Beating IMs

[Roger de Coverly]

I don't play IMs and GMs that often, but bizarrely I often do much better with Black against IMs than White. With the Black pieces since 2010 I've knocked over Marusenko, Ahmet Ghasi, Jack Rudd and Graeme Buckley with hardly a draw if at all with White.

[IanCalvert]

Roger, does your cunning plan involve Hedgehogs or other defences?

[Brian Towers]

The one FM I've beaten was with black. I think it's an exaggerated form of what Jonathan Rowson classifies as one of black's advantages in Chess for Zebras, the initiative of the white pieces can engender an obligation, particularly when there is a large rating difference, to attack come what may.

I didn't know the playing strength of my opponent at the time (a common occurrence at my level) and when I got up after about a dozen moves to check what this maniac's rating was I couldn't find his name on the list due to language problems and the 400+ point rating difference meant his name was nowhere near mine on the list. When finally the dust settled and I'd survived the firestorm he was just completely lost. I soon find out how strong he was as I was sitting next to a mate whose loud and enthusiastic congratulations when my opponent resigned attracted the ire of the arbiter.

[Jonathan Bryant]

I don't play IMs and GMs that often, but bizarrely I often do much better with Black against IMs than White. With the Black pieces since 2010 I've knocked over Marusenko, Ahmet Ghasi, Jack Rudd and Graeme Buckley with hardly a draw if at all with White.

I noticed some time ago that my very best results in individual games tended to come with Black. I did draw with a FIDE Master once with White (my only non-loss against a titled played) but against 'ordinary' higher-rateds my best scores are often with Black.

[Roger de Coverly]

Roger, does your cunning plan involve Hedgehogs or other defences?

Usually I borrow ideas from top GMs. The most recent win was in a Berlin endgame. I figured that if many GMs are unsure what's going on, why would an IM know better? I was a bit lucky that what appeared to be random grovelling concealed a vicious trick. But rightly or wrongly, my interpretation of the Berlin as Black is that you have to avoid quick knockouts and do nothing constructively. It's been suggested to me that White's winning plan is the same as the Exchange Spanish, namely to win with the 4v3 Kingside majority. That explains at least one recent bizarre idea, as to why Black may meet White's h3 with h5. I prefer .. h6 myself to avoid the Ng5 and e6 punt.

[Matt Fletcher]

I find that I tend to do (much) better as White against stronger players. Vs 200+ players I have 3/5 as White and 0/2 as Black - widening the net to 190+ I have 1.5/8 as Black and 6.5/12 as White in the last couple of seasons.

My only result against a titled player was a win as White vs Simon Knott - I prepared a line which he followed and then blundered Q for R+B.

[MartinCarpenter]

Definitely easier to score with white, winning I'm not sure. With white there's always the temptation to control/kill the game when you get a slightly pleasant position.

With some positions as black its maybe easier for things to 'randomly' go all the way from just playing to winning, so no time for doubt to set in

Obviously some people manage to just 'play' vs even rather stronger opposition so this wouldn't tend to apply to them.