Traps, Tricks & Mistakes: Mimic

Dear readers, do you remember the case of “Copying Mistakes” when in a renowned international tournament GMs on two adjacent boards were repeating the same moves? As one of the involved players declared, it was only an accident. But the chief arbiter preventively decided to move on the boards to a different playing hall so “that nobody can accuse anyone of anything.”

However, today’s case is more prosaic. It refers to players in the same board copying moves.

As underlined in a previous post, there are openings in which repeating moves from both sides is safe and belongs to the spirit of particular lines. However, blindly copying moves always involves a risk.

In today’s example, you will see the consequences of that practice. The game starts with the well known “Four Knights Opening” where until the six first moves are acceptable repeating moves.

Dear readers, keep in mind that the best strategy when you play symmetrical openings is to stop mimicking moves when you have a good opportunity. To find the best opportunity remember that this game, as Fischer stated “demands total concentration”

Maybe you play chess but are unable to attend a local club. If that is your case, then join our virtual Chess.com club. On our site, we regularly play online tournaments and team matches. More than 1060 members enjoy that chance and new players join every week. We have new tournaments scheduled for the coming months waiting for players! Join now! Additionally, we have a puzzle section and we have recently started to practice the variant of ‘Vote Chess’. Although not very popular, ‘Vote Chess’ is an effective educational tool for learning together.