OT: Chess

D wrote:>
 >
 > On Fri, 27 Sep 2024, William Hyde wrote:
 >
 >>> Never played that... lately I've been playing the scandinavian. I
 >>> will meditate deeply on this!
 >>
 >> I do like the Scandinavian, especially the gambit variation.
 >>
 >> But I see videos on youtube of Magnus playing the rat.  If it gets
 >> popular I'll have to abandon it, perhaps for the Great Snake,
 >> Pterodactyl, or Hippopotamus.
 >
 > The hippo is a fascinating device! I have a book on it I haven't yet
 > gotten around to read. I can't make up my mind if it is madness or
 > brilliance.
The hippo scored a number of outstanding wins when it was first systematized in the seventies (it had existed before but only as a "push all pawns to the third rank" idea).  Ways were found to deal with it and it's status now is that of an inferior defense.  But it you're not playing against 2600 level opponents it's still quite playable.
 >
 > Usually, since I do not have a lot of time to devote to chess, I prefer
 > "easy" openings and systems such as the Colle. The colle, although
 > easily crushed by good players, serves me well when playing other
 > non-professional and non-amateur players like myself.
The Colle does not lead to a disadvantage for white.  It's problem, from my point of view, is that it is a strategically unsophisticated opening which is easy to equalize against.  I enjoyed playing against it as black as my opening problems were soon over.
But Colle was no fool, and the opening packs a punch.  It doesn't take much in the way of carelessness for black to be facing an irresistible attack after white finally achieves e4.  Nowadays I am weak enough that I'd probably lose to it against any kind of strongish player.
American Senior Master (and world poker champion) Ken Smith recommended that players without the time to learn a lot of theory try either the Colle or the Stonewall attack as white. When I lived in Texas both were very popular with players under 2000.
For variety, you might want to take a look at the Stonewall, both for white and black.
William Hyde