Category Archives: OPENINGS

OPENINGS, PATTERN RECOGNITION, PAWN LEVERS, TRAINING

SEEKING STRONG OPPOSITION

One important aspect of chess improvement is in the strength of the opposition you play against. Strong opposition will stimulate the desire to do things better, if you don't you're going to get beaten. On the other hand looking to play weaker opponents, in order to get minor glory, will lead to a gradually deterioration of you game.

Because of this, my feelings about playing in senior chess events have been rather mixed. On the one hand it's nice to meet up with old acquaintances, on the other there's an element of avoidance to it, steering clear of strong young players, who are using modern learning methods and are often underrated. It may seem more comfortable, but at the same time it avoids the kind of challenge that leads to growth.

The desire to play strong opposition is one of the reasons I've chosen to play in the British Championship itself, rather than the 50+ or 65+ sections; there's just one game a day so tiredness shouldn't be a factor. I've also accepted an invitation to a strong open tournament in Izmir in Turkey, and have already started preparing. 

Training Tournaments

This week's training tournaments are in the Queen's Gambit Declined Exchange Variation, which I believe is a very useful structure for learning positional play due to the clear planning and use of pawn levers. The two tournaments are as follows:

Sunday May 11th at 5pm UK Time: QGD Exchange with 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.cxd5 exd5

Sunday May 11th at 5pm UK Time: QGD Exchange with 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Nc3 c6 6.Qc2 Be7 7.Bg5 0-0 8.e3 Nbd7 9.Bd3 Re8 10.0-0 Nf8 

My Upcoming Events

I decided against playing in Nottingham, partly because it would be too hectic a schedule and partly because I'm working on some new openings which are simply not going to be ready. Meanwhile I've added the Cesme International Open in Turkey, but unfortunately this clashes with the Ilkley Congress.

Here is how things look right now:

June 23-29 2025: 11th Cesme International Open
This strong open event, in Izmir in Turkey, promises to be a real challenge. I'll be going a couple of days early because I can get a cheap flight, but the city looks very interesting and well worth a visit.

July 31 - August 10 2025: British Championships
As mentioned I've gone for the Championship itself rather than one of the old folks sections. Obviously this will be full of underrated juniors, I'll just have to play better against them this time! You can find details here.

August 21 - 30 2025: Maia Chess Festival (?)
I'm hopeful that I'll be asked back, but haven't heard anything so far.

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:

I'll be looking for things after September, not sure when or where!
 

Twitch Channel

My new Twitch channel will have new shows every Monday ('Chess Questions Answered), the Webinar on training tournaments and games is up on Fridays. 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

BUILDING AN OPENING REPERTOIRE, FRENCH DEFENCE, OPENINGS, TRAINING

LEARNING NEW OPENINGS

I am currently trying to learn some new openings, as well as reinvigorate some of those that I've used in the past. This is vital work for competitive chess players, especially in this day and age. A good opening repertoire fosters one of the most important attributes for competitive chess, self-confidence.

How am I going about it? Essentially I'm following the advice I gave in Crafting Your Own Opening Repertoire, though I'm also consulting expert sources that make extensive use of powerful engines. This is not really needed at amateur level, but above 2200 FIDE there's no escaping its importance.

Which openings am I working on? Unfortunately I have to keep that private, though generally speaking I'm sticking to things I've played before. This is because I'll have a better understanding of the positions they lead to than if I went to something new. If you do play a new opening, it makes sense to play training games with it prior to launch, against a friend, coach or by playing the first 10-15 moves against a computer.

Will it work? Yes, I think so, but only as long as I do the job properly. If you do a half-baked job, and you know that you haven't been thorough enough, it still won't develop the self-confidence that is one of the major goals.

Training Tournaments

This week's training tournaments are in the French Defence, the King's Indian Attack and 2.b3.The French has been my main recommendation for those who want a solid and economical defence against 1.e4 and is covered in the Building an Opening Repertoire course as well as The French Defence.

Sunday April 27th at 5pm UK Time: King's Indian Attack with 1.e4 e6 2.d3 c5 3.g3 Nc6 4.Bg2 Nf6 5.Nf3 Be7 6.0-0 0-0

Sunday April 27th at 6.15pm UK Time: French with 1.e4 e6 2.b3 d5

My Upcoming Events

I'm currently playing in the English Senior Championships, meanwhile there's nothing new on the horizon. I'm still hoping to invited to Maia in August but I've yet to hear back.

Here is how things look right now:

May 10 - 11 2025: Nottingham Congress
I've entered this one because they offer free entry for GMs, plus if I take a bye in the first round I can get away with one night in a hotel. You can find details here.

June 21-22 2025: Ilkley Congress
As with Nottingham this is just two days, I was given a free entry and I can take a first round bye. So I'll manage to keep my costs down to one night in a hotel and petrol for getting there, this stuff is important. You can find details here.

July 31 - August 10 2025: British Championships
As mentioned above I've entered without an invite. I've also gone for the Championship itself rather than one of the old folks sections. Obviously this will be full of underrated juniors, I'll just have to play better against them this time! You can find details here.

August 21 - 30 2025: Maia Chess Festival (?)
I've played in the last couple of events and I'm hopeful that I'll be asked back. The dates are now out.

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:

I'll be looking for things after September, not sure when or where!

Twitch Channel

My new Twitch channel will have new shows every Monday ('Chess Questions Answered), the Webinar on training tournaments and games is up on Fridays. 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

COACHING, OPENINGS, QUEEN'S GAMBIT DECLINED, TOURNAMENTS, TRAINING, UPDATES, WHITE 1.d2-d4 REPERTOIRE

PUBLIC RELATIONS

This is not often talked about with regard to chess achievement, but being well thought of can be as important for a chess career as in more orthodox fields. There are countless examples of players being overlooked because they were thought to have the potential to misbehave, for example in the former USSR there were a number of very talented players who never got to play abroad because they indulged in the national passtime of drinking to excess. As a more recent example I think that Hans Niemann's lack of invitations is not because of the false accusations of cheating, it may stem from things he's said and done, for example trashing a hotel room. I think that Christopher Yoo will have similar difficulties when his ban has ended.

It's important, therefore, to present yourself well so as to avoid being thought of as a potential liability. Some players are very good at this and they tend to get a disproportionate number of invites, others are not so good and will tend to get sidelined. Sometimes someone is just so good that they can't be ignored, and Bobby Fischer was a prime example of this. When you're the best in the World at something you can get away with things that mere mortals can not, though even then it's probably better not to test the boundaries too much. 

What should someone do if they have a bad rep? Basically they need to get their act together and then keep it together through thick and thin. If I had to advise Niemann I'd suggest that he should consider learning some form of anger management and then think very carefully about how he interfaces with chess authorities, the media and social media. He's clearly a very talented and passionate player, and his work ethic looks like something that could take him to the top. But it would help him a lot if his PR was better.

Training Tournaments

This week's training tournaments are in the Colle, which features in two of my courses, the White 1.d4 Repertoire and Building an Opening Repertoire. White can basically opt for two different set-ups, the Zukertort set-up (including b2-b3) or the Koltanowski set-up (without b2-b3):

Sunday March 30th at 5pm UK Time: Colle with 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.e3 d5

Sunday March 31st at 6.15pm UK Time: Colle with 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.e3 b6

My Upcoming Events

I try to plan tournaments in advance but sometimes it's difficult.The most recent development is that I've stopped waiting for invitations from the ECF, for example to the British Championships or English Senior Championships. I don't think it's because of poor PR, or that my relations with chess authorities have been bad, it might be more a case that the ECF are strapped for cash. So I've entered the British Championships anyway, as I can travel to Liverpool from home, the English Seniors is not something I want to do without getting the standard GM arrangement of the hotel being paid for.

This is how things look right now:

April 4-14 2025: European Senior Team Championship

I'll be in the 50+ 1st team, apparently on board 3 of a team that includes Michael Adams, John Emms, myself, Steve Dishman and Graeme Buckley. Hopefully I can continue the good form from the World Senior Team Championships and help the team to one of the top places.

May 10-11 2025: Nottingham Congress

I've entered this one because they offer free entry for GMs, plus if I take a bye in the first round I can get away with one night in a hotel. You can find details here.

June 21-22 2025: Ilkley Congress

As with Nottingham this is just two days, I was given a free entry and I can take a first round bye. So I'll manage to keep my costs down to one night in a hotel and petrol for getting there, this stuff is important. You can find details here.

July 31st - 10th August 2025: British Championships
As mentioned above I've entered without an invite. I've also gone for the Championship itself rather than one of the old folks sections. Obviously this will be full of underrated juniors, I'll just have to play better against them this time! You can find details here.

August 2025: Maia Chess Festival (?)

I've played in the last couple of events and I'm hopeful that I'll be asked back. There are no details as yet, but I'll definitely play if I get invited.

This should be enough to stay 'match fit' through to September, though trying to play seriously also involves quite a lot of time and expense on training.

Twitch Channel

My new Twitch channel will in theory have new shows every Monday ('Chess Questions Answered), the Webinar on training tournaments and games is up on Fridays and another weekly coming soon. 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

MIDDLEGAMES, OPENINGS, POSITIONAL PLAY, TIGER CHESS THEMED TRAINING TOURNAMENTS, TOURNAMENTS, TRAINING

THE EASTERN CLAMP ANTI-SICILIAN

This week I published a first series of videos on of a new set of 1.e4 openings for White. I had previously balked at the idea of doing so as I felt that 1.e4 was too chaotic to allow the assimilation of positional ideas and too theoretical for amateurs to play with confidence. I changed my mind after discovering 1.e4 c5 2.d3 Nc6 3.f4, which I've dubbed The Eastern Clamp Anti-Sicilian. 

What's the idea behind this line? There are several. In the late 1980s I used to play 1.e4 c5 2.d3 Nc6 3.g3 in order to get a Closed Sicilian but without White's knight on c3. However I struggled against 3...d5 4.Nd2 Nf6 5.Bg2 e5 6.Ngf3 Be7; White's position is playable here but he's certainly not better. Reluctantly I gave it up and started using 1.d4 and Flank Openings instead, but I wish I'd taken a closer look at 3.f4. Yuri Balashov, a Closed Sicilian aficionado, was already playing this in the 1980s and it was also being advocated by Mikhail Shereshevsky, a famous coach. White takes central space, and the onus is on Black to try and offset this somehow.

From an amateur's perspective the advantage of this line is that it does not require a lot of theoretical knowledge, or any updates of such knowledge on an ongoing basis. It can be played mainly with ideas and plans, and the one sharp line looks rather dubious for Black. There are other low maintainance lines with 1.e4 and I will be covering more of these over the coming months. As an example, the Caro-Kann (1.e4 c6 2.d3 d5) can be met with 3.exd5 cxd5 4.Bd3, the strategically clear Exchange Variation.
 

Training Tournaments

This week's training tournaments feature the Eastern Clamp Anti-Sicilian, with two major branches from Black:

Sunday February 16th at 5pm UK Time: Eastern Clamp Anti-Sicilian with 1.e4 c5 2.d3 Nc6 3.f4 d5

Sunday February 16th at 6.15pm UK Time: Eastern Clamp Anti-Sicilian with 1.e4 c5 2.d3 Nc6 3.f4 g6

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:

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.

April 4-14 2025: European Senior Team Championship

I finally got confirmation that I'll be in the 50+ 1st team, apparently on board 3 of a team that includes Michael Adams, John Emms, myself, Steve Dishman and Graeme Buckley.

April 24-28 2025: English Senior Championships

I'm hoping to be invited to these and may now be eligible for either section. You can find details here. 

July 31st - 10th August 2025: British Championships
These have now been confirmed for Liverpool on these dates, you can find details here. If I get invited to play in the main Championships, I'll probably accept. Otherwise I'm eligible for both the 50+ and 65+ sections, and should have a chance of doing well in either.

There will probably be one or two events between April and the end of July, it's important to keep playing in order to maintain good form.

Twitch Channel

My new Twitch channel has new shows every Monday ('Chess Questions Answered), the Webinar on training tournaments and games is up on Fridays and another weekly coming soon. 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

OPENINGS, TACTICS, TOURNAMENTS, TRAINING, Uncategorized

ENERGY, FOCUS & CALCULATION SKILLS

It was good to see that Arjun Erigaisi recovered somewhat in the Tata Steel Masters, in the process inflicting the first defeat on Gukesh Dommaraju in a classical game, since he became World Champion. I'm quite sure that this will be just a blip on a great career for Erigaisi, that might well include becoming World Champion himself.

I have been looking at some Erigaisi games of late, partially in an attempt to understand the young generation players who almost effortlessly storm the ranks. From what I can tell they bring together a potent combination of energy, focus and calculating skills. If you play against a good calculator you are under tremendous pressure to avoid mistakes, one slip can be the end of you.

One of Erigaisi's interesting choices on the opening has been the ZOOM Scandinavian, and a couple of his games appeared in the webinar devoted to the Tigerchess.com Themed Training Tournaments. I think he sees it as a line that gets White thinking early on, with the pawn structure offering him chances to outplay his opponent. This series is on special offer this week and it also features in the training tournamets.

Training Tournaments

This week's training tournaments feature the French Defence, and the basic positions in the Classical and Tarrasch Variations:

Sunday February 9th at 5pm UK Time: ZOOM Scandinavian with 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qd6 4.d4 Nf6 5.Nf3 g6

Sunday February 9th at 5pm UK Time: ZOOM Scandinavian with 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.d4 Nc6

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:

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.

April 4-14 2025: European Senior Team Championship

I finally got confirmation that I'll be in the 50+ 1st team, apparently on board 3 of a team that includes Michael Adams, John Emms, myself, Steve Dishman and Graeme Buckley.

July 31st - 10th August 2025: British Championships
These have now been confirmed for Liverpool on these dates, you can find details here. If I get invited to play in the main Championships, I'll probably accept. Otherwise I'm eligible for both the 50+ and 65+ sections, and should have a chance of doing well in either.

There will probably be at least one or two events between April and the end of July, it's important to keep playing in order to maintain good form.

Twitch Channel

My new Twitch channel has new shows every Monday ('Chess Questions Answered), the Webinar on training tournaments and games is up on Fridays and another weekly coming soon. 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

FRENCH DEFENCE, OPENINGS, PSYCHOLOGY, TRAINING

KEEPING A DIARY

I've seen lots of comment about Arjun Erigaisi's disappointing result in the Tata Steel Masters event. I agree with Magnus Carlsen's comments, that it's probably best not to read too much into it. I might add that having not had much experience of these top level events he might have been a bit disorientated.

This is where keeping a journal can prove its worth, by reflecting upon how you are playing you gain much greater insight than just going from tournament to tournament. Bob Wade advised me to do this back in the 1980s, and had a specific set of protocols for a chess player's tournament diary. I discuss these in A Practical Tournament Guide, which is discounted this week.

I kept a reflective diary, and made notes to my games, in the years leading up to gaining the GM title in 1993. Since then I have downscaled this activity, but I still write down concerns I have during tournaments, and what I might do to address them.

Training Tournaments

This week's training tournaments feature the French Defence, and the basic positions in the Classical and Tarrasch Variations:

Sunday February 2nd at 5pm UK Time: French Classical with 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6

Sunday February 2nd at 6.15pm UK Time: French Tarrasch with 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 c5

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:

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.

April 4-14 2025: European Senior Team Championship
I finally got confirmation that I'll be in the 50+ 1st team, apparently on board 3 of a team that includes Michael Adams, John Emms, myself, Steve Dishman and Graeme Buckley.

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.

Here's one event which I'd have liked to play in if there was time:

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

Twitch Channel

My new Twitch channel has new shows every Monday ('Chess Questions Answered), the Webinar on training tournaments and games is up on Fridays and another weekly coming soon. 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

ENDGAMES, OPENINGS, TACTICS, TRAINING

KNOWING YOUR STRENGTHS

One of the most useful bits of information a chess player can have is to know their strengths. These may not always be what you think they are, for example I used to think that the Modern Defence (1...g6 against either 1.e4 or 1.d4) was my friend until I checked my results with it. They were good against opponents who were lower rated than me but horrible against stronger opposition.

A different breakdown was apparent with more classical openings such as the Nimzo-Indian Defence and meeting 1.e4 with 1...e5. This in turn suggested that using the Modern more sparingly, and choosing to play it against particular opponents, would yield better results.

More recently I have been doing tactics and endgame puzzles with a couple of apps from ChessOK and my discovered that my results with the endgame app are markedly better. There are unanswered questions here, for example in how these apps have been calibrated and whether they compare like with like. Assuming they have been, for example by testing them on different users, then my endgame knowledge appears to be a relative strength.

It is important to get an objective measure such as the two I have outlined. It's tempting, for example, for us to imagine being a great attacking players because of a fond memory of a successful attack or deriving pleasure from aggressive play. An objective measure of having a skill for this kind of play might be far more difficult and should probably start with having superior tactical ability and outperforming in openings which lead to the possession of the initiative, even at the cost of material.

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 19th at 5pm UK Time: Queen's Gambit Accepted, Furman Variation

Sunday January 19th at 6.15pm UK Time: Queen's Gambit Accepted, 4...Bg4

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'm still 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've been holding these dates open since July last year and have been hoping to hear something definite. Perhaps I will get an offer soon or maybe some other tournaments will come my way.

Meanwhile I missed out on these two events:

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

My new Twitch channel has new shows every Monday ('Chess Questions Answered) and other weekly coming soon. 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

COACHING, OPENINGS, TOURNAMENTS, TRAINING

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

CHESS SOFTWARE, OPENINGS

WHICH CHESS DATABASE SOFTWARE?

Players often wonder whether they need some chess database software to take their opening preparation to a new level, but what should they choose? There are a number of options to be considered, many of which I know little about. So today I'll talk about those I use on a regular basis, namely Chessbase, HIARCS Chess Explorer and the Lichess study feature. All of them have pros and cons that suit different needs and budgets.

Starting with Chessbase, for many years this has been an industry leader and the features are ideal for professional players. The main reference database can be updated with a few mouse clicks which makes it easy to search for different players and prepare for them. I have version 17, which I find very useful for preparing opening material. The main con is that it is expensive kit, and you might not need all the features offered, to learn more about it you can go here.

I'm a big fan of HIARCS Chess Explorer, largely because of its simplicity and the fact that you can have opening books, engines and the game notation right in front of you. It's also very easy to play training games against an engine and from any position. There's a MAC version and it's a lot less expensive than Chessbase, all of which makes it very appealing. If I didn't have to produce various chess material, for which Chessbase is useful, I would probably just use this.

There's also a pro version of HIARCS Chess Explorer, which I haven't managed to get on with quite as well as the non pro version. I imagine this is because I haven't taken the time to examine all its features.

Finally we come to the Lichess study feature, which in my view is just great. There have been other attempts to create online chess databases, but this is the first I've seen that works really well. As with Chessbase and HIARCS Chess Explorer there's an engine and database facility, what is unique is that its online and free. This means that you can access your databases with ANY web browser and on ANY device, making it ultra-convenient.

For those interested in a chess database I'd recommend trying the Lichess study feature as a first step and get a feel for what it can offer you. If you need more then you can decide between Chessbase, HIARCS or perhaps some other chess software such as Chess Assistant. They all have their fans.

Training Tournaments

The training tournaments this week  are in the Queen's Gambit Declined Repertoire, two lines that appear in my Black QGD Repertoire.

Sunday December 8th at 5pm UK Time: QGD Tartakower with 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.Nf3 h6 6.Bh4 0-0 7.e3 b6

Sunday December 8th at 6.15pm UK Time: QGD Semi-Tarrasch with 1.d4 Nf6 2.c6 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 c5 5.cxd5 Nxd5

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.

December 8, 2024: Huddersfield Chess Club Seminar
This coming Sunday I'm giving a seminar at this club. Their website is here.

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? There's a rumour on Tim Spanton's blog that they would be. I think I might go for the 50+ event if this is the case.

I am hoping to play in the European Senior Team Championships (Walbrzych, Poland, April 4-14) in which I've said I'll play in any team and on any board. The details have yet to be confirmed, but when they are the teams will be selected.

Hope you have a great weekend!

Nigel

BUILDING AN OPENING REPERTOIRE, OPENINGS, TOURNAMENTS, TRAINING

HOW MANY OPENINGS SHOULD YOU PLAY?

Something I've often thought about is the width of an opening repertoire. At amateur level it's unusual to find anyone who knows anything really well, top players seem to know and play almost everything.

Should we try to emulate what top players do? Frankly I don't think so because we don't need to. Being too predictable can be fatal at the top level where your opponents can be armed with super-computers and seconds. It's different for amateurs because we will not be facing such a high level of preparation and will be able to win quite drawish positions.

So for most of us I think that having a single set of openings is plenty, assuming that we know them really well. It's important that they should be sound and yet have enough scope to outplay our opponents. Preparing more openings than that is an unproductive use of time which might be better spent on endgames.

What about older GMs who frequently play in weekend events? In my case I think that a single set of openings with White is fine but with Black I tend to think that I need two. One would be for sheer solidity when meeting players of a similar or higher rating to mine, a second would be for when I play lower rated players and really need to avoid early simplification.

One final thought is to always consider the Flank Openings when choosing your defence against 1.d4. The Gruenfeld (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5) and Nimzo (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4) are great until your opponent avoids them with 1.c4 or 1.Nf3. In such cases you need something extra, which can mean a lot more work.

Training Tournaments

This week's training tournaments feature more lines from the Building an Opening Repertoire course, this time from White's perspective:

Sunday November 24th at 5pm UK Time: Colle vs KID with 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.e3 Bg7

Sunday November 24th at 6.15pm UK Time: Colle vs Gruenfeld with 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.e3 d5

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.

December 1, 2024: Bolton Rapid Play
A fairly local event for me, so I'll be playing to to get some practice. Details can be found here.

December 7, 2024: Huddersfield Chess Club Seminar
I've run a number of seminars at this great club, this is the first since before COVID. Their website is here.

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? There's a rumour on Tim Spanton's blog that they would be. I think I might go for the 50+ event if this is the case.

I'm hopeful that I'll get to play in the European Senior Team Championships (Walbrzych, Poland, April 4-14) in which I've said I'll play in any team and on any board.

Have a great weekend!

Nigel