In this week's Chess Questions Answered video I discuss why it's better to choose openings that are robust. What gives an opening choice robustness? Basically it should be not be possible for it to be refuted and you should have plenty of alternative ways to play it.
Why is this a good thing? For one thing you will be able to play this opening over a long period of time, gradually deepening your understanding even if the lines you play need to be changed now and then. This is much better than having to scrap an entire opening system because a single key line becomes difficult or unplayable.
An example of such an opening is the French Defence, which has long been a recommendation of mine at Tiger Chess. There are so many playable options for Black that it can be used for a lifetime, added advantages being that it is relatively easy to learn and can help foster positional understanding. It's true that it may not be everyone's cup of tea, yet players of very different styles have used it extensively, from Viktor Korchnoi to Tigran Petrosian and Alexander Morozevich.
Training Tournaments
Here are the latest scheduled events:
Sunday March 29th, 5pm UK French Exchange
Sunday March 29th, 6.15pm UK Old Indian Tartakower
Video Discounts
This week's discount is 40% off buying my French Defence course using the code 'mar27apr4'. This is a stand alone opening course which builds on the treatment of the French presented in the Building an Opening Repertoire course. It features over 11 hours of video which explain key games and ideas plus a pgn (portable game notation) file of recommended variations.
Last week there was a 40% discount off my Endgame Mastery series, using the code 'mar20to28'. In this series I show how you can improve your endgame play and use this stage of the game to notch up valuable points.
Upcoming Events
This is how things look right now. 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 3 - 6: 4NCL Easter Congress, Daventry
I try to make most of the 4NCL Congresses because I like them so much. This one is 7 rounds, and played over Easter weekend.
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.
Have a good weekend.
Nigel
