I have read that there are other chess forums than the ones USCF has. Where are they? The one on the NORTHWEST CHESS website does not get much traffic.
In spite of all the criticism USCF gets, this is still the place to be!
Yes, this site right here is the place to be.
Some others are over-moderated (only opinions agreeing with the sitemaster’s are allowed) or under-moderated (e.g. RGCP and all its trolls).
Some state associations have forums, but are less used. For example, the Illinois Chess Association forums seem to attract new posts only two or three times per month.
Bill Smythe
For discussions of openings, ChessPub Forum is pretty active.
Do they talk about the Polish Benko (1. d4 c5 2. d5 b5) or the Knight-Advance Tarrasch French (1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 Nf6 4. e5 Ne4) ?
Bill Smythe
My first thought was to say “I hope not”, but sure enough:
chesspub.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/Y … 1065683285
chesspub.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/Y … 40303344/3
and:
OMG, I thought I was kidding.
No matter how original one tries to be, somebody has always done it before, and it’s already been deeply analyzed.
Bill Smythe
The Knight Advance is inferior to the Knight retreat: 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 Nf6 4. e5 Ng8.
Perhaps true. The opponent would run out of developing moves before I would. Then he’d be in zugzwang.
Bill Smythe
Ordinarily I’d call such lines garbage, I’ve lost enough French Defense games to you that I have to accord them respect.
I remember a French against Judge Leighton (c. 1991, when he would have been pushing 80), in which I had development complete by move 12 and he had all pieces on the back rank. I sacked a little bit for the initiative and got ground down in 50+ moves.
That’s what’s supposed to happen in the French! White is lulled into a false sense of superiority, and overextends.
As for 4…Ne4, it’s not as bad as it looks. White’s d-pawn becomes almost as much of a target as black’s advanced pawn. Sometimes there is counterplay on the h1-a8 diagonal. Even if black loses this pawn, it’s not necessarily over.
Bill Smythe