in the notes of great players from the past) bears similarities to the Kotov analysis exercise that I gleaned from his book, Think Like a Grandmaster. This is something I practiced extensively as a teenager, along with another Fishbein recommendation, trying to guess the moves in Grandmaster games.

There's no doubt in my mind that this form of active study is a very useful one, and it also recalled how Lubosh Kavalek had Nigel Short train during Short's best years, namely by setting up a key opening position and then having him study it without moving the pieces. The Kavalek version seems very interesting to me as essentially you are killing two birds with one stone. Similarly I think that guess the move games might also be chosen from your opening repertoire rather than via other criteria. 

I'm sure there are other variants too, but these strike me as interesting for those who want to train as efficiently as possible. I will be trying them myself before reporting back.

Training Tournaments

This week's training tournaments are in the French Defence, the King's Indian Attack (1.e4 e6 2.d3 c5) and Chigorin (1.e4 e6 2.Qe2 c5) variations. These lines appear in my Building an Opening Repertoire and French Defence courses. 

Sunday August 31st at 5pm UK Time: French KIA

Sunday August 31st at 6.15pm UK Time: French Chigorin
 

Video Discounts

This week's discount is 40% off Learning from the Greats: Mikhail Botvinnik. Botvinnik was a major influence on my development as a player and introduced many new ideas into the game. Please use the code 'aug29sep6' if you want to buy this series.

Last week's discount was 40% off buying any of my four Analysis Training Courses, which provide material for a similar exercise to Fishbein's. The code is 'aug22to30', meaning they are valid until close of play tomorrow, and they can be found at the following links:

Analysis Training 1
Analysis Training 2
Analysis Training 3
Analysis Training 4
 

My Upcoming Events

In the wake of the Tenerife cancellation, I've accepted an invitation to the Scarborough congress, largely because my wife enjoyed going there last year. So now there are two events on the horizon:

September 5-7: Hull 4NCL Congress
I'm a big fan of 4NCL Congresses because they are played in nice venues, they're invariably well organized and they offer free entry and accommodation to GMs. You can find details here:

October 24-26: Scarborough Congress
I played in this last year and it's a popular event. Details can be found here.

Have a good weekend.

Nigel

NEWS, PSYCHOLOGY, TOURNAMENTS, TRAINING

ALEX FISHBEIN’S POST POST-MORTEM

This week I came across an interesting variant on a training method I have used in the past, Alex Fishbein's 'post post-mortem'. Fishbein was the surprise winner of the US Senior Championship, so I listened to the podcast on how he did it. He listed a number of things that he felt might have helped him, including giving up his day job and being more active as a player than the other participants. Yet the thing that drew my attention was an analysis exercise he called the 'post post-mortem'.

Essentially this involved using pre-engine books with deep annotations, and then analyzing key positions without moving the pieces and trying to discover flaws in the author's analysis. This is reminiscent of Kotov's analysis exercise which I did extensively as a teenager, but the twist is that you are trying to find an error. With Paul Keres's games collection Fishbein reported finding errors around 50% of the time, with Mikhail Tal it was rather higher.

The first thing to point out that this is a really hard exercise, it's like sitting alongside some of the greatest players in history and trying to critique their thinking. On the other hand this difficulty, and the extent to which it will engage the mind, is exactly why it will be so effective, and especially for older players whose analytical ability may decline. I intend to try it, alongside my other training methods, time permitting. 

Training Tournaments

This week's training tournaments are in the Queen's Gambit Accepted, featuring the lines with 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 dxc4 4.e3 Bg4 and 4...e6 5.Bxc4 c5 6.Qe2 a6, the Furman Variation. These lines both feature in the White 1.d4 Repertoire:

Sunday August 24th at 5pm UK Time: QGA with 4...Bg4

Sunday August 24th at 6.15pm UK Time: QGA Furman
 

Video Discounts

This week's discount is 40% off buying any of my four Analysis Training Courses, which provide material for a similar exercise to Fishbein's. The code is 'aug22to30', and they can be found at the following links:

Analysis Training 1
Analysis Training 2
Analysis Training 3
Analysis Training 4

Last week's discount was 40% off buying the frequently misunderstood area of Understanding Strategy and Planning, using the code 'aug15to23'. This series presents a systematic way of approaching these areas by learning how to play different pawn structures and the plans and ideas they contain.

My Upcoming Events

Earlier this week I emailed the organizers of the Tenerife tournament I was due to play in, only to find out that it has now been cancelled. It seems it was cancelled back in July, but for some reason I wasn't notified. Hopefully I will be refunded for my air fares, having spent almost £300 on them.

Anyway, my only scheduled event is now the Hull 4NCL Congress, but I'm mindful of continuing to play in order to avoid the reaccumilation of rust.

September 5-7: Hull 4NCL Congress
I'm a big fan of 4NCL Congresses because they are played in nice venues, they're invariably well organized and they offer free entry and accommodation to GMs. You can find details here: 

Have a good weekend.

Nigel

ENDGAMES, OPENINGS, TOURNAMENTS, TRAINING

MY BRITISH CHAMPIONSHIP POST MORTEM

I finished the British Championships with 50%, a slight rating game and a lot of lessons. As the tournament went on I became very tired, perhaps partly because of my uncompromising approach and partly because I'm now 65. Several other senior players seemed to struggle with stamina, but not so much Glenn Flear. I know that Glenn is quite careful about what he eats and drinks, and I think there's a lot to be learned from this.

From a technical point of view I felt that the new openings I've been learning needed more time to settle in, I've been changing things around and trying to modernize, so as to incorporate preparation with engines, but this comes at a cost. The preparation itself probably drained me of energy, I did an hour or two before every game because I felt that I needed it, but actually it is rather too much.

I lost two endgames that could be saved, against Michael Adams and Simon Williams. I tend to think that these were more because of tiredness than a lack of technique as I did not calculate out rather easily calculable pawn endgames. In one case, when I played my Kan Sicilian in round 8, I felt that my opponent only went for the main line because I was a bit too predictable.

So what should I work on? A good diet and fitness never goes amiss, my diet is OK but I've increased the amount of aerobic exercise I do. Cutting the amount of preparation during tournaments would be great, but this may need me be more fluent in the openings I am playing and plan to play. I don't think there's a short term solution to this, but by next year I'm hoping to have everything working pretty well.

Training Tournaments

This week's training tournaments are in the Queen's Gambit Declined, featuring the positions after 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Nc3 Bb4 and also 5...c6. These lines both feature in the White 1.d4 Repertoire, so this is an ideal opportunity to practice them:

Sunday August 17th at 5pm UK Time: QGD Ragozin with 5...Bb4

Sunday August 17th at 6.15pm UK Time: QGD Exchange with 5...c6
 

Video Discounts

This week's discount is 40% off buying the frequently misunderstood area of Understanding Strategy and Planning, using the code 'aug15to23'. This series presents a systematic way of approaching these areas by learning how to play different pawn structures and the plans and ideas they contain.

Last week's discount was 40% off buying The Why and How of Chess Annotations series, using the code 'august8to16', and is still valid until close of play tomorrow. This four hour series explains how you can use this reflective process as a powerful improvement tool.

My Upcoming Events

There's still nothing new from last week and I have a new project that I'll be working on from September. I will keep playing, but it will move down my list of priorities for a while.

Here is how things look now:

August 23 - 30 2025: San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Tenerife
This looks like a great event and I'm really looking forward to it. Travelling back is a bit tricky because the direct flights were very expensive, finally I found a flight back to Glasgow from where I can take a train or maybe another flight to Manchester!

September 5-7: Hull 4NCL Congress
I'm a big fan of 4NCL Congresses because they are played in nice venues, they're invariably well organized and they offer free entry and accommodation to GMs. You can find details here: 

Have a good weekend.

Nigel

BUILDING AN OPENING REPERTOIRE, TIGER CHESS THEMED TRAINING TOURNAMENTS, TOURNAMENTS, WHITE 1.d2-d4 REPERTOIRE

A RULE AND AN OBSERVATION

At the time of writing I'm playing in the British Chess Championships. I've sometimes mentioned the importance of keeping notes during a tournament, mainly because battle conditions make everything real and focus the mind. I've been doing this, as usual, and can report on my findings. I have a rule and an observation that I can discuss.

Before the event started I made a rule for myself about not offering any draws. This simplifies the job of playing because it's one less thing to think about, but at the same time you can lose an important weapon. I decided that I'm far too prone to draw offers, and going cold turkey on this wouldn't do me any harm. So far I've kept to it, and would like to continue to the end.

My observation, meanwhile, is that having good background opening preparation makes it much easier to prepare for the games. Starting from scratch with a new opening is a big ask, especially if your opponent has a lot of experience in what you want to face them with. I tend to be a jack of all trades in the opening, knowing a bit about lots of things but without being an expert in anything. I would like to change this because of the potential saving of energy before the games.

This is very much a work in progress for me, but I would like to have such a thing for the first time in my chess career. Part of the problem has been a short attention span, I would look at something and then move on before acquiring the necessary expertise. The professional approach is to specialize in a good and solid set of openings, become a great expert on the, and then expand this repertoire for specific tournament situations. I think I've been laying a decent foundation, the next step will be to hone these weapons and add new ones.

Training Tournaments

This week's training tournaments are in the Dutch Defence, featuring the positions after 1.d4 f5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.e3 e6 and 1.d4 f5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.e3 g6. These lines feature in both the Building an Opening Repertoire course and the White 1.d4 Repertoire, so this is an ideal opportunity to practice what you have learned:

Sunday August 10th at 5pm UK Time: Dutch with 3...e6

Sunday August 10th at 6.15pm UK Time: Dutch with 3...g6
 

Video Discounts

This week's discount is 40% off buying The Why and How of Chess Annotations series, using the code 'august8to16'. This four hour series explains how you can use this reflective process as a powerful improvement tool.

Last week's discount was 40% off buying my Endgame Mastery series, and is still valid until close of play tomorrow using the code 'aug1to9'. This four hour series explains how to master this stage of the game, explaining the principles and properties of endgames and showing you how to go about mastering this stage of the game.

My Upcoming Events

There's still nothing new from last week and I have a new project that I'll be working on from September. I will keep playing, but it will move down my list of priorities for a while.

Here is how things look now, with the British Championship ending in a couple of days:

August 23 - 30 2025: San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Tenerife
This looks like a great event and I'm really looking forward to it. Travelling back is a bit tricky because the direct flights were very expensive, finally I found a flight back to Glasgow from where I can take a train!

September 5-7: Hull 4NCL Congress
I'm a big fan of 4NCL Congresses because they are played in nice venues, they're invariably well organized and they offer free entry and accommodation to GMs. You can find details here: 

Have a good weekend.

Nigel