WGM Raluca Sgîrcea
Trompowsky Attack: Are you a 1.d4 player?
Tired of Black knowing all the White’s plans and shifting gears into Slav, Nimzo, King’s Indian… resulting in slow, impossible-to-win positions?
Sveshnikov Sicilian: It is no secret that Sicilian Defense is the single strongest response against 1.e4.
In fact, Sicilian is so strong, that many players switched to 1.d4 altogether.
Pirc Defense is a hypermodern opening named after the five-time Yugoslavian Champion Vasja Pirc. At the highest level, the opening has always been staying on the roadside of the mainstream theory.
Still, Mikhail Botvinnik used it in the Century Match in 1970, and Robert Fischer employed it against Boris Spassky in the World Championship in 1972.
Later, Zurab Azmaiparashvili started playing this opening on a regular basis and even defeated Anatoly Karpov with it.
1…e5: “What should I play against 1.e4?” is a big question when creating your opening repertoire with the black pieces.
There are a number of good openings for black, with the Sicilian (1…c5) being the main choice by the second player.
O’Kelly Sicilian is a great variation of the Sicilian Defense when you don’t have so much time to study its theory.
Chess has always been a fascinating game. When you see brilliant minds silently competing over the board, it is not even necessary to know the rules to get excited. Many people study chess hard. But one should never forget what brought them to this game. The joy of playing and the striving towards improvement are among the most common reasons. Also, everyone seems to love winning.
The Sicilian Defense is one of the most interesting and versatile openings. It leads to imbalanced positions and suits dynamic players.
While some variations, such as the Dragon, are razor-sharp and aggressive, there are solid alternatives for Black as well. One of such lines has recently become trendy – the Taimanov Sicilian.
Scandinavian Defense appears on the board after the moves 1.e4 – d5 and is one of the oldest recorded openings in chess.
Its idea is very straightforward – right from the start, black is attacking white’s center, trying to undermine it.
Sicilian Dragon: The Sicilian is one of the main weapons for black against 1.e4. It is known as a fighting opening, which can lead to sharp play and sharp complications in some lines. Black has a lot of set-ups to choose from, each with different characteristics and plans. In this article, I am going to present to you the Dragon variation of the Sicilian and give you 10 reasons to include it in your repertoire!
The most popular way to start the game is by moving the King’s pawn two squares forward. This move has been played for centuries and is the move that most beginners are taught to start with. It is one of the most correct first moves, as it opens two pieces, the Queen and the light-squared diagonal. Modern theory has developed a lot and concepts have changed with time, but the majority of games still start with the same move – 1.e4.
Every chess player needs a good, reliable repertoire against 1.e4. There are many openings out there and you should weigh your choice well, but if you are looking for a classical opening that will help you learn chess in general, then you might want to look into replying with 1…e5. This is a repertoire that can help you develop as a chess player, and learn different structures, and strategies, but also various attacking patterns.
