Mats Winther wrote:Aren't chess trainers interested in a variant where the young players cannot monotonously play their opening lines over and over again? Isn't it good training to think from the very beginning?
/Mats
I think Bughouse/Exchange/Team/Swap chess already has that market covered.
You can't play Gambits, for starters. Depending on the rule variants (which can be modified), you can play all sorts of openings that are good. We play a variant where you can put pieces on in check and mate (but deemed pawns on the 7th too wacky). It really sharpens tactical and positional skills. Tactically, all sorts of sacks work, given the stream of pieces coming from the other board. Black often has to set up a strong defence, and won't get enough tempi to launch his own attack (while trying to swap off to help his partner, who playing white, is sacking on his board). What's more, the games tend to be interesting (on the basis of the sacking), and fairly short, meaning you keep interest (games won't last longer than 5 minutes). You're also guaranteed to get a winner. You also see things such as "A Knight on h6 would be really good here." Of course, you can get that from your partner, but when you play a real game, you can see the same principle. So it helps with forming attacking plans. It also helps the defender, who has to be aware of that sort of thing all the time.
What's more, I've never heard a young player who doesn't want to play it.
