This is a reader survey about one's preferred side after
1 d4 d5 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 c5 4 cxd5 exd5

As I understand it, this opening for Black has been
recommended for novice players because Black gets
easy development and piece activity usually at the cost
of an isolated queen pawn. It's usually a 'trade-off' of
pawn structure (for White) vs piece activity (for Black).

My hypothesis is that Black would be *comparatively* more
successful at lower levels of play because it's easier for
weaker Black players to handle positions with active pieces
and weaker White players tend to lack the technical skill
to exploit Black's isolated queen pawn.

Early in his career Kasparov played this opening for Black.
After he began playing in stronger events, he quit using it.

After 1 d4 d5 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 c5 4 cxd5 exd5, do stronger
players prefer White and weaker players prefer Black?

If you have experience in this opening with either colour
(preferably with both colours), then please explain which
side you prefer and why. You also may state your
rating/grade if you believe that it's appropriate.

Thanks in advance.

--Nick

In article . com,
"Nick" wrote:

My hypothesis is that Black would be *comparatively* more
successful at lower levels of play because it's easier for
weaker Black players to handle positions with active pieces
and weaker White players tend to lack the technical skill
to exploit Black's isolated queen pawn.

If you have experience in this opening with either colour
(preferably with both colours), then please explain which
side you prefer and why. You also may state your
rating/grade if you believe that it's appropriate.

I play a the Tarrasch and a lot of IQP positions.

I think you're partly right. In my experience, players really
underestimate IQPs. Really only the experts and masters I've been
playing lately recognize that an IQP isn't just a weakness and play
accordingly.

Below that, people don't seem to recognize that it can be an offensive
weapon. It's really not just piece activity - it also confers a space
advantage in the center. I've had so much success with the Tarrasch
that I've been incorporating the IQP into more and more of my repetioire.

I certainly feel like a lot of my opponents recently have been bad
judges of the dynamic factors in a position in general - not just with
respect to IQPs.


Early in his career Kasparov played this opening for Black.
After he began playing in stronger events, he quit using it.

This is somewhat of a simplification, however. Kasparov, after all,
played the Tarrasch in his first match against Karpov. He didn't do
very well with it, but his problems really had to do with his poor (at
the time, relative to Karpov) technical skills. He has continued to use
it occasionally since then.

I have games of Illescas-Cordoba played it into the 90s. I have a game
of Ponomariov playing it in 1998, Murray Chandler in 1996, Grischuk in
2000 and so on. It's still a very viable defense at high levels.

As for if you can use it against technical players, well, Spassky, used
it successfully against Petrosian - so clearly it's a weapon that can be
used at almost any level.

-Ron

Ron wrote:
In article . com,
"Nick" wrote:
(Some of the context was snipped by Ron.)
My hypothesis is that Black would be *comparatively* more
successful at lower levels of play because it's easier for
weaker Black players to handle positions with active pieces
and weaker White players tend to lack the technical skill
to exploit Black's isolated queen pawn.

I hypothesized that Black would be more successful
at lower levels of play than at higher levels of plays.

If you have experience in this opening with either colour
(preferably with both colours), then please explain which
side you prefer and why. You also may state your
rating/grade if you believe that it's appropriate.

I play a the Tarrasch and a lot of IQP positions.

I think you're partly right. In my experience, players really
underestimate IQPs. Really only the experts and masters
I've been playing lately recognize that an IQP isn't just a
weakness and play accordingly.

Below that, people don't seem to recognize that it can be an offensive
weapon. It's really not just piece activity - it also confers a space
advantage in the center. I've had so much success with the Tarrasch
that I've been incorporating the IQP into more and more of my repetioire.

I certainly feel like a lot of my opponents recently have been bad
judges of the dynamic factors in a position in general - not just with
respect to IQPs.

Early in his career Kasparov played this opening for Black.
After he began playing in stronger events, he quit using it.

This is somewhat of a simplification, however. Kasparov, after all,
played the Tarrasch in his first match against Karpov. He didn't do
very well with it, but his problems really had to do with his poor (at
the time, relative to Karpov) technical skills. He has continued to use
it occasionally since then.

What I meant is that Kasparov no longer uses it
as his primary defence to 1 d4.

I have games of Illescas-Cordoba played it into the 90s. I have a game
of Ponomariov playing it in 1998, Murray Chandler in 1996, Grischuk in
2000 and so on. It's still a very viable defense at high levels.

Before I created this thread, I checked ChessBase and I
noticed that GM Grischuk has played it as Black in 2006
(though he lost to GM Van Wely).

--Nick

As for if you can use it against technical players, well, Spassky, used
it successfully against Petrosian - so clearly it's a weapon that can be
used at almost any level.

In article .com,
"Nick" wrote:

I expect that Ron has a more comprehensive database than I have
at this moment. But I just did a search in the online ChessBase
for games in which Kasparov played as Black after 1 d4 d5
2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 c5 4 cxd5 exd5 and I found only five games,
none of which were played against Karpov and none of
which were later than 1983.

You're searching too narrowly. For example, in the world championship
match, karpov played 3.Nf3. Play transposed, however, as it usually
does when white is playing for a win.

[Event "wcc"]
[Site "Moscow"]
[Date "1984.09.28"]
[Round "07"]
[White "Karpov A"]
[Black "Kasparov G"]

[Result "1-0"]

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 c5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.g3 Nf6 6.Bg2 Be7 7.O-O O-O 8.Nc3
Nc6 9.Bg5 cxd4 10.Nxd4 h6 11.Be3 Re8 12.Qb3 Na5 13.Qc2 Bg4 14.Nf5 Rc8
15.Nxe7+ Rxe7 16.Rad1 Qe8 17.h3 Bh5 18.Bxd5 Bg6 19.Qc1 Nxd5 20.Rxd5 Nc4
21.Bd4 Rec7 22.b3 Nb6 23.Re5 Qd7 24.Qe3 f6 25.Rc5 Rxc5 26.Bxc5 Qxh3
27.Rd1 h5 28.Rd4 Nd7 29.Bd6 Bf7 30.Nd5 Bxd5 31.Rxd5 a6 32.Bf4 Nf8
33.Qd3 Qg4 34.f3 Qg6 35.Kf2 Rc2 36.Qe3 Rc8 37.Qe7 b5 38.Rd8 Rxd8
39.Qxd8 Qf7 40.Bd6 g5 41.Qa8 Kg7 42.Qxa6 1-0


[Event "wcc"]
[Site "Moscow"]
[Date "1984.10.05"]
[Round "09"]
[White "Karpov A"]
[Black "Kasparov G"]
[Result "1-0"]

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 c5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.g3 Nf6 6.Bg2 Be7 7.O-O O-O 8.Nc3
Nc6 9.Bg5 cxd4 10.Nxd4 h6 11.Be3 Re8 12.Qb3 Na5 13.Qc2 Bg4 14.Nf5 Rc8
15.Bd4 Bc5 16.Bxc5 Rxc5 17.Ne3 Be6 18.Rad1 Qc8 19.Qa4 Rd8 20.Rd3 a6
21.Rfd1 Nc4 22.Nxc4 Rxc4 23.Qa5 Rc5 24.Qb6 Rd7 25.Rd4 Qc7 26.Qxc7 Rdxc7
27.h3 h5 28.a3 g6 29.e3 Kg7 30.Kh2 Rc4 31.Bf3 b5 32.Kg2 R7c5
33.Rxc4 Rxc4 34.Rd4 Kf8 35.Be2 Rxd4 36.exd4 Ke7 37.Na2 Bc8 38.Nb4 Kd6
39.f3 Ng8 40.h4 Nh6 41.Kf2 Nf5 42.Nc2 f6 43.Bd3 g5 44.Bxf5 Bxf5 45.Ne3
Bb1 46.b4 gxh4 47.Ng2 hxg3+ 48.Kxg3 Ke6 49.Nf4+ Kf5 50.Nxh5 Ke6 51.Nf4+
Kd6 52.Kg4 Bc2 53.Kh5 Bd1 54.Kg6 Ke7 55.Nxd5+ Ke6 56.Nc7+ Kd7 57.Nxa6
Bxf3 58.Kxf6 Kd6 59.Kf5 Kd5 60.Kf4 Bh1 61.Ke3 Kc4 62.Nc5 Bc6 63.Nd3 Bg2
64.Ne5+ Kc3 65.Ng6 Kc4 66.Ne7 Bb7 67.Nf5 Bg2 68.Nd6+ Kb3 69.Nxb5 Ka4
70.Nd6 1-0

A really amazing win by Karpov. Nobody really considers this the
Tarrasch's finest hour, but how many people would even try to play for a
win on white's 42nd move?

I believe these were the only two Tarrasch games in that match, as
Kasparov switched to the QID and later the Tartakower defense.

Kasparov also used the Tarrasch as his primary weapon in his candidates
final against Smyslov (who played 2.Nf3, making your search even more
confusing).

[Event "Candidates' match, final"]
[Site "Vilnius"]
[Date "1984.??.??"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Smyslov,V"]
[Black "Kasparov,G"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D34"]

1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 c5 3. c4 e6 4. cxd5 exd5 5. g3 Nf6 6. Bg2 Be7 7. O-O O-O
8. Nc3 Nc6 9. Bg5 cxd4 10. Nxd4 h6 11. Be3 Re8 12. a3 Be6 13. Kh1 Qd7
14. Nxe6 fxe6 15. f4 Red8 16. Bg1 Rac8 17. Qa4 Kh8 18. Rad1 Qe8 19. e4 d4
20. Ne2 Bc5 21. Qb5 Bb6 22. h3 e5 23. fxe5 Nxe5 24. Qxe8 Rxe8 25. Nxd4
Nc4 26. e5 Rxe5 27. Bxb7 Rc7 28. Rc1 Nxb2 29. Rxc7 Bxc7 30. Nc6 Re2 31.
Nd4 Re5 32. Nf5 Bb6 33. Nxh6 Ra5 34. Bxb6 axb6 35. Nf5 Rxa3 36. Kh2 Nc4
37. g4 Ra7 38. Bh1 Ne5 39. g5 Nh5 40. Re1 Ra5 1/2-1/2

[Event "Candidates' match, final"]
[Site "Vilnius"]
[Date "1984.??.??"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Smyslov,V"]
[Black "Kasparov,G"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D34"]

1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 c5 3. c4 e6 4. cxd5 exd5 5. g3 Nf6 6. Bg2 Be7 7. O-O O-O
8. Nc3 Nc6 9. Bg5 cxd4 10. Nxd4 h6 11. Be3 Re8 12. a3 Be6 13. Kh1 Bg4
14. f3 Bh5 15. Bg1 Qd7 16. Qa4 Bc5 17. Rad1 Bb6 18. Rfe1 Bg6 19. Qb5
Rad8 20. e3 Qd6 21. Nce2 Ne5 22. Qb3 Ba5 23. Nc3 Nd3 24. Re2 Nc5 25. Qa2
Bxc3 26. bxc3 Qa6 27. Red2 Na4 28. Qb3 1/2-1/2

[Event "Candidates' match, final"]

[Site "Vilnius"]
[Date "1984.??.??"]
[Round "10"]
[White "Smyslov,V"]
[Black "Kasparov,G"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D34"]

1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 c5 3. c4 e6 4. cxd5 exd5 5. g3 Nf6 6. Bg2 Be7 7. O-O O-O
8. Nc3 Nc6 9. Bg5 cxd4 10. Nxd4 h6 11. Be3 Re8 12. a3 Be6 13. Kh1 Bg4
14. f3 Bh5 15. Nxc6 bxc6 16. Na4 Qc8 17. Bd4 Qe6 18. Rc1 Nd7 19. Rc3 Bf6
20. e3 Bg6 21. Kg1 Be7 22. Qd2 Rab8 23. Re1 a5 24. Bf1 h5 25. Rec1 Ne5
26. Bxe5 Qxe5 27. Rxc6 Bf6 28. R6c5 Qxe3 29. Qxe3 Rxe3 30. Rxd5 Rxf3 31.
Be2 Re3 32. Bxh5 Bxh5 33. Rxh5 g5 34. Nc3 Rd8 35. Rc2 Kg7 36. Kg2 Kg6
37. g4 Rd4 38. h3

1/2-1/2

[Event "Candidates' match, final"]
[Site "Vilnius"]
[Date "1984.??.??"]
[Round "12"]
[White "Smyslov,V"]
[Black "Kasparov,G"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D34"]

1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 c5 3. c4 e6 4. cxd5 exd5 5. g3 Nf6 6. Bg2 Be7 7. O-O O-O
8. Nc3 Nc6 9. Bg5 cxd4 10. Nxd4 h6 11. Be3 Re8 12. a3 Be6 13. Nxe6 fxe6
14. Qa4 Kh8 15. Rad1 Rc8 16. Kh1 a6 17. f4 Na5 18. f5 b5 19. Qh4 Ng8 20.
Qh3 Nc4 21. Bc1 Bg5 22. fxe6 Bxc1 23. Rxc1 Ne3 24. Nxd5 Nxf1 25. Rxf1
Rf8 26. Nf4 Ne7 27. Qg4 g5 28. Qh3 Rf7 29. Nd3 Rxf1 30. Bxf1 Kg7 31. Qg4
Qd5 32. e4 Qd4 33. h4 Rf8 34. Be2 Qe3 35. Kg2 Ng6 36. h5 Ne7 37. b4 Kh7
38. Kh2 Rd8 39. e5 Rxd3 40. Bxd3 Qxd3 0-1

Kasparov also used it in his seimfinal match against Beliavsky.

-Ron

Ron wrote:
In article .com,
"Nick" wrote:
I expect that Ron has a more comprehensive database than I have
at this moment. But I just did a search in the online ChessBase
for games in which Kasparov played as Black after 1 d4 d5
2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 c5 4 cxd5 exd5 and I found only five games,
none of which were played against Karpov and none of
which were later than 1983.

You're searching too narrowly.

That possibility came to my mind after I wrote my previous post.
On the other hand, my original post did specify "1 d4 d5
2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 c5 4 cxd5 exd5" as the opening in question.

For example, in the world championship match, karpov played
3.Nf3. Play transposed, however, as it usually does when white
is playing for a win.

[Event "wcc"]
[Site "Moscow"]
[Date "1984.09.28"]
[Round "07"]
[White "Karpov A"]
[Black "Kasparov G"]

[Result "1-0"]

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 c5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.g3 Nf6 6.Bg2 Be7 7.O-O O-O 8.Nc3
Nc6 9.Bg5 cxd4 10.Nxd4 h6 11.Be3 Re8 12.Qb3 Na5 13.Qc2 Bg4 14.Nf5 Rc8
15.Nxe7+ Rxe7 16.Rad1 Qe8 17.h3 Bh5 18.Bxd5 Bg6 19.Qc1 Nxd5 20.Rxd5 Nc4
21.Bd4 Rec7 22.b3 Nb6 23.Re5 Qd7 24.Qe3 f6 25.Rc5 Rxc5 26.Bxc5 Qxh3
27.Rd1 h5 28.Rd4 Nd7 29.Bd6 Bf7 30.Nd5 Bxd5 31.Rxd5 a6 32.Bf4 Nf8
33.Qd3 Qg4 34.f3 Qg6 35.Kf2 Rc2 36.Qe3 Rc8 37.Qe7 b5 38.Rd8 Rxd8
39.Qxd8 Qf7 40.Bd6 g5 41.Qa8 Kg7 42.Qxa6 1-0


[Event "wcc"]
[Site "Moscow"]
[Date "1984.10.05"]
[Round "09"]
[White "Karpov A"]
[Black "Kasparov G"]
[Result "1-0"]

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 c5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.g3 Nf6 6.Bg2 Be7 7.O-O O-O 8.Nc3
Nc6 9.Bg5 cxd4 10.Nxd4 h6 11.Be3 Re8 12.Qb3 Na5 13.Qc2 Bg4 14.Nf5 Rc8
15.Bd4 Bc5 16.Bxc5 Rxc5 17.Ne3 Be6 18.Rad1 Qc8 19.Qa4 Rd8 20.Rd3 a6
21.Rfd1 Nc4 22.Nxc4 Rxc4 23.Qa5 Rc5 24.Qb6 Rd7 25.Rd4 Qc7 26.Qxc7 Rdxc7
27.h3 h5 28.a3 g6 29.e3 Kg7 30.Kh2 Rc4 31.Bf3 b5 32.Kg2 R7c5
33.Rxc4 Rxc4 34.Rd4 Kf8 35.Be2 Rxd4 36.exd4 Ke7 37.Na2 Bc8 38.Nb4 Kd6
39.f3 Ng8 40.h4 Nh6 41.Kf2 Nf5 42.Nc2 f6 43.Bd3 g5 44.Bxf5 Bxf5 45.Ne3
Bb1 46.b4 gxh4 47.Ng2 hxg3+ 48.Kxg3 Ke6 49.Nf4+ Kf5 50.Nxh5 Ke6 51.Nf4+
Kd6 52.Kg4 Bc2 53.Kh5 Bd1 54.Kg6 Ke7 55.Nxd5+ Ke6 56.Nc7+ Kd7 57.Nxa6
Bxf3 58.Kxf6 Kd6 59.Kf5 Kd5 60.Kf4 Bh1 61.Ke3 Kc4 62.Nc5 Bc6 63.Nd3 Bg2
64.Ne5+ Kc3 65.Ng6 Kc4 66.Ne7 Bb7 67.Nf5 Bg2 68.Nd6+ Kb3 69.Nxb5 Ka4
70.Nd6 1-0

A really amazing win by Karpov. Nobody really considers this the
Tarrasch's finest hour, but how many people would even try to play for a
win on white's 42nd move?

I believe these were the only two Tarrasch games in that match, as
Kasparov switched to the QID and later the Tartakower defense.

Does Ron believe that Kasparov changed his opening for Black
after 1 d4 on account of his 0 / 2 score with the Tarrasch?

Kasparov also used the Tarrasch as his primary weapon in his candidates
final against Smyslov (who played 2.Nf3, making your search even more
confusing).

[Event "Candidates' match, final"]
[Site "Vilnius"]
[Date "1984.??.??"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Smyslov,V"]
[Black "Kasparov,G"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D34"]

1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 c5 3. c4 e6 4. cxd5 exd5 5. g3 Nf6 6. Bg2 Be7 7. O-O O-O
8. Nc3 Nc6 9. Bg5 cxd4 10. Nxd4 h6 11. Be3 Re8 12. a3 Be6 13. Kh1 Qd7
14. Nxe6 fxe6 15. f4 Red8 16. Bg1 Rac8 17. Qa4 Kh8 18. Rad1 Qe8 19. e4 d4
20. Ne2 Bc5 21. Qb5 Bb6 22. h3 e5 23. fxe5 Nxe5 24. Qxe8 Rxe8 25. Nxd4
Nc4 26. e5 Rxe5 27. Bxb7 Rc7 28. Rc1 Nxb2 29. Rxc7 Bxc7 30. Nc6 Re2 31.
Nd4 Re5 32. Nf5 Bb6 33. Nxh6 Ra5 34. Bxb6 axb6 35. Nf5 Rxa3 36. Kh2 Nc4
37. g4 Ra7 38. Bh1 Ne5 39. g5 Nh5 40. Re1 Ra5 1/2-1/2

[Event "Candidates' match, final"]
[Site "Vilnius"]
[Date "1984.??.??"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Smyslov,V"]
[Black "Kasparov,G"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D34"]

1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 c5 3. c4 e6 4. cxd5 exd5 5. g3 Nf6 6. Bg2 Be7 7. O-O O-O
8. Nc3 Nc6 9. Bg5 cxd4 10. Nxd4 h6 11. Be3 Re8 12. a3 Be6 13. Kh1 Bg4
14. f3 Bh5 15. Bg1 Qd7 16. Qa4 Bc5 17. Rad1 Bb6 18. Rfe1 Bg6 19. Qb5
Rad8 20. e3 Qd6 21. Nce2 Ne5 22. Qb3 Ba5 23. Nc3 Nd3 24. Re2 Nc5 25. Qa2
Bxc3 26. bxc3 Qa6 27. Red2 Na4 28. Qb3 1/2-1/2

[Event "Candidates' match, final"]

[Site "Vilnius"]
[Date "1984.??.??"]
[Round "10"]
[White "Smyslov,V"]
[Black "Kasparov,G"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D34"]

1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 c5 3. c4 e6 4. cxd5 exd5 5. g3 Nf6 6. Bg2 Be7 7. O-O O-O
8. Nc3 Nc6 9. Bg5 cxd4 10. Nxd4 h6 11. Be3 Re8 12. a3 Be6 13. Kh1 Bg4
14. f3 Bh5 15. Nxc6 bxc6 16. Na4 Qc8 17. Bd4 Qe6 18. Rc1 Nd7 19. Rc3 Bf6
20. e3 Bg6 21. Kg1 Be7 22. Qd2 Rab8 23. Re1 a5 24. Bf1 h5 25. Rec1 Ne5
26. Bxe5 Qxe5 27. Rxc6 Bf6 28. R6c5 Qxe3 29. Qxe3 Rxe3 30. Rxd5 Rxf3 31.
Be2 Re3 32. Bxh5 Bxh5 33. Rxh5 g5 34. Nc3 Rd8 35. Rc2 Kg7 36. Kg2 Kg6
37. g4 Rd4 38. h3

1/2-1/2

[Event "Candidates' match, final"]
[Site "Vilnius"]
[Date "1984.??.??"]
[Round "12"]
[White "Smyslov,V"]
[Black "Kasparov,G"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D34"]

1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 c5 3. c4 e6 4. cxd5 exd5 5. g3 Nf6 6. Bg2 Be7 7. O-O O-O
8. Nc3 Nc6 9. Bg5 cxd4 10. Nxd4 h6 11. Be3 Re8 12. a3 Be6 13. Nxe6 fxe6
14. Qa4 Kh8 15. Rad1 Rc8 16. Kh1 a6 17. f4 Na5 18. f5 b5 19. Qh4 Ng8 20.
Qh3 Nc4 21. Bc1 Bg5 22. fxe6 Bxc1 23. Rxc1 Ne3 24. Nxd5 Nxf1 25. Rxf1
Rf8 26. Nf4 Ne7 27. Qg4 g5 28. Qh3 Rf7 29. Nd3 Rxf1 30. Bxf1 Kg7 31. Qg4
Qd5 32. e4 Qd4 33. h4 Rf8 34. Be2 Qe3 35. Kg2 Ng6 36. h5 Ne7 37. b4 Kh7
38. Kh2 Rd8 39. e5 Rxd3 40. Bxd3 Qxd3 0-1

Kasparov also used it in his seimfinal match against Beliavsky.
-Ron

Thanks to Ron for the games and his general comments here.
Ron has studied the Tarrasch much more than I have done.

"He (Kasparov) has continued to use it (the Tarrasch)
occasionally since then (his first match with Karpov)."
--Ron

Could Ron please cite some games in which Kasparov
has used the Tarrasch as Black *after* his first match
witn Karpov in 1984?

Does Ron know of any strong GM (FIDE 2600+) today
who uses the Tarrasch as his primary defence for Black
after 1 d4?

--Nick

In article .com,
"Nick" wrote:

Does Ron believe that Kasparov changed his opening for Black
after 1 d4 on account of his 0 / 2 score with the Tarrasch?

My personal opinion is that Kasparov realized that the IQP endgames
Karpov reached were more Karpov's style than Kasparov's. Obviously, the
fact that he scored poorly with it has to have been a factor.

I do not believe, however, that Kasparov lost confidence in the defense
in general - although obviously you'd have to ask him.

"He (Kasparov) has continued to use it (the Tarrasch)
occasionally since then (his first match with Karpov)."
--Ron

Could Ron please cite some games in which Kasparov
has used the Tarrasch as Black *after* his first match
witn Karpov in 1984?

Hort-Kasparov, Cologne, 1988 comes to mind. I don't have an
easily-cut-and-pasteable version of this game handy, so you'll have to
look it up yourself.

I'm sure I could find more examples if I looked, but the only other game
I have handy is a simul from 1987.

Does Ron know of any strong GM (FIDE 2600+) today
who uses the Tarrasch as his primary defence for Black
after 1 d4?

I know that Grischuk plays it regularly, although I do not know if it's
his "primary" defense. Honestly, most of my study doesn't involve very
many recent games, since I've found that few of my opponents are up on
modern theory, and I'm still finding tons of worthwhile ideas (like the
-a5-a4-a3 pawn push in the game I posted recently) in games from the
'80s.

-Ron

Ron wrote :

Hort-Kasparov, Cologne, 1988 comes to mind. I don't have an
easily-cut-and-pasteable version of this game handy, so you'll have to
look it up yourself.
Tried to, but didn't. The only game Hort/Kasparov (Cologne 1988) I could
find was:
http://www.chess-lovers.org/palview4/parties/hk88.htm
and it is not a Tarrasch. Faulty database?


Does Ron know of any strong GM (FIDE 2600+) today
who uses the Tarrasch as his primary defence for Black
after 1 d4?
Have a look at the opening report:
http://www.chess-lovers.org/scid/d32j.html
Grischuk uses it quite often indeed.

James

James wrote:
Ron wrote :
Hort-Kasparov, Cologne, 1988 comes to mind. I don't have an
easily-cut-and-pasteable version of this game handy, so you'll
have to look it up yourself.

Tried to, but didn't. The only game Hort/Kasparov (Cologne 1988)
I could find was:
http://www.chess-lovers.org/palview4/parties/hk88.htm
and it is not a Tarrasch. Faulty database?

I was able to find this Hort-Kasparov game (Cologne 1988):
This game is a Tarrasch without an IQP for Black.
(I am typing the moves, so please excuse any typo.)

1 c4 Nf6 2 Nc3 c5 3 g3 e6 4 Nf3 d5 5 cxd5 exd5
6 d4 Nc6 7 Bg2 Be7 8 O-O O-O 9 Be3 c4 10 Ne5 h6
11 h3 Bb4 12 Qa4 Bxc3 13 bxc3 Bf5 14 g4 Bh7
15 Bf4 Re8 16 Rad1 a6 17 Bg3 b5 18 Qa3 Qb6
19 Qc1 Ne4 20 Bxe4 Bxe4 21 Nd7 Qd8 22 Nc5 Bg6
23 Qd2 a5 24 f3 b4 25 e4 b3 26 axb3 cxb3
27 Nxb3 dxe4 28 fxe4 Bxe4 29 c4 Qb6 30 Nc5 Rad8
31 Qf2 Nxd4 32 Nxe4 Rxe4 33 Qxf7+ Kh7 34 Kh2 Qc6
35 Rf2 Rd7 36 Qf8 Qxc4 37 Rdf1 Re2 38 Rxe2 Qxe2+
39 Rf2 Qe4 40 Rf4 Qe2+ 41 Rf2 Qe6 42 Qa8 Qd5
43 Qf8 a4 44 h4 Rb7 45 Qa3 Qe4 46 Kh3 Rb3
47 Qf8 a3 48 g5 Qh1+ 49 Kg4 h5+ 50 Kf4 Ne6+ 0-1

Does Ron know of any strong GM (FIDE 2600+) today
who uses the Tarrasch as his primary defence for Black
after 1 d4?

Have a look at the opening report:
http://www.chess-lovers.org/scid/d32j.html
Grischuk uses it quite often indeed.

How useful does James find SCID as compared
to any other chess databases (e.g. ChessBase,
Chess Assistant)?

--Nick

In article ,
James wrote:

Ron wrote :

Hort-Kasparov, Cologne, 1988 comes to mind. I don't have an
easily-cut-and-pasteable version of this game handy, so you'll have to
look it up yourself.
Tried to, but didn't. The only game Hort/Kasparov (Cologne 1988) I could
find was:
http://www.chess-lovers.org/palview4/parties/hk88.htm
and it is not a Tarrasch. Faulty database?

Possibly. The game included in Aagard & Lund's book is definitely a
Tarrasch.

Does Ron know of any strong GM (FIDE 2600+) today
who uses the Tarrasch as his primary defence for Black
after 1 d4?
Have a look at the opening report:
http://www.chess-lovers.org/scid/d32j.html
Grischuk uses it quite often indeed.

Bear in mind that this page doesn't appear to include games where white
plays Nf3 on move two or three and then transposes, although maybe it
includes them in some of the later data.

-Ron

Nick wrote:
How useful does James find SCID as compared
to any other chess databases (e.g. ChessBase,
Chess Assistant)?

--Nick


Well, I would be delighted to answer the question if I had chessbase...
but I don't.
Scid fits my needs. It is free and can use modern analysis engines by
tweaking them a little (using polyglot is mandatory for all UCI engines,
but it works very well).
The search functions are enough for me, and there are some very
interesting options for exporting opening reports or games in HTML.
There are drawbacks of course. First, you have to find your own
databases, and there are also shortcomings regarding the insertion of
comments in the game, for example.
Too bad Shane Hudson disappeared from the web the 8th of April 2004. It
was really a good free software.

James