Overview
Most chess players are naturally talented but do not have the time to devote to chess theory, such is the pace of modern life. Yet it is human nature to want to do things well and to achieve good results.
To make the right choice of opening system is therefore of crucial importance for these players if they want to make the most of what they have.
Below master level and especially with Black, the most crucial thing is to strive for the initiative. It is absolutely no good trying to gradually equalize.
Leave that to Karpov, Kramnik, and the world championship matches, where we can admire the defensive technique from afar.
Try this style at club level and one ends up exhausted and frustrated. Pressurizing the opponent means getting on to the attack and this is where the fiery queen’s pawn opening comes into play.
After 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e5 Black immediately takes the fight to White at the cost of a pawn.
Active piece play is the predominant theme. Tactics abound.
White can lose in a few moves if he or she does not know what they are doing.
A life and death struggle is rarely what the White player wants at such an early stage of the game. At the very least the position will be laced with interest.
A study of the Budapest Gambit will place an extremely dangerous weapon into the hands of the club player.
About the Author:
IM Andrew Martin is the manager of Coaching for the English Chess Federation. This is his 16th DVD for ChessBase.
Martin has won various national and international tournaments. He has been playing for years in the Four Nations Chess League, at present (July 2009) for Wood Green Hilsmark Kingfisher, previously for the Camberley Chess Club. Martin received his title as international master in1984.
He earned his first grandmaster norm in the British Championship of 1997 in Brighton. Martin was a commentator on the chess world championship between Kasparov and Kramnik in 2000.
System Requirements:
Minimum: Dual Core, 2 GB RAM, Windows 7 or 8.1, DirectX11, graphics card with 256 MB RAM, DVD-ROM drive, Windows Media Player 9, ChessBase 14/Fritz 16 or included Reader and internet access for program activation.
Recommended: PC Intel i5 (Quadcore), 4 GB RAM, Windows 10, DirectX11, graphics card with 512 MB RAM or more, 100% DirectX10-compatible sound card, Windows Media Player 11, DVD-ROM drive and internet access for program activation.
