I'm rated about 1450 on RHP. i'd classify myself as a beginner. I'm having trouble studying openings. Tactics, strategy and endgames are ok but i've bought some books on openings such as the ruy lopez and the mass of variations per move seems an impossible amount of data to remember during a game. It's so many chess moves that i don't remember them 5 minutes after reading them. Should i even bother studying an opening (i'm just sticking to variations on e4 for white and meeting e4 with e5 for black and following basic opening principles from there)? Should i learn more about a basic opening such as the guiocco piano/queens gambit or not bother at my level?
Any advice or suggestions gratefully listened to!😀
Originally posted by martinbeaverI'd say stick with your guns, but if you want to learn openings, pick a system or something that isn't mainstream.(Ruy Lopez) 😀
I'm rated about 1450 on RHP. i'd classify myself as a beginner. I'm having trouble studying openings. Tactics, strategy and endgames are ok but i've bought some books on openings such as the ruy lopez and the mass of variations per move seems an impossible amount of data to remember during a game. It's so many chess moves that i don't remember the ...[text shortened]... /queens gambit or not bother at my level?
Any advice or suggestions gratefully listened to!😀
As a player of roughly the same skill level my advice mightn't be as useful as some, but I'm pretty sure most here would echo it.
At this level studying variation after variation doesn't help you much, because even if can you hammer out 15 moves by the book, when you pop out the other end you'll lose to anyone who's been studying tactics instead.
By all means learn the main line of an opening, and play through GM games to get the feel of positions that can result from it. But from what I've read learning the concepts of an opening is more than enough until you reach a high level. At which point you'll understand the meaning behind the moves in each variation, making the learning process a lot easier.
What you need is an " Opening Repertoire " book.
We all want to play the Ruy Lopez ,or as it is often called the Spanisch Opening, because almost every Grandmaster has this opening in his opening-repertoire and it is played very often in tournaments all over the world and in championships of all kinds. It is a very difficult and very complex opening with a very wide variety of variations both for black and white. It is often being referred to as "The Spanish Jungle" or "The Spanisch Torture". Most chess-teachers advise beginners and more advanced players to choose openings that are less complicated such as the Italian Game (Giuoco Piano) , Two Knights' Defense, Scotch Game ,The Four Knights' Game, King's Gambit, Bishop's Opening or the Vienna Game. Studying the Italian Game (Giuoco Piano) is considered to be an excellent preparation for those who want to study the Ruy Lopez.For instance: In the Ruy Lopez the "Italian Bishop" can often be found on the a2-g8 diagonal and the Centre Strategie in the Ruy Lopez resembles the Centre Strategie in the main line (4.c2-c3) of the Giuoco Piano !
Back to the Opening Repertoire books:
The author chooses a move he considers best every time there is a new "branche" in the opening tree. Thus eliminating a lot of variations which you need not studying. In this way you get a chance to get acquainted with the ideas behind the opening in question and you get the opportunity to build an opening repertoire. It is a very efficient way to learn how to play an opening. Later, whenever you feel you are ready to do so, you can expand your opening repertoire by choosing another variation or another sub-variation to your liking and you can study an Opening Repertoire book, dealing with those new variations.
A book dealing with the questions in general arising when building an opening repertoire:
1. Steve Giddins: "How to Build Your Chess Opening Repertoire".
ISBN 1 901983 89 7.
Opening Repertoire books for both white and black:
2. Eduard Gufeld, Nikolai Kalinichenko: "An Opening Repertoire For The Positional Player".
ISBN 1 85744 152 4.
3. Eduard Gufeld, Nikolai Kalinichenko: "An Opening Repertoire For The Attacking Player".
ISBN 1 85744 196 6.
Opening Repertoire books for white based on 1.e2-e4 :
4.Larry Evans, Ken Smith: "An Unbeatable White Repertoire after 1.e4 e5 2. Nf3".
ISBN 0-87568-171-9.
5. Andrew Soltis: "Winning with the Giuoco Piano and the Max Lange Attack".
ISBN 0-87568-201-4.
Opening Repertoire books for black ( white plays 1.e2-e4 ):
6.Eric Schiller: "Black to play Cassical Defences and Win".
ISBN 0-87568-219-7.
7.John Watson: "Play the French".
ISBN 1-85744-069-2.
Opening Repertoire books for black ( white plays 1.d2-d4 ):
8.Eric Schiller: "Complete Defense to Queen Pawn Openings".
ISBN 0-940685-80-9.
9.Chris Ward: "The Queen's Gambit Accepted. A sharp and sound response to 1.d4 ".
ISBN 0-7134-8467-5. This book is more like a monography on the Queen's Gambit Accepted, not so much a repertoire book, but still very usefull.
A book that can be very helpfull in choosing openings to add to your opening repertoire :
10. Reuben Fine: "The Ideas Behind the Chess Openings". Algebraic edition.
ISBN 0-7134-5788-0.
Any Questions ? I'll try and find an answer for you ...
IvanH.
Another approach is to look at it like a buffet: there a lot of opening flavors out there, some will be to your liking, others won't. I'm too much a flubber to put too much into memorizing opening theory. However, I hate not having a basic game plan of what kind of middle game I'm aiming for. So, I'm using this site to help me through the choices (while having great fun playing chess and talking with you fine folks). I pick an opening and play a few games with it to see if I like the positions that develop. Then I move to another opening. I'm getting a lot of experience and I'm finding that certain positions work better for me than others. Once I nail this down, I can look at getting more knowledgeable on the openings that will get me to those positions.
--SmittyG
Originally posted by huntingbear
I've got a complete system:
St. George as Black, St. George reversed as White 🙂
It's great. I see similar positions on both sides of the board. I get familiarity with the system and surprise value against opponents.
Now, if only the St. George were any good I'd be getting somewhere 🙂
I'll remember that one Huntingbear ...
So much for the surprise value !
Ivanhoe Joe 😵
Originally posted by ivanhoeSomeone once said of Bobby Fischer that his openings are predictable, so predictable you can make plans against them, but so strong your plans will fail.
I'll remember that one Huntingbear ...
So much for the surprise value !
Ivanhoe Joe 😵
Of course, Fischer didn't use the St. George, against which one hardly needs much preparation 🙂
Still, it's a lot of fun. Since there is almost no "theory" built up about the St.G, it throws me and my opponents straight onto our own resources. Even what little theory there is ends up pretty useless most the time. The furthest I've gotten on theory was probably in Game 250800, in which the position after Black's 6th move matches that in a Sierawan - Spassky from 1990 (found it at Chessbase Online Database). In fairness to Spassky, his position was reached from a Polish Def., which is a tiny bit more respectable than the St.G!
Anyway, I'll try to prepare some surprises for you, Ivanhoe, just in case we ever have a game! 🙂
Originally posted by huntingbearI'm looking forward playing a game with you, huntingbear.
Someone once said of Bobby Fischer that his openings are predictable, so predictable you can make plans against them, but so strong your plans will fail.
Of course, Fischer didn't use the St. George, against which one hardly needs muc ...[text shortened]... e surprises for you, Ivanhoe, just in case we ever have a game! 🙂
Buy a Pawnstar, then you'll be able to enter tournaments. You can join the New Moakt! Lots of fun and good games ! I mean, if you get that tax refund, surely you can buy yourself a Pawnstar ... 🙄
Joe.
Originally posted by ivanhoeOh, yes! Won't be long now. The forms have been submitted!
I mean, if you get that tax refund, surely you can buy yourself a Pawnstar ... 🙄
Joe.
I'm not too sure about tournaments. I have a hard enough time keeping up with six games! Maybe a slow movers tournament or something.
Originally posted by huntingbearThe "New MOAKT" has a 7 days time out period.
Oh, yes! Won't be long now. The forms have been submitted!
I'm not too sure about tournaments. I have a hard enough time keeping up with six games! Maybe a slow movers tournament or something.
Hopefully there will be a new "Long Haul" tournament with a 14 days time out period shortly !
Joe.
Martin,
A repertoire book is what you need. The writer recommends one move against all reasonable replies.
Also, as the old Grandmaster Bent Larsen usually said, select openings that are not the laters rage. For White, I can recommend "Attacking with 1. e4" by Emms or "The Dynamic English" by Kosten.