3 Openings I Used to Become National Master
Hello everyone! In this article, I will be showing you three openings that I used to get the National Master title, which is based on a
USCF rating of 2200. I will show you at least one game where I played each opening before I became a master. All games were played against opponents who were either the same rating or up to 500 points higher than me at the time!
The King's Indian Defense
The King's Indian Defense is a very exciting opening, which looks for a big attack on White’s king. It is a very dangerous weapon if you utilize it well. I’ve played this opening almost every time against d4 and I have had some pretty good games with it. Sometimes people transpose it into different openings, but in those scenarios it is a much more solid game. I will show you two games I played using the King's Indian against much stronger players.
Black vs IM Yury Lapshun (2502 USCF)
With the 500-point rating difference between us and me playing as black, I thought I would just get destroyed. I made a mistake which let him win an exchange, but I never gave up and he missed a chance to gain a big advantage. It was a very interesting game but it eventually calmed down and turned into an equal opposite-colored bishop endgame.
10.Bxe7!! My opponent played Bxe7!!, a brilliant move. This is a decoy tactic forcing me to take the bishop, and he wins two pawns and a rook for a piece. I miscalculated and thought I would win the knight on a8, but with perfect play that isn't true! He is much better in this position.
13.Kd2? I was threatening Bb4 double checkmate, so my opponent was scared and moved his king. Bc4 was more precise because after Bb4+ Kf1 there is no checkmate.
16.Rxd7!! Another brilliant move from my opponent. This was the only move that doesn't give me an advantage. The point is to sacrifice an exchange, but to bring the next rook in and to win both my knights for one rook.
21.Kxd8 After this move it is an equal opposite-colored bishop endgame. He is up a pawn but they are doubled pawns, and either way opposite colored bishop endgames are draws most of the time.
I eventually drew and was very happy with my first draw vs a 2500. I gained 76 rating points in this tournament, going from 2013 to 2089 after a win against a 2088 and a 2300! My best tournament at the time.
Black vs Gary Huang (2340)
This was probably one of my best games on the way to master. I didn't make any mistakes, and my opponent was always under pressure and had too many threats to deal with.
22.Qc5 Here, black is much better. White really has no clear plan while I had many ideas. I went for a queenside attack because all of my pieces were pointing at the queenside. White's kingside attack wasn't strong enough and never really got going.
34.Kf2 He resigned here because he is basically in zugzwang. All of my pieces put pressure on the e3 knight and all of his pieces have to defend it.
The Sicilian
The Sicilian is another very interesting opening for Black. Lots of positions can be double-edged, while others are more calm. I’ve always played c5 against e4 and I usually score pretty well with it. The Sicilian has lots of tricky lines to face up against and is one of the most complicated openings in chess. Some are very aggressive and double-edged while others are more solid. I will show you a game from the tournament I achieved the title in.
Black vs Adam Maltese (2374 USCF) Marshall Masters
In this game, my opponent actually played one of the openings I used to get the NM title. I had a slightly better position out of the opening but let my opponent get an advantage. Luckily he missed his one chance, and after that it was a solid game. I drew without too many issues despite my opponent being 200 rating points higher than me at the time.
19. Nxd7 is a really bad move. It doesn't look that bad, but Nc5 was a much better move which would have given him a big advantage. I would lack development and he would have very active pieces. I could have avoided this by kicking out the knight on e5 with f6.
32.Nc3 I am down two pawns here, but this is a draw. I will win one of the pawns, and in rook endgames a pawn usually doesn't do much when you just put your rook behind it.
41.Kg7 We agreed to a draw because the a7 pawn isn't going to do anything if the rook on a8 is the only thing protecting it, and the pawn can't promote with the rook in front of it.
The Smith-Morra Gambit
The Smith-Morra Gambit is an opening as white against the Sicilian, where white sacrifices a pawn for a piece. Even though I don’t play this opening anymore, it is a very tricky opening and it got me a lot of wins. Here is a clean game with this opening, featuring a nice bishop sacrifice. Out of the opening, I got into a perfect position and had tons of activity which lead to my opponent messing up.
White vs Ellen Wang (2080 USCF) 2019 World Open
Me and my opponent were around the same rating. This was a fairly smooth game, in which I didn't give my opponent any chances to take control of the game. After she blundered, it was an easy conversion.
8.Bg5 The purpose of this move is to provoke f6, which happened. If black doesn't go f4 then black won't be able to move the e7 knight, which leads to me being able to get a quick attack on the king.
13.Bxe6!! This is why provoking f6 was important. The d7 pawn is pinned so I win a queen for a rook and bishop, which is a winning advantage.
29.Qa4 forks the knight on a2 and the rook on e8. After I won the knight, it was a simple conversion.
In conclusion, all of these openings are good to use to make progress if you know the right ideas behind them. I felt like I played well the majority of times with these openings. If you think you like the style of these openings (which is usually aggressive tactical play), then you might want to try these out for yourself!