Plenty of thots this holiday. During the National Junior there were 2 games that Mark played that troubled me. Both times he was white and both times he played a player we evaluated (rightly or wrongly) as weaker than him. In both games he went into Najdorf. He lost one and drew the other. We have come to the understanding that it is important to play the correct opening with the correct opponent. So we prepared against the field that we assessed he needed to win or draw with to do well in the tournament. Sadly we didnt consider these 2 players. Our assumptions at the time was that he should be able to beat the lower ranked players in any opening. And so we are now still licking our wounds. :)
In this day and age, with computer analysis and a plethora of information, a stronger player can fall to anyone if you play into their line. And this was a painful reminder.
Got to chatting with Andrew (gilachess) on google today and lamenting to him. After singing "Thats what friends are for" twice!, he passed me these links.
I am going to share it with you now. Hope it will help you. And you wont need to sing to me either.
http://www.chessedelic.com/2009/04/25/how-to-build-a-chess-opening-repertoire-part-i-getting-the-lay-of-the-land/
http://www.chessedelic.com/2009/05/30/how-to-build-a-chess-opening-repertoire-part-ii-your-style/
http://www.chessedelic.com/2009/07/01/how-to-build-a-chess-opening-repertoire-part-iii-how-to-live-with-it/
Good luck with your chess.
Raymond Siew
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I agree with you that it is very important to be familiar with Opening because it chart the middle game as well as our strategic plan. As you righly pointed out, don't fall into opponent lines as it will definitely make things difficult, no matter how strong you are. It was the same when we played in international tournaments where opening almost determine your ability to struggle against in every game. So my advice is do work on your opening and play at your strength with all your opponents.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing. We are now relooking at all our past assumptions and rethinking our responses. All my best in your future International Tournaments. If you get the chance do share more with our readers.
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