Enter Your Reply The Comment You're Replying To Gary Gifford wrote on Mon, Jun 5, 2006 05:01 PM UTC:Derek - you wrote, in part: 'White chooses and dictates the opening that black must defend against and so, shapes the entire game. White acts and black reacts as it must ... repeatedly.' Really? So, when white plays 1.e4 what is it exactly that Black has to play? e5, c5, a6, Nf6, d6, something else? I see no such control you describe by white. I do think you are imagining something here. In a tournament game my 200 point higher-rated white-pieced opponent played 1. e4... I did not feel the least bit controlled. I responded 1.... Nf6 (my very first Alekhine Defense in a tournament. Guess what Derek? I won, with black. A fluke? No, I win with black quite often. As Dennis Monokroussos has stated, 'what matters is that you have a good feel for the initiative. If you do and you know what you're doing in a given opening, then you will often find ways to seize the initiative, regardless of the opening.' Edit Form You may not post a new comment, because ItemID Point Systems does not match any item.