Punishing Opening Rebels
Dear Chess Friends!
What if you learned an opening, but your opponent doesn’t play according to what you remember? Well, if he deviates at the 10-15th move, it’s fine. You should either learn some deviations as well or at least understand the positions that arise after playing that opening. If you understand it, you will be able to recognize why the move your opponent played instead is not optimal, what the disadvantages of this move are, and what you should do to take advantage of it.
However, what if your opponent deviates in the very beginning at the 3-6th move or plays an unsound opening?
Look at this diagram below. My old coach Aleksandr Tyulin (2137 FIDE) invented his own way to play French Defense with Black pieces. 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 Nf6 4.e5 Ng8?
How to punish him?
Well, you should try to understand what’s wrong with his move and how you will benefit from it. Moreover, how will he benefit in the case if you play naturally according to your knowledge of this opening.
There are some rules and concepts that chess players should know in order to take advantage while playing against an unsound opening or deviation and I’m going to reveal them at my next mastermind “Punishing the Opening Rebels”. And I’m glad to invite you there.
Please, watch the recording in case you missed it.
See you at the mastermind!
FM Viktor Neustroev
