Before I decide to play in a USCF Correspondence Lightning Match with 6 games against the same person, I was hoping to get advice about a potential situation. If I open with d4 in my 3 games as White, and my opponent responds with d5 in all games as Black, is there a requirement (or an expectation) that one player vary a future move in each game so that the 3 games do not remain in synch? What are your experiences in practice? Is it against the rules if the games stay in synch for a long period of time or even for the whole games?
I am certainly no expert, but I do play in correspondence matches and quads, especially the ones here with the USCF. So here is my 1/2 cent…
There is no requirement to deviate, so technically all three games as white could go the same way. I think what you will find, though, depending on the setup, is that they all end up deviating at some point.
Especially if it is played on something like the ICCF server, as they will have the option to play one move in one game but not move all games at once. Not so much in mail or email, as all moves are done at once.
In my current match, I actually opened with three different moves as white to avoid this. However, my opponent opened with the same move as white for their three games as white, and I did three different responses. Ironically, despite playing the French, the carro-kahn, and the scicillian, we ended up in very similar positions for all three games. So even with forcing variation on my part, it seemed to bring us to the same place.
But your mileage may vary. I enjoy the opportunity to try different openings, but it is fine to play the same opening in all your games. I wouldn’t worry too much about them being all the same, your opponent will likely vary their response. And, who knows, you might take a different fork in the road at places where you are not sure of the best move.
- some random guy who doesn’t know much and isn’t high rated, so take it with a grain of salt.
2 Likes