WGM Raluca Sgîrcea

Scotch Game is a very interesting opening, especially for those club players’ strength [meaning under 2200]. It is a pretty rare opening which may either be used a surprise or a weapon of choice. White challenges the black center right away and ends up with an aggressive looking position. Black has his own pluses, including the exposed white’s queen in the center of the board and possibility of a rapid development.

The games are typically theoretically tense, and those with better opening preparation tend to succeed. Let’s take a look at some of the best classical games played on Scotch.

The London System has always been a sideline, far from the latest hype when it comes to opening trends. However, this is not the case anymore, for in the past 2-3 years, maybe more, thanks to the efforts put by Magnus Carlsen, Vladimir Kramnik and needless to say Gata Kamsky, the London has become just as dangerous and respectable as any other opening choice among the main lines of 1.d4 or 1.e4. Perhaps due to the so many analyzed lines, the world has found in the London the perfect opening to force your opponents to play by themselves, without the possibility of engine analysis or too relevant theoretical support.

The King’s Indian Defense is one of the most popular openings employed by Black against 1.d4. To a move with which white usually invites to a quiet and positional play, black responds with a set-up that most of the times lead to attacks against the white king. It is no secret that the King’s Indian Defense is normally employed by players who like to attack and are not afraid of complications. There are numerous ways and plans for White to respond to this opening and most of them require a lot of study and memorization.

The pawn structure in the diagram below is not an unfamiliar one to the average player.

As we all know, it can arise from different openings, mostly from those starting with 1.c4 or 1.d4 and Black responds with the King’s Indian Benoni-type of defense.

Finding a good opening is not an easy task. Many club players get confused with all the information available and not sure what to select. The things become especially tricky when it comes to playing with black pieces.  Should you play the Sicilian, Spanish or Caro-Kann? How should you study the openings and where do you get the information? Do you need dozens of books and chess courses to understand the opening well enough to be competitive?

The Guimard variation of the French Defense starts with the move 3…Nc6 against white’s solid 3.Nd2 known as the Tarrasch variation.

Black’s idea is quite simple, but also logical.

First, he develops a piece with tempo, attacking the center. When white defends the d4 pawn, say with 4.Ngf3, then he plays another developing move and renews the attack on the center with 4…Nf6.

Wesley So is a Filipino chess prodigy currently represented US. He is number 2 rated chess player in the world behind only Magnus Carlsen. Wesley So set a record by being the youngest player to cross 2600, previously held by Carlsen. So has a very aggressive and tactical style, who likes to sacrifice his queen or any other pieces for starting a devastating attack. At the same time, his play is very solid and reliable. Today we will see some of Wesley So’s best games.

The Evans Gambit is an aggressive line of Giuoco Piano. The opening is named after William Evans, who is the first player to use it. This opening quickly became a popular choice for many great masters including Anderssen, Morphy, and Chigorin. Eventually, Emanuel Lasker came up with the novelty that allowed getting an upper hand by returning the pawn. The opening was not popular for the majority of the 20th century, up until Garry Kasparov won some decisive games with it. Today we will see some of the best games played with the Evans Gambit.

Isolated queen’s pawn positions are incredibly rich in ideas for both sides. The discussion on how there are several possible ways to play these type of positions for both sides and is never-ending. In this article we will discuss a very important structure that occurs often in such positions; see the following diagram.

The Sicilian is the number one enemy for 1.e4 players. Nowadays it’s almost impossible to play against the Sicilian without having a strong theoretical preparation. This approach requires a long time to memorize not only the main lines, but also the so-called playable secondary lines which are often the most dangerous.