Good to see you posting again, David.
I agree that unannotated games are of little value. That's not why we buy opening books (not that I buy opening books).
2...Nf6 has the virtue of LOGIC. It's the most natural move.
I'm sure 2...d5 is fine, but I've always had an almost visceral distrust of it. Probably dating back to my days as a junior, when I saw mathematical genius Richard Borcherds lose in about ten moves with it.
Evgeny Sveshnikov
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Re: Evgeny Sveshnikov
It is certainly easier to go badly wrong with 2....d5 if you don't know what you are doing, I will say that much.
But if they *are* well prepared, many will find the resulting positions easier to play than those after 2....Nf6.
So there isn't any right or wrong answer on that one IMO. Of course other second moves - d6, e6, g6, b6 - have their merits too.
2....e5 genuinely sucks, though
But if they *are* well prepared, many will find the resulting positions easier to play than those after 2....Nf6.
So there isn't any right or wrong answer on that one IMO. Of course other second moves - d6, e6, g6, b6 - have their merits too.
2....e5 genuinely sucks, though
"Set up your attacks so that when the fire is out, it isn't out!" (H N Pillsbury)
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Re: Evgeny Sveshnikov
Even 2.. e5 seems to be broadly alive as per a quick look at DB/Leela. Some distinctly non obvious pawn sacrifices for black.
You do have to be happy playing a slow Lopez of course, so I can't really see the attraction.
You do have to be happy playing a slow Lopez of course, so I can't really see the attraction.
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Re: Evgeny Sveshnikov
Richard Borcherds! There's a name I haven't heard for a while. I wonder what happened to him - I see; he gave up chess and won the Fields Medal.
Somehow doesn't come as a surprise to read elsewhere that Sveshnikov was an anti-vaxxer (and died after contracting Covid).
Somehow doesn't come as a surprise to read elsewhere that Sveshnikov was an anti-vaxxer (and died after contracting Covid).