Temposchlucker

 I started my new openings repertoire a year ago at the club after a 5 year break. I played in a group under 1700 and scored 9 out of 12 with it. This year I'm promoted to the group rated higher than 1700. I only knew the first three moves of each opening. The London System 1.d4 ... 2.Bf4 ... 3.e3 ... The Sniper 1. ... c5 2. ... g6 3. ... Bg7 The HAD 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.d4  cxd4 The reason I scored well: I was the highest rated player in the group. Usually I score terribly against lower rated players though. I keep dropping half points due to time trouble. But since I'm no longer looking for the ultimate tactical shot every move, the time trouble is basically over. I look for ways to bolster the center, and give the opponent the chance to go astray. Which he usually does. This year I will be playing against higher rated players, so I will have to adapt a bit. I'm changing the move order here and there.  I play the London Jobava system, which is a bit more aggressive tha...

 The past month I have been working hard on my four new openings. I have become a premium member of Chessable, who have a nice concept of training with spaced repetition, combined with interactive study books. That might be the direction where chess books will be heading in the future. Rote learning of variations doesn't feel very effective. It is the lazy man's way. If you are good at rote learning. OTOH, doing nothing at all isn't very reassuring either with four totally unknown openings. Tonight the new club season starts. I look forward to see the openings in action. Once I feel confident with them, I will continue to play for guinea pig with our new tactical transfer system based on analogies.