Junkyard Openings 5.0: A suggested repertoire

[Ken Craft]

Re: Junkyard Openings 5.0: A suggested repertoire

I used the Penguin playing blitz yesterday.

[Alan Baljeu]

Re: Junkyard Openings 5.0: A suggested repertoire

I understood the Penguin was 1.Nf3 and 2.Rg1. Definitely one for the junkyard, and not part of any suggested repertoire.

[Kevin Pacey]

Re: Junkyard Openings 5.0: A suggested repertoire

I understood the Penguin was 1.Nf3 and 2.Rg1. Definitely one for the junkyard, and not part of any suggested repertoire.

That was Schiller's invention. A google search leads to it straight away (or the Penguin Variation 1.Nf3 d5 2.c4 d4 3.Rg1), but as far as Suttles' idea of a Penguin setup goes, I was going by my memory of a story in print I recalled from somewhere. Maybe it was related by Lawrence Day or Jon Berry?!

[Kevin Pacey]

Re: Junkyard Openings 5.0: A suggested repertoire

I used the Penguin playing blitz yesterday.

With great success, if I might presume?! :D

So far I've used all of my suggested White offbeat repertoire choices at least once in tournament games, though not always victoriously. Same goes for the Latvian, Fajarowicz Variation, Black Knights Tango and Old Indian, as far as my Black tournament games go.

[Kevin Pacey]

Re: Junkyard Openings 5.0: A suggested repertoire

I understood the Penguin was 1.Nf3 and 2.Rg1. Definitely one for the junkyard, and not part of any suggested repertoire.

The oddball variation 6.Rg1 against the Najdorf was actually popular at the top level for a while. Unoffically, I may have played the first database-recorded game with it in 1990.

[Louis Morin]

Re : Re: Junkyard Openings 5.0: A suggested repertoire

B) 4.Qd5 f6 5.exf6 Nxf6 6.Qb3 d5 7.Nc3 d4 8.Nb5 Bg4 (E.Lundin-Stoltz, Stockholm 1932/33) 9.Nbxd4 Nxd4 10.Nxd4 0-0-0 11.c3 +/- ECO.

Actually you should realize that there are serious books on the Englund, like on most of these "off-beat" openings that ECO pretends to "refute" in a footnote.

After 4.Qd5 f6 5.exf6 Nxf6 6.Qb3 d5 7.Nc3, the standard move is now 7...Bd7! (intending to castle), because it is very risky for White to take b7 or d5.

I do not know if the Englund is viable at master level, but it is definitely at expert level. I have played dozens games with Black in the last few years, with a very good score. The line I consider the most difficult to meet is 1,d4 e5 2.dxe5 Nc6 3,Nf3 Qe7 4,Nc3!. Black regains his pawn, but there is no easy way to equalize.

[Lawrence Day]

Re: Junkyard Openings 5.0: A suggested repertoire

The Ponziani has been used by IM Lawrence Day on more than one occasion.

In 1978, after Brian Hartman clobbered me with 3..f5, I was cured.

[Kevin Pacey]

Re: Re : Re: Junkyard Openings 5.0: A suggested repertoire

Actually you should realize that there are serious books on the Englund, like on most of these "off-beat" openings that ECO pretends to "refute" in a footnote.

As various posts or threads I've made might hint at, I'm not altogether unfamilar with the concept of offbeat openings being possibly underestimated by the conventional wisdom followed implicitly by many books, including ECO, which I use for the sake of example.

I do not know if the Englund is viable at master level, but it is definitely at expert level. I have played dozens games with Black in the last few years, with a very good score. The line I consider the most difficult to meet is 1,d4 e5 2.dxe5 Nc6 3,Nf3 Qe7 4,Nc3!. Black regains his pawn, but there is no easy way to equalize.

Sadly, there are not too many Black wins I've found in my few databases after the continuation 4.Nc3. Lots of losses, including one of yours from 2006. :( As I wrote earlier, I think the Englund may not be as bad as its reputation, but that doesn't mean Black can expect to avoid some sort of disadvantage against best play, whatever it is.

[Vlad Drkulec]

Re: Re : Re: Junkyard Openings 5.0: A suggested repertoire

As various posts or threads I've made might hint at, I'm not altogether unfamilar with the concept of offbeat openings being possibly underestimated by the conventional wisdom followed implicitly by many books, including ECO, which I use for the sake of example.


Sadly, there are not too many Black wins I've found in my few databases after the continuation 4.Nc3. Lots of losses, including one of yours from 2006. :( As I wrote earlier, I think the Englund may not be as bad as its reputation, but that doesn't mean Black can expect to avoid some sort of disadvantage against best play, whatever it is.

A couple of years ago I lost a rated training game in the Englund as white when I retreated my queen to d1 after winning the pawn. It was a highly contested game but the extra tempo I lost with the queen retreat never allowed me to get back into the game. Last year someone played it against me again and I retreated the queen to b3 as recommended in the books that I consulted after the earlier loss. It was still a tense game but the outcome was never in great doubt. The kibitzers were merciless in razzing my opponent about his opening position. One wit said that white's dominating position was one that you would expect him to have after giving up a gambit pawn not after getting one from black.

[Kevin Pacey]

Re: Re : Re: Junkyard Openings 5.0: A suggested repertoire

A couple of years ago I lost a rated training game in the Englund as white when I retreated my queen to d1 after winning the pawn. It was a highly contested game but the extra tempo I lost with the queen retreat never allowed me to get back into the game. Last year someone played it against me again and I retreated the queen to b3 as recommended in the books that I consulted after the earlier loss. It was still a tense game but the outcome was never in great doubt. The kibitzers were merciless in razzing my opponent about his opening position. One wit said that white's dominating position was one that you would expect him to have after giving up a gambit pawn not after getting one from black.

Mercy seldom follows a loss resulting after one uses an opening with a poor reputation.

After Qb3, your opponent might have tried my recommended idea of ...b6 in reply (see an earlier post of mine), if he instead played the normal ...d5. The move ...b6 may not be objectively best, but it might have forced you to think for yourself at an earlier stage.

[Louis Morin]

Re : Re: Re : Re: Junkyard Openings 5.0: A suggested repertoire

Mercy seldom follows a loss resulting after one uses an opening with a poor reputation.

If you really believe that the Englund has a "poor reputation", then you should look at this one:

http://jeromegambit.blogspot.ca/