Chess forum by Grandmasters

Nc3 in front of the pawn or behind it?

Hello Chessmood Family,

      Is it better to play Nc3 after you have advanced the pawn as a general rule? Obviously not in the anti-sicilian but in other lines? I know the nf3 has a special relationship with castle kingside, so I understand the logic behind playing nf3 and blocking the f pawn.  But I find in other lines, that advancing the C pawn before playing nc3 gives me more space and dominance near the centre. Let me know your thoughts, thank you :)

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It depends on what you play. For example if you play 1.d4, White often wants to play 2.c4 followed by Nc3. However when you play 1.e4, playing c4 can create weaknesses in your position especially the d4-square. 

Nice answer from Kevin! 
Bobby, I had the same thoughts when I just started to play chess.
I realized that it's better to play c4 then Nc3 always, so eventually my first move was always 1.c4 :) 

Kevin gave a nice answer! 
 

I am a hardcore 1.d4 player and like that, I will advise you to play it behind pawn if you played 1.d4, but 1.d4 d5 2. Nc3 ( Veresov's system/opening ) isn't bad for white, whatever, white has more chances for the initiative. For example, let's take this moves ( showing examples for 1.d4 ):

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 ( 2...dxc4 3. Nc3 again, because of that knight blocking b5 square ) 3. Nc3 

                                                                           OR

1. d4 d5 2. Nc3 Nc6 ( 2... g6 3. e4!? that's the main threat for initiative ) 3. Bg5 e6 4. e4!?

Examples for 1. e4:

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 ( for calmer variation you should play 4. Nc3 ) 4... Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. cxd4 Bc4+ 7. Nc3 

note: this is for f4 pawn you mentioned too.

1.e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 Nf6 ( this tempo-jackpot example, I showed because of movment of both f4 and c4 pawns )

4. e5 Nd5 5. c4 Nb4 6. d4 Be7 7. Nc3

When we're talking about black pieces, just Sicilian is enough to explain everything:

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 ( I play this changed order of moves, it all goes to the same position after ) 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 ( that's it! )

Now?! You see how complex and flexible that question was?! Everything is different from opening to opening, from variation to variation,..

French , Sicilian or something else

Sir , what to do with this opening move order ?

1. e4 e6 2. d4 c5 *

Someone can sidestep both my French and Sicilian preparation  with your recommendation .

Can you suggest  something quickly ? 

Opponent plays both french and Siclian I guess . 

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Just d5, and black will get a very bad version of benoni :) 

Some questions about Benko gambit...

Hello chessmood family !

I post a pgn file about videos course of Benko gambit. Thanks for your remarks.

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Hello Mr. Pascual!
1st- After 2.Bf4 many moves are possible, Kg7. Kf8 (trying to bring him to d7, Ra3 is also fine).
The fight is on the 2 sides, so bishop is doing a better job, but in current position black rook is doing better than white one, he is more active, attacking pawn on a2, and blocking him... Because of that the position is around equal. 

2nd and 3rd, you are absolutely right! In the 2nd I didn't noticed Rf2! 
And in the 3rd I blundered Re1, Rf4 was best! 

Thank you! 

French game Question

I recently had a French game , there was little bit difference between the line you showed in Video 

https://chessmood.com/course/french-defence/episode/131

If you get chance can you please look into the game and update the pgn file with your comments , I wrote some of the things I thought in the annotation , want to find out what I have missed or could have been improved . 

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Hey Bhabatosh! 
A very nice game! 
Na3, Nb5 very logical. 
I'll make a video and upload in advance course soon, I have a feeling that 5.c3 instead of 5.Nf3 is the best :) 

Webinar - Time Management

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Right Mood - Right Move 

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#SLP version 3.1416

Clearly I need to stop giving away material for free. I would rather convert winning positions instead of saving losing ones. However, saving some of them when they happen is a good thing!

https://www.chess.com/live/game/3701567895

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Webinar-Workshop on the topic Time Management

Dear Friends, Dear PRO Members! In less than 2 hours we start a super interesting Webinar-workshop about the topic you have requested - Time Management This is the training that you should not miss! See you soon!

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I guess I get into a lot of lost positions LOL #SLP

Saved another one!

https://www.chess.com/live/game/3717054637

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ssss

Check this out

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