This line gets its name from a simul. game that the American
amateur MacCutcheon played against Steinitz in 1885. After some
initial explorations by Tarrasch and Co., it was relatively neglected,
but opening theory is never still... Chistiakov
played it for decades, as has Volkov, and recently it has appeared
again in Korchnoi's games. It has also been
favoured by Ivanchuk and especially Morozevich who has found new
resources in many lines.
I've been woken from my dogmatic slumbers by some recent games, and
have reviewed what little I know about the French Defence, MacCutcheon Variation.
The curious may investigate further,
the faint of heart and weak of stomach should look away now.
I was wondering about
1. e4 e5 and 1.d4 d5 openings - would you recommend exploring some of
these? I'm not enjoying being squashed as black any more and thought
I'd
make a longer term plan to learn a (very) few classical openings
instead. I wondered about French (winawer?) but thought I try a
complete new tack (why swap an early d6 for an early e6 ?!!)
My first thought was, I don't know how long you've been getting back
into the game, but I'd leave the job of taking on two or three whole
I had a call about a player who "doesn't like playing the Two Knights',
so what else is there?". This is a longer version of what I said
on the 'phone...[br /]
Playing Black after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3
Classical repertoire
Defending the Italian Game with the Two Knights' Defence and the Ruy
Lopez with the Classical or other variation has always seemed to me to
be [a href="http://exeterchessclub.org.uk/content/cool-tips"]good advice[/url] (even if it isn't
advice I've ever been very good at
Ah, not Charlie "(Yard)Bird" Parker, whose untimely departure in
1955 prompted jazz fans to write this graffito all over New York, but
Henry Bird, who left us two sprightly
variations: the Bird Defence to the Ruy Lopez, and his very own
opening, 1.f2-f4. 2008 is the 150th year since Bird died, and at
this year's Paignton Chess Congress, there was a special prize for the
best game played with his opening. This resulted in a bigger crop
of Birds than usual, as you might expect, and the prize winner was the
following game (courtesy of Bill Frost at
Interesting... much more general questions than previous years. There may be a theme of these questions, about the tension between seeking opportunity and accepting risk. So here goes...
How should you play against 1...Nf6 when you want a Stonewall Attack?
The Stonewall Attack is 1.d4 d5 with 2.e3/3.Bd3/4.f4, intending to clamp down on the centre then attack on the King's-side with moves like Nf3/O-O/Ne5/Qf3/Qh5/Bxh7+...
Lots of things to say about this... Here's
half-a-dozen
or so little nuggets to ponder, and a bit more practical advice.
"Of my fifty-seven
years I
have applied at least thirty to
forgetting most of what I have learned or read. Since then, I have acquired a certain
ease
and cheer which I should never again like
to be without. (...)
I have stored little in my memory, but I
can apply that little, and it is of use in many and varied
emergencies. I keep it in order, but resist every attempt to
James Drake, an occasional correspondent and freelance websoot
prifreader, writes:
"I note your recommendation to play
open openings when starting out to get more experience with tactics. I
wonder if this applies to correspondence games. I've been playing them
over the Internet the last few years and am at the stage where I get
creamed by opponents who know long lines of the Sicilian or Ruy Lopez.
Given that I've been somewhat influence by Purdy's recommended openings
in
Action
Chess
" My question to you is this; I have
pretty much settled on the Colle system for my opening but cannot find
a
defense that I like playing. I am not trying to be a Grand Master or
anything I just want to be a good solid player. I've been thinking
about
the Tarrasch and the Modern. The Modern from what I've read can be used
for just about any White opening which I guess is what I would prefer
(I'm not sure that is aggressive enough for me). The Tarrasch is just
an
answer to Queen Pawn openings; then I would have to learn a defense for
Most people suggest that beginning chessplayers should play
1.e2-e4 and aim for a open, attacking style of game.
Some players may like to try 1.d2-d4. I wrote
this piece after I watched 3 out of 4 boards at a match open with
1. d2-d4, and in my opinion, played it poorly.
