Originally posted by Knight SquareFor people who know the basic tactical patterns and endgames I think it's a good idea to learn a couple of openings (one as White then answers to e4 and d4 as Black should be the first to be learned) as it means you enter positions regularly that you'll soon become familiar with, you can focus your study on games using these openings, etc.
For some of you, I have posted a thread earlier named 'What is the best opening in your mind' and now I wanted to start this thread, mainly because you people said I was a beginner at chess.
So, What would be a good beginner's opening for
White?
and a response for e4,d4,f4 or c4 for Black?
Who are your favourite players? Your favourite games? Do you like open or closed games? Gambits? Wild tactics or positional play? Sharp theoretical lines? There are lots of factors, if you still can't make your mind up then play loads of different openings til you find the one for you. Once you have chosen, though, stick with it for quite a while, don't blame losses on the opening, it's by having the challenges of an opening pointed out to you in real play that you'll learn the most.
If you are just starting out, no need to memorize tons and tons of theory as you will have very few chances to use it. Rather, you need to study opening concepts, protect you king, develop your pieces, sound pawn structure, not blocking your bishops, finding good outposts for your knights, etc.
Things to study when just starting out;
Basic End games (KP vs K, KRP vs KR, basic mating with KR vs K, KBB vs K, KNB vs K)
Opening Concepts
Tactics, Tactics, Tactics (tons of opening tactics and general tactic pgns are readily available online).
Billy Voltaire