So, I had one of those nights where you lay in bed and turn over about every half hour until JUST before you have to actually get up. On the plus side, I had a few ideas regarding blog topics.Needless to say I'm a bit on the tired side today. Tomorrow I've got to get up at 4:30am for clinical rounds at the hospital. Same thing on Friday. Bummer.
Oh well. Let's talk chess. Since this blog is still in its infancy, I will start with simple subject matter (not to mention the fact that I basically still suck at chess, with a rating of probably <1000.)
TODAY'S TOPIC.....(drum roll).....
Chess openings! (for white) No, not like you're thinking. Remember I said we're starting simple.
My question to YOU is this: Do you prefer King's Pawn, Queen's Pawn, or "Other"? Don't forget to choose your answer on the poll to your right! ----->
I currently prefer using the Queen's Pawn opening and my reasoning is simple: I don't have sufficient time to memorize the opening variations that occur with King's Pawn.
I have read in one of my chess books that King's Pawn openings require the memorization of a few main lines to keep from being caught off guard and giving your opponent an advantage early.
However, the Queen's Pawn opening is a little more loose and variable, with more subtle maneuvering. Do you agree with this?
One distinct advantage of the QP opening is that the pawn on d4 has built-in protection from the Queen, whereas the King's pawn is kind of hanging out there in the wind needing protection once you advance him to e4.
I'd like to hear your comments (please let me know someone is reading this) about these thoughts and which opening move you prefer.
Later I'll possibly discuss which 2nd moves are preferred to each of our mentioned opening moves. Spoiler: I am addicted to the Queen's Gambit.
BONUS TOPIC!!! Chess computers!
I have what I think is the best handheld chess computer in the world! Now, I'm not talking about a PSP or Palm Pilot with a chess application, that's not fair. I'm talking strictly about a handheld computer whose sole purpose in life is to play chess with you. Can you guess which one it is?
It's the Excalibur New York Times Deluxe Edition Talking Touch Chess, model NY22.
This thing is really truly amazing! The old version 404-D was widely considered one of the best handheld chess computers, with the only complaint being that it was sometimes difficult to see unless you were in the perfect light. Problem solved, my friend!
This new edition has an amazing backlight you can turn on and off with the push of a button!
I'd highly recommend you Google it and buy one for yourself!
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4 comments:
So, I'm going to comment on my own post because I want to see how it looks, where it fits in my page layout, etc. etc. Please follow suit.
Solo, your reasoning about king's pawn openings may limit your development as chess player.
I agree that there is some memorizing needed for all chess openings, say up to 6 to 8 moves, however, all openings have logical move sequences where squares are ocupied or controlled and pieces and pawns are deployed, attacked and defended. Don't be afraid of "known opening traps", just walk into them a couple of times and you'll naturally avoid them for life!
You can't just cut out king's pown openings from your chess repertoire because you think it's hard to learn all the variations. You don't need to learn all the variations beforehand, just play them and see how it goes. You'll learn naturally after stumbling a couple of times.
A good idea would be to get practice in a couple different openings for Queen and King Pawn. The Ruy Lopez is a very rich opening that's used frequently to teach some opening principles.
As for my preference? I usually open 1. Nf3 and within the first 4-5 moves play g3, Bg2, and O-O. But while you're starting out, it's more valuable to stick with d4 and e4.
anon, I understand where you're coming from. I wasn't advocating never playing the king's pawn, though. I'm just saying that right now I've been using mainly the queen's pawn. After I feel like I've gotten used to some of the subtleties of the QP, I'll switch to the king's pawn, and so on and so forth. :-)
liquideggproduct, yeah I agree. There's a list of 3-4 more books I'm going to buy, and one of them is an openings book. I'll write more about them on my blog a little later.
Thank you both for the comments :-)
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