Halloween Gambit

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Pirc Defense

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The Albin Counter Gambit

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Sicilian Defense

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Gruenfeld Defense

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Budapest Gambit

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Benko Gambit

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French Defense (2)

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French Defense (1)

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This is a solid answer to king-pawn openings. I've played both sides of this. Black's plan is to build a strong point on d5. While he will trade his queen pawn off, he will wait until it is advantageous.

White has a number of plans. The main line is to strike out with his own queen-pawn to d4, thus creating the duo in the center. Black counters by attacking the king-pawn by Nf6. White defends with Nc3.

Whenever I play this setup, I always figure the game can go either way.

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Bird's Opening

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Caro Kann

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Giuoco Piano

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This is an alternative to the Ruy Lopez. Last century, it was the most popular place to put the Bishop (c4 instead of b5). I played this as White in my own early chess years. To this day, I do not see the difference in difficulty or opportunity between the placement of the Bishop for most club players.

The trade off, is that this place for the Bishop targets Black's f7 while the Ruy targets the Black Knight on c6. The first is more tactical; the second is more strategic.

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King's Gambit (2)

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King's Gambit (1)

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Queen's Gambit

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Almost always, when the Queen Pawn meets the Queen Pawn in the center, White supports with the Queen Bishop Pawn. While this forumation is not as deadly as its brother formation on the Kingside, it is more strategic and hence more practical.

I usually play this. I note that the QB pawn usually moves up next to the Q pawn no matter what Black does.

This is an overview for beginners.

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Dutch Defense, Stonewall

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The Stonewall has pawns on KB4, K3, Q4, and QB3. Either Black or White can move into this formation. In my experience, it is really hard to bust this formation. I recall Max Euwe's book on the middlegame had an extensive chapter on how to bust this formation.

This is one formation I recommend for beginning players.

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Alekhine Defense

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I've found this to be easy to play from Black, especially against weaker players. As White, I used to be tempted to advance all 4 pawns but I usually did badly. This is, of course, the whole point of the Alekhine Defense: to tempt W to advance his pawns so that you can break up his center.

Book lines lead to obscure positions. While the obvious move 1. ... Nf6 was played for a century before, it is named "Alekhine" because of his great success with this move Budapest in 1921.

Play that Game!

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Ruy Lopez Berlin Defense

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After White sets up the Ruy Lopez, Black faces the question: kick the Bishop with pawn to a6 or move the King Knight immediately to f6? (This assumes not playing the unusual responses.) Kicking the Bishop forces White to either retreat it to a4 or to capture the knight.

This video looks at just leaving the Bishop on b5. The advantage of the main line (kicking the Bishop) is that Black can eventually follow up with b4, breaking the pressure on the Queen Knight for good. The disadvantage is that the Bishop retreats to a great diagonal, a2 - f7. So, Berlin players ask - why not just leave the Bishop where it's at and let it take the Knight on c6? No more pressure on d5, e6 or f7 because there's no more Bishop to make it.

In short, this is a perfectly viable choice for Black.

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Ruy Lopez Cozio

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This time Black's King Knight goes to e7, blocking the Bishop, so it has to go to g7, after the pawn moves to g6. The knight has the advantage of covering the Queen Knight on c6, while also preparing for eventual pawn advances to f5 and d5. Black may also consider castling queenside instead of his usual kingside fortress.

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Ruy Lopez Classical

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The Ruy Lopez (Spanish Game) starts with the White Bishop to b5. This video introduces the Classical Defense where Black responds with his Bishop to c5. I'm not sure why I've seen this so rarely over the years. It seems solid and has good success in master play.

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