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I thought it was a standard practice to initially have your knights aggressively facing the opposing king. Clearly I haven’t been paying attention to my opponents’ knights’ setup!
These comments from The Chess Mind today
http://www.thechessmind.net/blog/201...ghts-face.html
Years ago the person known as Britt Greenbaum/Walter Smith came through our club a couple of times; he faced his knights backwards. Which I found a pretty silly attempt to look like a radical nonconformist. Alas, he kicked my butt.
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For some reason, I didn't develop a strong preference about this until a couple of years ago, when suddenly it became absolutely necessary for them to both be facing right. Which is kind of odd given that in 2D diagrams they're generally facing left, but there you go.
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I insist on my knights facing each other, because they are friends and look out for each other. I'm probably giving away some information about my opening and middle game preferences by saying that!
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I face my left knight to the left and my right knight to the right because then I can tell where they came from initially. My dad reasoned it that way and I've followed it since.
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When I was an unrated kid I always pointed my knights forward like every other beginner. Then I noticed the cover of Fischer's "My 60 Memorable Games" at the library and noticed that he had his king knight angled in. Then at my first USCF tournament in 1976 I saw that all the experienced rated players angled their knights in, either in straight profile or diagonally. Fast forward to today and I notice some of the top players pointing their knights forward like beginners. Those in this camp include Anand and Ivanchuk.
Kasparov angles his knights facing left regardless of color and so does Kramnik. I've seen Karpov do the opposite. As far as the knights facing to the rear - that has been done at the highest level. Fischer did that in his Candidates Match against Taimanov in one of his games with White in a Taimanov Sicilian - knights on c3 and c4 pointing backwards. Going into full crazy mode helps rack up 6-0 wins! I've seen any number of different photos of Fischer and the occasional You Tube video, and it seems that Bobby's knights just face wherever they landed without any thought whatsoever.
Perhaps the most high profile current proponent of side profile knights is none other than Magnus Carlsen. Maybe he'll reverse the trend.
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My kingside knight faces left and my queenside knight faces right. I like to start them both looking in and they keep the same direction for the entire game.
These comments from The Chess Mind today
http://www.thechessmind.net/blog/201...ghts-face.html
Years ago the person known as Britt Greenbaum/Walter Smith came through our club a couple of times; he faced his knights backwards. Which I found a pretty silly attempt to look like a radical nonconformist. Alas, he kicked my butt.
*****
For some reason, I didn't develop a strong preference about this until a couple of years ago, when suddenly it became absolutely necessary for them to both be facing right. Which is kind of odd given that in 2D diagrams they're generally facing left, but there you go.
*****
I insist on my knights facing each other, because they are friends and look out for each other. I'm probably giving away some information about my opening and middle game preferences by saying that!
*****
I face my left knight to the left and my right knight to the right because then I can tell where they came from initially. My dad reasoned it that way and I've followed it since.
*****
When I was an unrated kid I always pointed my knights forward like every other beginner. Then I noticed the cover of Fischer's "My 60 Memorable Games" at the library and noticed that he had his king knight angled in. Then at my first USCF tournament in 1976 I saw that all the experienced rated players angled their knights in, either in straight profile or diagonally. Fast forward to today and I notice some of the top players pointing their knights forward like beginners. Those in this camp include Anand and Ivanchuk.
Kasparov angles his knights facing left regardless of color and so does Kramnik. I've seen Karpov do the opposite. As far as the knights facing to the rear - that has been done at the highest level. Fischer did that in his Candidates Match against Taimanov in one of his games with White in a Taimanov Sicilian - knights on c3 and c4 pointing backwards. Going into full crazy mode helps rack up 6-0 wins! I've seen any number of different photos of Fischer and the occasional You Tube video, and it seems that Bobby's knights just face wherever they landed without any thought whatsoever.
Perhaps the most high profile current proponent of side profile knights is none other than Magnus Carlsen. Maybe he'll reverse the trend.
*****
My kingside knight faces left and my queenside knight faces right. I like to start them both looking in and they keep the same direction for the entire game.
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