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Unprepared for the English Opening

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wizzifnab

Here is a game I played recently at the 26th OCF North American FIDE Open.  This was my second tournament after about a 10 year break. 

 

This game was played in the second round.  I was black.   Its not a very sharp game and only lasts 25 moves, at which point my opponent offered a draw and I accepted.  In my opinion, these types of games seem to occur fairly often amongst Class C players. 

 

I definitely could use some pointers on this game.  If anyone has some good suggestions for how a QGD: Tarrasch Defense player can respond to the English, without having to become an expert on the English, I'd appreciate it.

 


wizzifnab

I just came across the below game at Chess Cafe.  This is a very similar game.  In fact, it seems I successfully transposed to the Tarrasch Defense, with even an extra tempo since white chose to take on c5 before I ever moved my dark squared bishop.  It appears that I really just need to learn how to handle the 9. Bg5 line when white has his knight bearing down on d5.  I didn't want to push to d4 because the knight can go to e4 and add an additional attack to my f6 knight.  Anyway, the full analysis of the game below can be found in Chess Cafe's Scholastic Chess article.

Edit:  Appears I somehow dropped the final moves of the game.  Its now been updated to show the complete game.

 


erik
excellent analysis. thank you for sharing!