It simply did not suit my need for clear plans with a stable center. The best decision was to stop playing it. I implemented it in less than 10 tournament games. That is when I started to understand that Leningrad is probably nothing for me. I just made moves that seemed natural to me but were totally against the nature of the position. I played the Leningrad against a then very young and upcoming GM Luca Moroni (he was FM and I was IM back then).Īfter 23 moves my position was totally cramped and utterly hopeless. This position was the absolute low point. The Enigne shows around +2.5 with many moves. Moroni – Studer 2014, move 23 (white to Move). “My opponents always play it so well and he is so bad” I used to say. While Nico got these great positions and seemed to handle the opening smoothly, I usually got a horrible position.īack then, I thought it was just because he got very lucky. And I simply felt uncomfortable with my weakened king and the worse structure. I always felt horrible playing it.Īnd considering I was only implementing it against clearly weaker opponents, the results were also bad.Įvery move seemed so unnatural. With great expectations, I started to play the opening several times. I did not have to look too far to find a good example: my countrymate GM Nico Georgiadis started to play the Leningrad Dutch with phenomenal results.Īs he worked out the lines with our mutual Coach GM Artur Jussupow, it seemed like a good and easy choice. Back in 2014, I was thinking about adding a sharp line against 1.d4. The Leningrad Is A Great Opening, They Said… If something defines his character, then it will also define his way of playing. I am convinced, the way one plays chess always reflects the player’s personality. What works for your friend very well might be miserable for you. There are only openings that fit a certain level and style of player. There are many good, some dubious, and some bad openings. Let me tell you the truth: Do not trust people that try to up-sell you the “best opening” course. There are a lot of Courses on Openings because you can sell them well. If that is you, then I have good news for you. They think they will miss the latest “winning” trend and then stagnate forever, just because of that damn opening. With all these Video-Series around, it seems most people have big FOMO (fear of missing out) when it comes to openings. An IM thinks he must know “many more openings” in order to get the GM title. A 1500-rated thinks he needs to diversify and learn new openings. And not only by beginner chess players.Ī 2200 FIDE thinks Sicilian “is not fitting her level anymore”. One of the most frequently asked questions is: What is the best chess opening? In the span of one week, I got that question several times.
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