- 1 e4 e5 2 Bc4 The Bishops opening (main line 1 e4 e5 2 Bc4 Nc6 3 d3)
- 1 e4 c5 2 Nc3 The Closed Sicilian
- 1 e4 e6/c6/d5/... Improvise ;-) (since 95% of my opponents play e5 or c5 I'm concentrating on these lines only)
I play these openings for a year now, and I realised that this is the wrong repertoire for me to play. The bishops opening and the closed sicilian often lead me to closed / positional games while I'm actually looking for open / tactical games.
So I think it's time for a change. These are the lines I have in mind :
- 1 e4 e5 2 f4 The Kings Gambit
- 1 e4 c5
- 2 f4 The Grand Prix Attack
- 2 d4 The Morra Gambit
I'm pretty sure about the Kings Gambit, I think this opening will always offer me a tactical game. I still have to choose between the GPA and the Morra Gambit. I think both lines will give me a tactical game with attacking chances.
Is there anyone out there with practical experience with the GPA or the Morra Gambit ? I'm still looking for a good book or internet resource on the Kings Gambit / GPA / Morra Gambit, any suggestions ?
8 comments:
Hi Sir Piño.
Re: Smith Morra - My library has a copy of "Winning with the Smith Morra Gambit" by Graham Burgess, so I was able to spend a few minutes paging through it. In that quick look, it looked good -- it covered a lot of variations, and it seemed fairly balanced. I plan to go back and check it out one of these days.
If you happen to subscribe to chesslecture.com, Jesse Kraai has two basic lectures on the Smith-Morra: one getting-started lecture, and one on the Siberian Trap.
I tried both, and prefer the GPA a LOT to the Morra. Not because it isn't sound, but because people usually avoid the gambit and we end up in a French-like closed game that I hate. The GPA leads to a fun game for white, with natural developing moves. I have been happy to see black play 1...c5 since I have taken up the GPA, whereas I used to dread it.
Unfortunately, the coverage of the GPA in Chess openings for White, Explained, is not all that good. But Plaskett's book on the GPA I have found very good, addressing more lines that occur in my games.
I used to play the Bishop's opening, but since I switched to the Ruy as white I have been very happy: it usually gives me a strong center (or, a pawn) and black is struggling to keep up. At least when things go as planned :)
Hi Sir Pino and welcome to the Knights.
I switched to 1.e4 in the past year after being a staunch 1.d4 player for years because I wanted more open positions with tactics.
I play the 4 Knights Scotch against double e-pawns ( 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4 d4..) Its themes are very similar to Smith-Morra which is what I play against the Sicilian and have had quite a successful run with it to date.
As Black I play the Caro-Kan and if faced with it as white I see how far down the rabbit hole my opponent will go before hopping out of the book.
For French players I have a solid line against the classical and am still working my way around the Winnawer.
Best of luck. Focus on tactics and work your repertoire after each game while still fresh. See where you fell out of the book . Each time you do this you can go further along.
-BP
Hi
I for a while played only the kg as white now I am mixing it up with the Giuoco P/2 knights. The King Gambit always presents interesting ideas. The out of print Winning with the Kings Gambit by Gallagher is considered as being one of the best books written on the subject. If you look on my archives you will see some post on the kg as well as links to my playchess collection. Google Silicide + takchess as see some of the lines I am playing against the Sicilian where I play e4,nf3 and nc3 as the first moves against almost all the Sicilians . I really like this system and it opens up quickly enough and I attacks based on blacks 3 move. i tried both the morra and the gpa but feel more at home with the ideas in the Silicide video tape I was lent.
I think we can all agree that Grand Prix has the coolest name out of any opening ;)
http://theriseandshinegoodknight.blogspot.com/
Thx for the suggestions! I think I'm gonna try the GPA. I'm not that sure anymore about the Kings Gambit (lots of theory, and I can't seem to find an appropriate book)... .
You're probably already aware of this, but if not, then you can find tons of useful information about chess openings at http://www.chesspublishing.com/yabb2/YaBB.pl. You have to register, but it's a free forum. Lots of stuff on the King's Gambit and some material on the Morra Gambit (a little more on the Grand Prix).
have you considered 3.f4 in your Bishop's opening line? I also play 2. Bc4 (hoping for 2...Nf3 3. d4) and have enjoyed 3.f4 for awhile.
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