Category Archives: OPENINGS

CLINIC, FRENCH DEFENCE, NEWS, OPENINGS, TIGER CHESS THEMED TRAINING TOURNAMENTS

MARCH 2022 CLINIC

The March Clinic is now out, featuring games with the Exchange Variation of the French Defence (1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 exd5) from two of the Tigerchess.com Themed Training team tournaments. Although this line has a drawish reputation both sides have fighting chances, and there are also a number of trappy ideas that both sides can fall into.

The following position shows one of the classic dangers for Black, that he plays ...Bc8-g4 and then has his bishop driven back with h2-h3 and g2-g4. His last move was the natural 13...c6, what did White do next (see diagram)?

Dandanmian - BalthasarII, White to play

White played 14.f4!, which is actually quite devastating because of the threat of 15.f5. Black cannot save his bishop with 14...Be4 because then 15.g5 would undermine the bishop's defender. In the game he tried 14...h6, but as the f-pawn is pinned just 15.Nxg6 won a piece and the game.

Nigel Davies

CLINIC, OPENINGS, TIGER CHESS THEMED TRAINING TOURNAMENTS

FEBRUARY 2022 CLINIC

Several different openings featured in the February clinic, the Semi-Tarrasch (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 c5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.e3 cxd4 7.exd4 Nxc3 8.bxc3 Qc7), the Queen's Gambit Declined Tartakower Variation .d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Bg5 Be7 5.Nf3 h6 6.Bh4 0-0 7.e3 b6) and the Zukertort Colle (1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.e3 c5 4.Bd3 d5 5.b3 Nc6 6.Bb2 Bd6). All the games played were from training events between members of the Tigerchess.com Themed Training team.

Here's a spectacular finish from one of the games, with White to play (see diagram):

 

Dandanmian - Borzoi73, White to play

White played 26.Qxc7, essentially forcing resignation (1-0) as after 26...Rxc7 there is mate with 27.Rd8.

The Tigerchess.com Themed Training events are a great opportunity to practice key positions from regular openings, and are open to everyone who joins the Tiger Chess Team. Participating in these events helps players develop real insight into the openings played, above and beyond looking at them in a book or on a video.

Nigel Davies

ARTICLES, NEWS, OPENINGS

Lessons from the World Championship

I did not follow the recent World Championship match very closely but looked in from time to time to see if there was anything useful for myself or my students. I did find some interesting elements from a psychological point of view, particularly the opening choices and Jan Nepomniachtchi's reaction to game six. In the first five games it had looked quite evenly balanced but then the sixth was 7 hour 47 minutes/136 move win for Magnus Carlsen. Carlsen remarked: "I thought I should make the game as long as possible so that we would both be as tired as possible when the critical moment came."

After this there followed three wins for Carlsen and two draws, with Nepomniachtchi playing well below his best. It could reasonable be described as a collapse, and these are the lessons that I think can be learned:

1) Lengthening a game to break an opponent down psychologically is a well known approach. Many players have used it in the past but for Carlsen it appears to be his special weapon.

2) Nepomniachtchi seemed well aware that stamina could be important in long games, coming to the event looking slim and fit. Whether he was psychologically prepared for marathon torture sessions is another matter.

3) Carlsen's opening preparation vs 1.e4 was very astute; Nepomniachtchi loves the initiative which Carlsen denied him by being prepared to sacrifice a pawn with the Marshall Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 O-O 8.c3 d5 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Nxe5 Nxe5 11.Rxe5 c6). This was probably a big surprise as Carlsen had never played that way before, and indeed the reigning Champion had evidently decided that he should keep the initiative in other positions too.

4) Nepomniachtchi's opening preparation as Black looked very professional on a technical level, but he found himself in positions that suited his opponent more than they suited him. This made me wonder if he should have eschewed his usual choices of the Gruenfeld (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5) and Sicilian (1.e4 c5), notwithstanding the fact that Carlsen would have been ready for them.

5) It could probably have been predicted that Carlsen would have something good ready for the Ruy Lopez (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5), and this suggests that having an alternative weapon ready might have been useful. Indeed Garry Kasparov sidestepped Anatoly Karpov's preparation for the Ruy by using the Scotch (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4) in a number of their games.

What now for Jan Nepomniachtchi? He certainly gained many supporters with his graceful comportment during defeat, but he will need to do much more if wants to revisit the highest arena. Being able to handle events like game six seem vital when playing against Carlsen, and adding a psychological element to his opening choices would also make sense. Most of all it would make sense for him to work on the technical side of his game, Carlsen evidently felt he was stronger in positions where Nepomniachtchi was deprived of the initiative, and this gave him a clear plan of how to play the match.

Nigel Davies

OPENINGS, PATTERN RECOGNITION, PAWN LEVERS, QUEEN'S GAMBIT DECLINED

The Queen’s Gambit Declined Course

The Tiger Chess Queen's Gambit Declined Course is an advanced, stand-alone opening course based around the Tartakower Variaton (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Bg5 Be7 5.Nf3 h6 6.Bh4 0-0 7.e3 b6) and the Semi-Tarrasch Defenc (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 c5 or 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 c5). It features amost 14 hours of video which explain key games and has a pgn (portable game notation) file of recommended variations that can be built upon, extended and important into software such as Chess Position Trainer. The 94 games presented are also included in pgn format, but without annotations.

The Queen's Gambit Declined has many advantages, not only is it rock solid but it offers prospects of outplaying the opponent in complex middle game positions. Unlike many defenses to 1.d4 it can also be used against the English Opening, 1.Nf3 and 1.c4. The recommended lines differ considerably from the Queen's Gambit Declined presentation in the Building an Opening Repertoire course, here are the different section headings:

1. Introduction
2. Divergences & Move Orders
3. 6.Bxf6 & 6.Bf4
4. Tartakower: 8.cxd5
5. Tartakower: 8.Be2
6. Tartakower: 8.Rc1
7. Tartakower: 7/8.Qc2 Lines
8. Tartakower: 8.Others
9. Tartakower: Early Rc1 Lines
10. Semi-Tarrasch: Auxiliary Lines
11. Semi-Tarrasch: e2-e4 Sidelines
12. Semi-Tarrasch:  11.Bc4 Main Line
13. Queen's Pawn Games
14. Catalan, English & Reti
15. Other Openings

The Tartakower variation has been played by some of the greatest players in history, including World Champions Boris Spassky, Anatoly Karpov, Garry Kasparov, Vladimir Kramnik and Magnus Carlsen. Here is the starting point for this famous line:

The QGD Tartakower

The Semi-Tarrasch complements the Tartakower perfectly as it can be used to recapture on d5 with a knight if White tries to use the Exchange Variation. It can also sidestep White's 5.Bf4 line that arises after 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Be7 5.Bf4 because Black will play 4...c5 before this happens. This is a key position from the Semi-Tarrasch that arises after the moves 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 c5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.e4 Nxc3 7.bxc3 cxd4 8.cxd4 Bb4+ 9.Bd2 Bxd2+ 10.Qxd2 O-O:

Main Line Semi-Tarrasch

This course is suitable for players over 1700 Elo who want a high quality defence against 1.d4 that is strategy based. You need to be a Tiger Chess member to get it and continue to view it, which is why it priced at just $19.95. You can get it at the add-on videos page but need to be a logged on Standard or Premium member to see the option to purchase it.

Nigel Davies

CLINIC, NEWS, OPENINGS, PATTERN RECOGNITION, QUEEN'S GAMBIT DECLINED, TIGER CHESS WEBINARS, TOURNAMENTS, TRAINING

SEPTEMBER 2021 CLINIC

I recently took the decision to change the clinic content so that it covers the Tiger Chess Themed Training events on Lichess. I set these events up so that students could practice important position types rather than waste time on the random mayhem that usually occurs in online games. The results have been very promising in that several people have reported increased engagement and interest in the problems after having wrestled with them in a series of games.

The first position to have been played is a key position in the Queen's Gambit Declined Exchange Variation, arising after the moves 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5 Nbd7 6.e3 Be7 7.Bd3 O-O 8.Qc2 c6 9.Nf3 Re8 10.O-O Nf8. This is a very useful position from which to learn strategy because of the clarity of the pawn structure and the ease with which the different plans and ideas can be explained. Nonetheless it can prove very challenging to master as these plans come into conflict, and I am devoting the current series of webinars to its mastery.

Queen's Gambit Declined: Key Position

I will not show any highlights this time but instead list the forthcoming practice events, which are held at 8pm London (UK) time on Wednesdays and 6pm London (UK) time on Sundays:

October 10th (6pm): QGD Exchange Training

October 13th (8pm): QGD Exchange Training

October 17th (6pm): QGD Exchange Training

October 20th (8pm): QGD Exchange Training

October 24th (6pm): QGD Exchange Training

After this series the webinars will cover a new topic and new positions will be used for the training events. It will take more practice than this to get in tune with these position types, but this is at least a start.

Nigel Davies

ARTICLES, OPENINGS, TIGER CHESS WEBINARS, TRAINING

CRAFTING YOUR OWN OPENING REPERTOIRE

With so much off-the-peg opening material available why should someone want to craft their own repertoire? There are many reasons for doing so, not least of which is the suitability of most of the repertoires that are being published. They are often developed by strong Grandmasters who seem to have very little understanding of the requirements of players weaker than themselves. Commonly they contain hundreds of computer generated variations which can be over 20 moves in length.

Here at Tiger Chess I adopted a different approach, presenting openings that were ideas based, relatively easy to remember and that illustrated typical strategic themes in the middle game. Yet in producing this material my idea was that students should extend their own personal approach above and beyond what I presented. I wanted to provide a starting point for engaged study and development, not a rigid lump of merged games and engine analysis, to be memorized and repeated for a lifetime.

To show people how to do this I am presenting a series of webinars for Premium Members only, running live over the next few weeks and recordings available thereafter. Here are the titles:

How to Choose a Chess Opening
August 5th 2021: 9-10pm London time
Guidance about what to look for in a chess opening, explaining why you can and should avoid the hype about the latest off-the-peg 2700 repertoire and build something that is suitable for your level.

Sources for Opening Study
August 12th 2021: 9-10pm London time
In this session you will see how to pick and choose between different sources to help with your independent creative work. Here too I offer vital guidance on choosing materials that are suitable for a particular player's chess development rather than attempting to memorize super-GM offerings.

Assembling an Opening Repertoire
August 19th 2021: 9-10pm London time
Having chosen an opening to learn and assembled a source or sources there is a choice about whether to record and formalize your research. In this episode I present the options, some of which are free, and explains how to choose between them.

Worked Example of Opening Preparation
August 26th 2021: 9-10pm London time
In this final session I will bring together the previous three sessions and provides a worked example of how to put together a opening so that it can be studied and updated.

Please do note that these are only available to Premium Members, but they are included in the modest subscription price of $19.95 per month along with other video content. To sign up please go here, and hopefully I will see you at the sessions.

Nigel Davies

CLINIC, OPENINGS, UPDATES, WHITE 1.d2-d4 REPERTOIRE

SEPTEMBER 2020 CLINIC: EVEN MORE INTERNET GAMES

The latest clinic is now online, featuring even more internet games. There are some signs that face to face competitive chess is returning, at least in countries with a low transmission rate. Hopefully this will soon extend to the rest of us.

The highlights this time were the two games sent in by J. P. using the new White d2-d4 Repertoire. He won both games in fine style, one of them featuring a nice tactic at the end. In the position below it is White to play (see diagram):

JP vs. NN

White played 24.Nxd5! which has devastating consequences; if Black captures the knight with 24...exd5 then 25.Bxd5+ followed by capturing on c4 will leave White two pawns up. The knight on c4 is threatened anyway, and so is the rook on c7, so Black chose instead to resign (1-0).

It's good to see this repertoire working for people; founded upon logical plans it aims to minimise the number of variations people have to learn rather than present them with reams of unfathomable computer analysis.

Nigel Davies

CLINIC, OPENINGS, UPDATES, WHITE 1.d2-d4 REPERTOIRE

AUGUST 2020 CLINIC: EVEN MORE INTERNET GAMES

Many of us are still shielding and over-the-board tournaments are only just starting up again. So once again the clinic is devoted largely to internet games, with all their 'variability'. I think that one of the main issues with such games is their low value, if you lose you can easily find another opponent and may have better luck. Inevitably this means that playing standards will be highly variable.

This month's clinic featured a cross section of such games together with some interesting points. It was also gratifying to see a win for White using the White 1.d2-d4 Repertoire Course, a game by M. L. reaching the following position after the moves 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. c4 Bg7 4. Nc3 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. e4 Nxc3 7. bxc3 O-O 8. Be2 c5 9. O-O Nc6 10. Be3 Bg4:

ML vs. NN; White to Play

Despite the fact that all his moves look 'natural', Black had in fact played inaccurately with the nonchalent 7...0-0 instead of 7...c5 8.Be3 Qa5!. This now gave White the opportunity to play 11. d5 and after 11...Bxf3 12. Bxf3 Ne5 13. Rc1 b6?! 14. Be2 e6 15. c4 exd5 16. cxd5 Re8?! 17. f4 Nd7 18. e5, White had obtained a crushing position and soon went on to win.

This is one of the issues with the Gruenfeld, it needs Black to play very accurately. And this in turn is why I tend to recommend the Queen's Gambit Declined for Black, it's much more forgiving if you play it inaccurately.

Nigel Davies

MIDDLEGAMES, OPENINGS, PAWN LEVERS, QUEEN'S GAMBIT DECLINED, TIGER CHESS STRATEGY COURSE, WHITE 1.d2-d4 REPERTOIRE

THE WHITE 1.d2-d4 REPERTOIRE

The White 1.d2-d4 Repertoire Course is a stand-alone opening course which considerably extends the White lines presented in the Building an Opening Repertoire course. It has over 16 hours of video which explain key games and ideas plus a pgn (portable game notation) file of recommended variations that can be built upon, extended and important into software such as Chess Position Trainer. The 98 games from the videos are also included in pgn format.

As in the Building an Opening Repertoire course, White is still playing 1.d4 followed by 2.Nf3 but will then follow up with 3.c4 against most of Black's defences. The Colle is still to be used after 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.e3 but the ...d7-d5 lines are met with the Rubinstein-Zukertort line and those with 3...b6 are answered with 4.Bd3 Bb7 5.0-0 c5 6.c4, transposing into the 4.e3 line of the Queen's Indian but without allowing annoying lines such as the Bogo-Indian (1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.c4 Bb4+), Modern Benoni (3...c5 4.d5 exd5 5.cxd5 d6) or Blumenfeld Gambit (3...c5 4.d5 b5).

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 understanding of the material presented in the Tiger Chess Strategy Course.

Wherever possible the lines have been selected so that important position types can be practiced but without the need to learn a lot of intricate variations. This is in keeping with the Tiger Chess approach of developing core skills, and therefore playing strength, in the most efficient way. The full running order is as follows:

1. Introduction
2. Queen's Gambit Declined, Exchange I
3. Queen's Gambit Declined, Exchange II
4. Slav Exchange
5. Queen's Gambit Accepted
6. Other 1...d5 Lines
7. King's Indian
8. Modern, Old Indian and 1...d6
9. Gruenfeld Defence
10. Queen's Indian via 2...e6 3.e3 b6
11. Rubinstein-Zukertort Colle via 2...e6 3.e3 d5
12. Anti-Benoni
13. Dutch Defence
14. Miscellaneous Defences

This course is suitable for players over 1700 Elo who want a high quality opening repertoire for White that is based on plans and strategy rather than intricate theoretical variations. You need to be a Tiger Chess member to get it and continue to view it, which is why it priced at just $24.95. You can get it at the add-on videos page but need to be a logged on member to see the option to purchase it.

Nigel Davies

CLINIC, OPENINGS, UPDATES

AUGUST 2019 CLINIC: BEST GAMES

The August clinic is now out and can be viewed here by current full members. Amongst the games played was one in which a Tiger Chess member played the Colle System, the game starting out with the moves 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.e3 e6 4.Bd3 c5 5.c3 Nc6 6.Nbd2 Bd6 7.O-O O-O 8.dxc5 Bxc5 9.e4.

At club level almost nobody seems to know what to do for Black in this position, with many players opting for 9...e5. Instead of this Black played 9...Bd6 10.Re1 e5? and after 11.exd5 Nxd5 12.Nc4 reached the position below:

Position after White's 12.Nc4.

Black is already losing a pawn because 12...f6 loses a piece after 13.Be4. Instead he opted for 12...Be7 (having used a full 40 minutes on the clock), White captured on e5 and eventually won the game.

It is games like this that have convinced me that simple and sound openings, such as the Colle System, are ideal for club players who have relatively little time to study and want to build an opening repertoire. White can also expand out into lines in which he plays c2-c4, and I'm currently working on a new openings course which will demonstrate exactly how to do this.

Nigel Davies