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| premium_steve 11/01/2004 12:05:35 [ report this post ] |
 Subject: English OpeningMessage: With the popularity of Sicilian Defenses, why isn't this opening played very often? I'll be playing against 1.c4 player OTB tonight and am having trouble thinking of an aggressive way to meet that system. I'm thinking of playing Nc6 e5 and f5, but i'm not sure yet. I could change my mind at the board. |
| ironbutterfly 11/01/2004 12:50:03 [ report this post ] | reply to the english Message: I had a regular opponent who always played the English as white, and always seemed to come out of the opening with better positions. I wanted something more aggressive, too, and stumbled on the ...e5 systems with ....f5 and had spectacular success against him. Carsten Hansen, a young Danish FIDE Master, has a pretty good section in his Gambit "Guide to the English Opening: 1...e5." (Sometimes I played ...Nc6, and sometimes ...c6 to meet the challenge of his fianchettoed B and his Qb3.) Good luck if you try it! |
| philaretus 11/01/2004 14:17:56 [ report this post ] | The English Opening.... Message: .....is actually the third most popular in the Gameknot Database, after 1.e4 and 1.d4. |
| georgesdimitrov 11/01/2004 14:56:37 [ report this post ] | Agressive English... Message: I'm having a regular opponent who is also playing the English and seems to end up in better middle-games, because I can't open the game the way I want. So I'm also looking for a more aggressive variation. I'm currently triyng 1...b5 as a gambit in one of my games, still waiting for the answer (we play 14day games, a lot of analysis). I know it's considered risky but it could work. Database odds are good, anyway. ironbutterfly, I'll try e5 systems too with f5, good idea (looks like an inversed GPA), thanx. |
| marxisgod21 11/01/2004 17:10:28 [ report this post ] | KID is good too Message: You can also adopt a King's Indian-type setup with e5, Nc6, g6, Bg7, d6, Nge7, O-O with a later f5. |
| bonsai 11/02/2004 00:23:08 [ report this post ] | Message: The line marxisgo21 gives is good - however it has the downside of being the main line against some setups. It is also quite feasible to play Dutch-Leningrad-style, particularly if you play that against 1.d4. The thing that keeps me from playing 1.c4 though is 1...c5, which makes the position *too* boring (at least in my experience). |
| ccmcacollister 11/02/2004 00:34:50 [ report this post ] | Bonzai Message: I toast to your 1.c4 c5 comment ! |
| marxisgod21 11/07/2004 09:29:58 [ report this post ] | Symmetrical English is not boring! Message: After 1. c4 c5, white has several interesting ideas that add flavor to the position. Instead of white going on the "English autopilot" with Nc3, g3, Bg2, Nf3, O-O, etc., there are some interesting lines with an early Nf3 and d2-d4 with the ultimate goal of getting a rock-solid knight on d4 and control of d5 (with Nc3, and possibly e4 or Bg2) with Maroczy Bind-type positions. While I don't claim to know a great deal about these positions, it's something to investigate if 1. c4 c5 is the only thing holding you back from playing 1. c4. |
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