Comments on: Positional chess opening for white?

By: Captain Kirk

Captain Kirk — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 00:27:03 +0000

You want to play the London System. It is a group of related chess openings,
solid lines that begin with 1.d4 followed by an early Bf4.
The London System normally results in a very closed game.

White normally bolsters his center with c3 and e3, rather than c4 and expanding,
but first white quickly develops his dark-squared bishop to f4 outside of white’s
formation of pawns on dark squares. It is positionally sound, like the Caro-Kann.

8 ?? ? ? ? ? … … ?
7 ?? ? ? … ? ? ? ?
6 ?… … … … ? ? … …
5 ?… … … ? … … … …
4 ?… … … ? … ? … …
3 ?… … ? … ? ? … …
2 ?? ? … … … ? ? ?
1 ?? ? … ? ? ? … ?
…????????????????
….. a..b…c..d…e..f…g..h.

Although it has the potential for a quick kingside attack, the white forces
are generally flexible enough to engage in a battle anywhere on the board.
Historically it developed into a system mainly from three variations:
1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bf4 … 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.Bf4 … 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Bf4.

Sample Game(s):
London System – Compiled by Mislav
http://www.ChessGames.com/perl/chesscollection?cid=1004580

Source(s):
London System – Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_System

By: j h 78

j h 78 — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 00:27:03 +0000

I’m surprised you find 1. d4 too aggressive, but if so you could consider a Reti. Nf3, c4, b3, g3 kind of thing. Look up Ulf Andersson’s games.

Or a more general Nf3/c4. Kramnik was successful with that kind of repetoire.

Or you could look at queen pawn games like the Yusupov system, the London system, the Trompowsky, the Torre Attack etc.

I’m curious though, which queen pawn openings do you think are too aggressive? I ask because there are ways around them. For example, you can avoid the sharp Semi-Slav by forcing a Queen’s Gambit Declined: Exchange Variation.

By: Mr. Stratego

Mr. Stratego — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 00:27:03 +0000

If you play and enjoy the Caro-Kann Defense, then simply play it from the White side too.

If anything, it’s even better played as White… you’ll be a whole tempo up.

Another big plus is that you won’t have to learn anything new.

If WHITE has a hard time cracking it, how do you think BLACK is going to be able to do it, a whole tempo down??

By: William B

William B — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 00:27:03 +0000

1 c4 and 1Nf3 (English and Reti) might fit you.

Unfortunately a reversed Caro- Kann/Slav (depending on black’s response) is stupid.

1 c3 e5 2 d4 (Caro-Kann reversed)
1 c3 d5 2 d4 (Slav reversed)

You could also try one of those systems where you open with a finachetto
(I’d recommend 1g3 over 1 b3 but both really give up any initiative.)

Since you want to play black perhaps 1a3 might be good.
Mr. Stratego, the problem with most defenses reversed is that black doesn’t have to "crack" it. Equalization and maintaining your advantage are two different things.

Trust me, I played Bird as Dutch reversed.

By: biggori

biggori — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 00:27:03 +0000

I can give you a good answer, have you ever considered the English opening?

This opening is cool because the first 7-10 moves are scripted and will be played almost regardless of black replies. Also the middle game positions are easy to understand: The center is usually locked, and thus play is on the wings, either the kingside or queenside depending on other things…

In the english you pretty much play the following moves without thinking much about it: c4, Nc3, g3, Bg2, d3, e4, Nge2, and 0-0.

Kingside play would go pawn from f4-f5 and g2-g4 with kingside pawn storm. OR queenside play with Rb1 and b2-b4-b5 etc…

Get a database and look up master games with this opening to get ideas on how to play it. You can learn this opening quickly and it is fun to play… Good luck.