I decided to switch to d4 because I realized it was harder for me to play against d4 than e4 as black . In this game Im hoping Kyle goes for a queen gambit declined which is the position Im more used to.

On the off chance that anyone around here remembers any of the hundreds of posts I've spammed, I started off as a d4 player pretty much because I picked an opening at random out of a book and the Queen's Gambit seemed interesting. I played that for months, then switched to e4 recently and realized how much I'd been wasting my time. Long story short: I hate d4 games now with a passion. I usually try way too hard to bust open lines and turn the game tactical, and it fails utterly. That said, I'm not entirely unfamiliar with the types of games d4 turns into, so let's do this.

Just making the standard move. Nf3 is too boring. Go white!

I'm excited about this game. Seems like most of the Malkovich games around here (with the exception of the smilingbill-Anonymous IM game) are e4 e5 games, which I'm barely familiar with. As a d4 player, I'm interested to see how this one goes.

I really want to play QGA just because so many people don't know how to handle that because (paradoxically) nobody ever plays it. But I think we said that opening books are okay for this game, so no need to play like that.

Keep It Simple, Stupid. As black I usually just end up playing a super-safe, simple Slav

ok, so he played slav defence which is not what I wanted but given that we agree to use databases is hardly something to worry about. The database gives me Nf3 and Nc3 as my best options. I dont have a clue as to the pros and cons of either option. So im just going to play chesstempo porcentages

If I play Nf3 black best reply according to the numbers is dxc4 while If I play Nc3 black best reply is e6 with slightly better results for white than the reply to Nf3 so thats why Im going with Nf3.

Go White!

SLAVY SLAVY SLAVY SLAVY SLAVY I hate d4 games. Boring boring boring.

One thing I started playing recently that isn't so boring is the Noteboom (or Abrams, I believe?) variation, basically: 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 e6 4. Nc3 dxc4. Not everyone allows it, and I have seen 4. e3 more than I'd like, but it seems fine to go into the Semi-Slav anyway. Even though the Semi-Slav can still end up 'boring,' having the opportunity to go into the not-boring Noteboom seems worthwhile to me.

my instinct tells me Nc3 but I will check with the database. The database says its either Nc3 or e3.
To Nc3 it answers e6 and to e3 it can answer Bf5 with slightly better results than the reply to Nc3 so Im sticking with my instinct.

And people wonder why I like the BDG ...

It's because you hate winning.

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1060750 ye pretty boring that Slav :/

Okay, I'm done crying about how this is a d4 game. They aren't really that bad. But e4 is my new bicycle the last month or two, shiny and fun.

e6 always looked a little weird to me here. I hate when my knight is pinned to my queen like that. But this setup always seems to work. After his move, probably e3, I like to play a quick Be7 and just get my castling in. I don't think that's considered the optimal move order, but castling quickly as black always feels like a good plan. It'll all transpose anyway. Nbd7, 0-0, dxc4 as soon as he moves his light bishop, then b5 to boot the bishop when he recaptures and expand on the queenside, Bb7, etc. etc. etc.

I always kind of hope he plays Bg5 in response to e6, just because a lot of players at this level will leave that bishop there, and there's room for tactics. Either a discovered attack on the bishop, or they later play Qd7 and sometimes there's a chance to do one of those fun suicide knight tours like Nxe4 (assuming he's left something of value on e4 Bxe7 Nxd7 Bxd8 Nxb2 and when the smoke clears you are up a pawn.

Good lord, not looking at other people's posts is *really* hard for a forum whore.

That's a Semi-Slav. That's where all the fun's at.

Its either e3 or Bg5 according to the database and I feel more confortable playing Bg5 here. If I do e3 then I wont know what to do with my queen bishop . I always struggle when I do e3 and my bishop isnt developed so I rather avoid that.
Also I think from black perspective Bg5 looks much more annoying if you havent really studied the opening. Having a knight pinned is always tilting if you arent an expert.
Go white!

this is going to be one of those games that takes 15 moves to get a capture in anyway

I didnt expect Kyle to do that. Anyway at this point its preety much e3 and I actually like the position I got. Im not going to be checking with the chesstempo database anymore because I actually want to play and the database could go on for many moves.
Expect move 7 to be absolutely horrible, throwing away the advantage I have .

dxc4 & the fun of the Botvinnik Semi-Slav was waiting to be played ... its a capture & its exciting! What more could you want??

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1259585
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1250292
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1334619
In short, don't take on Shirov in the Semi-Slav!

No botvinnik. =(

Sounds like black is more comfortable with the resultant positions than white is. Not that something like Qe2-Rd1-e4 is a hard plan to find, but the sudden dxc4-b5-b4 (and c5) can be unnerving if you're not familiar with it.

This game is exposing one of the biggest holes in the Great Ship Swiss Cheese that is my chess skill set. My opening knowledge is uneven at best, even in openings I should know more about like QGD. As black especially, I like to fall back into a simple, safe set-up (then moan about how boring the game is). White's probably a bit better in this position and I've made no real attempt to fight for equality or even interesting imbalances.

I've won some games with Qa5 here and putting pressure on the knight over the next few moves, but that's not really sound.

They're using databases. I don't think them reciting database moves until move 38 would have been particularly exciting for anybody!