Quote:
Originally Posted by Want
Basically I make the same 6 moves at the beginning with the black pieces. If you could suggest a better system for black? Sometimes with the system above I get mated quite quickly which used to never happen
Do you usually castle queenside when you play this system? If so, don't play a6 for no reason if you've already played b6 - advancing both pawns weakens your king. Kb8 is a better way to defend a7. Chessexplained once cited an adage made up by one of his German colleagues which I find precise too:
long castling requires two moves instead of one - the actual castling plus the almost mandatory king move to b8/b1.
Let alone that I find long castling dubious whenever c6 (c3 for White) is taken away from the knights (by the d5/d4 pawn): then a7 becomes too weak and the threat of a pawn storm (a4-a5) is serious. If Black prevents this with a7-a5, then the b5 square becomes White's outpost.
Regarding the 4 moves of the same knight in the opening - in Alekhine's Defence, the knight moves a lot too, but he comes to a good b6 square from where he controls the centre (or back to d5 if c4-c5 is played). Whereas in your system, the knight is unstable on c5, as he can be kicked back easily with b4 quite soon (White having already played a3).
Putting the knight on a6 isn't necessarily bad on its own, but you need to make sure that the Na6-c5 move poses a threat of Nxe4 so that you have enough time to play a5 before White has a chance to kick your knight with b4. Of course, long castling is out of question once you commit to this plan. This is how
the Na6 lines of the King's Indian Defence work, and that's what I recommend if you really like to put the knight on the rim and challenge the centre instead of occupying it with pawns.
I think White failed to offer you enough resistance. In particular, consider yourself lucky that he parted so easily with his light-square bishop.
In White's shoes, my instinct on move 7 is to play 7. Bc4, preserving the important bishop (who is supposed to counter the b7 monster) from exchange. The e4 pawn is yet untouchable anyway, e.g. 7... Nf6 8. Nc3 exd5 9. Nxd5! Nfxe4?? (self-pin) 10. b4 c6 11. bxc5 dxc6 12. Bxd5, winning for White.
There are other decent 7th moves for White, but 7. c4? is a blunder that allows the 7... Nb3 fork on the rook and the dark-square bishop that you'd have seen easily if you'd been exercising a lot with tactics trainers like Chesstempo. But if White leaves the c-pawn on c2 to guard b3, he'll be standing better.
But anyway, of course, White shouldn't have developed the bishop to d3 in the first place. The clearly best square for the bishop is c4, from where it reinforces the d5 wedge or, if Black trades on d5 and White recaptures with the knight in some variations, that knight becomes strong and the bishop x-rays f7 - this is why your system fails. Unlike in the Italian game, the bishop can't be challenged easily on c4 in your system because no knight can come to a5 fast. Black can't play d7-d6 as a response to 5. Bc4, as that would instantly lose to 6. Bb5+. Black can try 5... e6, but this doesn't solve the problem of his light-square bishop, who won't be doing much on b7. White will play Nc3, Nf3, e5, enjoying a vast space advantage for no compensation and preparing an attack.
A strong White opponent won't develop the bishop to d3 vs your system, then your knight jump to c5 won't accomplish much.
Last edited by coon74; 01-01-2017 at 07:49 PM.
Reason: insignificant corrections