Chess question, easiest life as black

Originally posted by robbie carrobie
I disagree, its a superficial estimation although a very welcome one, the Colle leads to
an open game and as Purdy commented, rarely leads to a dull game (I take it that the
poster was being sarcastic when he mentioned edge of your seat stuff, if not I
apologise) I have played the French, its exactly what I want to avoid, extensive theory,
if ...[text shortened]... 30. c4 g5 31. g3 Ke5 32. a4 f4+ 33. gxf4+ gxf4+ 34. Ke2 Kd4 35. b5 Kxc4 [/pgn]

"Dull game" is too subjective a term to have much value in chess. One man's endgame buffet is another man's cure for insomnia.

In the Colle main lines (played with the Colle move order or the French move order, as they often transpose) black can almost at will play ...c5xd4, and while I find those positions to be interesting, there is a large segment of the chess population that would call those positions dull.

The Fort Knox French is pretty much a bullet-proof system, and in line with your request.

Originally posted by robbie carrobie
I disagree, its a superficial estimation although a very welcome one, the Colle leads to
an open game and as Purdy commented, rarely leads to a dull game (I take it that the
poster was being sarcastic when he mentioned edge of your seat stuff, if not I
apologise) I have played the French, its exactly what I want to avoid, extensive theory,
if ...[text shortened]... 30. c4 g5 31. g3 Ke5 32. a4 f4+ 33. gxf4+ gxf4+ 34. Ke2 Kd4 35. b5 Kxc4 [/pgn]

I find it very odd that you're one of those few who seems to understand that the relatively humble moves of the Colle can nonetheless lead to an exciting and interesting game...especially at the club level, where the thematic tricks and tactics are tough to sidestep effectively

...yet at the same time you trot out that old and mistaken idea that the black side of the French exchange is "essentially a draw."

The French exchange is only dull if both parties want to load up on the e-file and exchange away all the heavy artillery. It offers plenty of play for either side, if he chooses to play for a win. And this is of course much more the case at the club level.

Oh...and it's probably also worth noting that Purdy, who you seem to laud, recommends the French and the QGD to go together with the Colle in his 24 Hr Repertoire.

But if you like the idea of the Fort Knox, look up Neil McDonald's stuff on the French. His, I think it's called "How to Play Against 1.e4" is a Fort-Knox based approach, and goes into the motifs and structures in a very clubber-friendly way. His older Mastering the French is even better. A class player's goldmine. But hard to find.

Originally posted by MeoWoof
Oh...and it's probably also worth noting that Purdy, who you seem to laud, recommends the French and the QGD to go together with the Colle in his 24 Hr Repertoire.

But if you like the idea of the Fort Knox, look up Neil McDonald's stuff on the French. His, I think it's called "How to Play Against 1.e4" is a Fort-Knox based approach, and goes into the mot ...[text shortened]... older Mastering the French is even better. A class player's goldmine. But hard to find.

ok, i bow to such great wisdom! Neil Macdonald, isnt he Scottish? peace be upon him
if he is and if he isn't, well he should be, thank you for the encouragement, but if i get
mated on g7, AGAIN! after entering French advance as black i am blaming you! 😛
actually playing against the French was one of the reasons i switched to d4. I have a
terrible record against it, I utterly FAIL! weep weep!

Originally posted by Paul Leggett
"Dull game" is too subjective a term to have much value in chess. One man's endgame buffet is another man's cure for insomnia.

In the Colle main lines (played with the Colle move order or the French move order, as they often transpose) black can almost at will play ...c5xd4, and while I find those positions to be interesting, there is a large segmen ...[text shortened]...

The Fort Knox French is pretty much a bullet-proof system, and in line with your request.

ok, i bow also to such great wisdom, peace be to you great leggy! 🙂

Originally posted by MeoWoof
If you sincerely want the black equivalent to the Colle, I'd steer you the following way:

Against 1.e4, the French. Intending bog-standard stuff against the advance (which is nice and easy to understand and highly thematic), and the Rubinstein or Fort Knox against Nc3 or Nd2. Super solid, gives white essentially nothing (at the possible expense of forfe ...[text shortened]... ze from the Colle in virtually every game, and the same level of edge-of-your-seat excitement.

BTW - The French was my first choice as "easiest to play as black" except I believe the Scandanavian was even easier after I thought about it a little bit.

The French has the virtue, as the poster above mentions, that there aren't a whole lot of lines for white - Advance, closed, 3. Nd2 and Nc3 (both of which you can play 3... dxe4 against, if you want). I play the French a lot in blitz for this very reason. Further, unlike the the Sicilian where there are lots of different attacks for white to choose from, black makes a lot of the choices about which variation to go into.

So i don't think this is bad advice, either. GP's right though (as usual) - there is no automatic defense for black.

Personally, the centre counter / scandinavian leading into the icelandic if I'm allowed is the best I've found. This is based purely on trial and error, but works for many of the reasons outlined above. Primarily, it is something not many people are used to dealing with. The loss of the centre pawn in exchange for a gain in tempo suit me though, so this isn't a conservative option. It's worked against one or two 2000+ folks, so it can't be too bad 🙂

Originally posted by morgski
Personally, the centre counter / scandinavian leading into the icelandic if I'm allowed is the best I've found. This is based purely on trial and error, but works for many of the reasons outlined above. Primarily, it is something not many people are used to dealing with. The loss of the centre pawn in exchange for a gain in tempo suit me though, so this isn' ...[text shortened]... conservative option. It's worked against one or two 2000+ folks, so it can't be too bad 🙂

I think it is also worth noting that the Scandinavian and Alekhine's Defense are very close cousins. There are lots of variations where, after 8-12 moves, the positions are very much alike. It will make a potential future transition much easier if desired.

I haven't played the Scandinavian, but I have played Alekhine's very successfully OTB. One time at a tournament I picked up a book on the Scandinavian, thumbed through it and looked at some positions, and thought I had picked up the wrong book by accident. I had to look at the cover again to make sure it was the Scandinavian!

I'll put it next on the "trial" then 🙂
Thanks

The Petrov might be worth a look, e4 ..e5, Nf3 ..Nf6

If you look at any opening book then the book will/should give you
the best lines. The main lines will thin out into a slight plus or slight minus.

If there were such a thing as a solid never to be beaten Black defence
then chess would be dead. It's the same for a White opening.

All you can do grasp the spirit of the opening and hope you play well
in the middle game.

Again I'll refer to that Anand vid, if you have not watched it then do.

He mentions the confidence of going to a board with an opening.
OK you may not have it all, it's (his words) 'muddled confidence' but
it is confidence none the less.

Get your heads out of your arses as far as openings are concerned.
Trust me. The magic opening book you seek is not out there.
Pick any opening and play it, trust in yourself to reach a playable middle game.
At our level it's all about the two move trick.
Setting it. spotting it and avoiding it.

When you are past our level you will not be heeding or seeking any advice
from complete strangers in a chess forum.

1...g5

White or Black, chess is hard, and there are no short-cuts. According to many masters, it is this obsession with openings which more than anything else holds back a lot of amateurs.

(I notice now that greenpawn already said this, pretty much -- I really should read threads to the end...)

Originally posted by pdunne
White or Black, chess is hard, and there are no short-cuts. According to many masters, it is this obsession with openings which more than anything else holds back a lot of amateurs.

(I notice now that greenpawn already said this, pretty much -- I really should read threads to the end...)

me thinks its not pointless wanting to have a system to play, after all, our knowledge
can save us a lot of time and effort, our experience can lead to confidence and
familiarity may be of immense practical benefit. Its not the openings themselves
that hold amateurs back, nor even the study of them, me thinks the problem is,

1. playing openings that we do not understand
2. playing openings that do not suit our temperament
3. aping grandmaster openings because they are fashionable

the good side of openings is,

1. If you play the Najdorf you can immediately claim that you are playing chess on higher principles than other mere mortals
2. You will have a glistening library, full of pristine books to look at and blame
3. Chicks dig it when you talk about the Czech Benoni, the Queens Gambit and the
Ruy Lopez (ooohh you speak French!)

I have tried the french as a lazy man's opening and I did not like it a bit. Too many variations. The Scandinavian (nb. there are just too few "swedish openings" so I prefere the Scandi over the Centre Counter ) is in my humble opinion a much better approach if you want to take control of where the game is going. The Icelandic varation is fun to play but too many forced (and weird looking) lines to fit my preferences.

There are very little available on the 2... Nf6-line in print. There is a little in Plaskett's book which I found on sale at Baker St and there is quote a lot in Schiller's book on a gambit repertoire for black. The two authors seems to disagree a lot. I don't mind the disagreement. It is in some backward way telling me that a lot of lines is playable.