Sponsored Links
Wholesale Chess
Buy chess sets, clocks,
boards, pieces, books, and other chess equipment at great prices!
Chess Instruction Online
Lessons are available from Cardoza author, FM Eric Schiller,
using videoconferencing or Internet Chess Club facilities
Unique custom, autographed and personalized books and software,
and rare chess books too! Visit our
store today!
Other Links
Eduard Gufeld on how to choose openings
From the training notebooks of the late Grandmaster Eduard Gufeld, edited by Eric Schiller.
An important stage in the chess player's progress is his work at his opening repertoire. it is obvious that for successful tournament practice one should have a certain range of chess openings and variations based on the well-studied systems. This range of openings depends primarily on the chess player's memory his nervous system etc. The systems adopted by chess players should give them creative satisfaction. Given the most meticulously studied variations, if the chess player doesn't like them, they do not bring success. Therefore the opening repertoire requires permanent enrichment with new ideas taking into account the style and strength of the chess player.
To begin with, there must be a unity of practice and theory. Another
important condition is the careful selection of the material and putting it into
a coherent system. The selection of the material should be confined only to the
most essential theoretical games. After the foundation has been laid, it is
advisable to put all your analytical work into system and order. First, it is
useful to study those games where the main strategic ideas were most fully
manifested, and then enlarge the scope of your opening ideas. In the opening
preparation, the chess player has his own "supertask" , that is they ought to be
ahead of their rivals. In this respect,we ought to study carefully
Botvinnik's methods. He was the founder of contemporary approach to the opening
preparation.
While working at the opening repertoire, the question often arises: should we
play the same variations with White and with Black? Here, a lot depends on the
chess player's proficiency.
It is advisable that young chess players should study the same opening system
from both sides, so as to understand its peculiarities which may escape in case
of the one-sided approach. It is often helpful to learn from your own, sometimes
very bitter, experience.
For example, at the Amsterdam international tournament of 1970 Grandmaster Uhlmann played the following variation of the King's Indian Defense against Polugayevsky:
1 d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Be2 0-0 6.B95 c5 7.d5 96 8.Qd2 ad 9.ed Re8
10.Nf3 Bg4 11.0-0 Nbd7 12.h3 Bf3 13.Bf3 a6 14.a4 Qe7 (This apparently harmless
system contains a lot of poison for B1ack.White's spatial advantage is a serious
factor,
especially in the ensuing endgame) 15.Rael Qf8 16.Bdl Re1 17.RQ1 Re8 18.Re8 Re8
19 .Bc2 Nb6 20.b3 Nbd7 21.Bf4 Qe7 22.Qe2 Kf8 23.Qe7 Ke7 24.a5! (The crucial
position eventually resulting in a highly instructive ending. It should be noted
that many opening systems are closely linked with the endgame positions)
24...h5 25.Bd2 Ne8 26.g3 Bd4 27.Kg2 Ng7 28.f4 Nf5 29.Ndl Nh6 30.Kf3 f5 31.Bd3
Kd8 32.Ne3 Ke7 33.Nc2 Bb2 34.Ke3 Nf6 35.Ne1 Bd4 36.Kf3 Bb2 37.Ng2 Nd7 38.Nh4 Kf6
39.Ke3 Nf7 40.Bc2 Bat 41.Ke2 Bb2 42.Bel Bat 43.g4 ! hg 44.hg gg 45.Ng6 Kg?
46.Nh4 Kf8 47.Bf5 Nf6 48.Bc8 Nd8 49.Nf5 Nh5 50,Bd2 Bd4 51.Nd4. Black resigned.
Tis lesson was extremely useful for Ulhmann. The German Grandmaster employed
this system with White against Gligoric in the Interzonal tournament 1970
and won the game.
Another important question is: should the chess player build up his opening
repertoire only on fashionable systems, which is, incidentally, being done by
most of today's chess players? Of course, this approach should not be
criticized. As a rule, up-to-date openings contain more interesting ideas. But
we should not forget that even less known opening systems deserve serious
consideration. Besides, having acquired some experience working on less popular
openings, the chess player can enrich himself with the ideas giving him an
overwhelming advantage over his opponents. Highly instructive in this respect is
the method and experience demonstrated by Fischer who often employed the systems
and variations which had been rejected by theory and practice.
For example in the Ruy Lopez he often employed the old Anderssen line: 1.e4
e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Bc6 dc 5.0-0
in the Caro-Kann: 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 Ved cd 4.Bd3.
Fischer's games show that in the old systems, if properly studied and employed, one can find many interesting ideas and effective ways to the initiative.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |