Improve your rating- week of 6/1/09
Submitted by
on Mon, 06/08/2009 at 8:09am.
Sorry this is a little late again, haven't been on chess.com much lately.
Anyways, this week's topic is on openings. Usually I play pretty standard openings, such as the ruy lopez, sicilian, and king pawn openings. However, a few weeks ago, I realized that my openings weren't helping my games since most people know the main lines. So I set out to find a new opening that is semi-rare, but well-respected. Around that time, I recieved a book on how to play the Tarrasch defense to the Q.G.D. Here is the main line:
As you can see, the Tarrasch is a defense to the Queen's Gambit for black. The Tarrasch is an opening mostly played by grandmasters, so many of the people I play have never even heard of it. It's nice to have a surprise weapon like this in my arsenal, and it actually gives black decent chances. A few tips on selecting openigs:
1. Don't always play the common openings. You will probably not gain a solid edge in the beginning if your opponent knows exactly what to play.
2. Play an opening that fits your style. If you dont like cramped positions, for instance, dont play the caro-kann as black, as it can lead to very little space.
3. Don't feel a need to play unique openings every time. Just because you play common openings doesn't mean you're going to lose. There's a reason they're played so often. Plus, it's a lot of memorization to play all different openings.
4. When choosing an opening, make sure it is sound. Dont start playing 1. a3 just because it's unique. Make sure it is a tested opening.
To close, here is a recent game of mine with the Tarrasch
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Have a great week!
-Wicksta85