Hey, i just recently started to study chess stratagy when i joined my school's chess club. We are going to a tournament soon and I am having trouble understanding most openings. I tend to do okay in the midgame and endgames but i dont know how to transpose to a favorable mid-endgame.
I would appreciate it if you could provide a couple good games that used a few common openings like Sicilian, French, Ruy Lopez, Caro-Kann, QG, NID, and any others that i am missing.
Originally posted by Lord Of Pie Hey, i just recently started to study chess stratagy when i joined my school's chess club. We are going to a tournament soon and I am having trouble understanding most openings. I tend to do okay in the midgame and endgames but i dont know how to transpose to a favorable mid-endgame.
I would appreciate it if you could provide a couple good games that ...[text shortened]... y Lopez, Caro-Kann, QG, NID, and any others that i am missing.
Greatly appreciated.
-L.O.P.
As an 1100 I wouldn't worry about specific openings too much. Just make sure to understand some basic opening principles: control the center with pawns and pieces, don't bring the queen out too early, don't move the same piece more than once if you don't have to, and castle early. Though remember these rules are simply generalizations and you must first and if the position calls for one of these rules to be broken then by all means break it.
Originally posted by Lord Of Pie Hey, i just recently started to study chess stratagy when i joined my school's chess club. We are going to a tournament soon and I am having trouble understanding most openings. I tend to do okay in the midgame and endgames but i dont know how to transpose to a favorable mid-endgame.
I would appreciate it if you could provide a couple good games that ...[text shortened]... y Lopez, Caro-Kann, QG, NID, and any others that i am missing.
Greatly appreciated.
-L.O.P.
don't worry about the French: It's horrible (ih8sens seems to think he's refuted it) and will never be seen in tournament play ever for the rest of humanity as long as ih8sens can offer the world his refutation, which, thanks to computer databases, will be accessible 'til the end of time.
I wouldn't worry of choosing a named opening. Heck, I didn't know what an opening was a few months ago. People seem to think that being rated 1700 means you should be "knowledgeble" about openings. So my advice is to ignore such things as "openings, midgame, and endgame" and play your own style. I find it fun playing my own created "opening" and reaching interesting positions (and winning too 😉), chess is a game of creativity, not a game about reading books and copying well-known openings.
Ramned your quite right, As long as Ive been playing the only chess database ive ever looked up, I didnt understand =S, Although ATM im only 1500, I think im well on my way to 1600. Dont worry =) Just play!
Originally posted by Lord Of Pie Hey, i just recently started to study chess stratagy when i joined my school's chess club. We are going to a tournament soon and I am having trouble understanding most openings. I tend to do okay in the midgame and endgames but i dont know how to transpose to a favorable mid-endgame.
I would appreciate it if you could provide a couple good games that ...[text shortened]... y Lopez, Caro-Kann, QG, NID, and any others that i am missing.
Greatly appreciated.
-L.O.P.
I would recommend that you borrow or buy "Winning Chess Openings", by Yasser Seirawan.
It explains basic opening principles, and how these principles are utilized in all of the major openings.
This is probably the only opening book that you will need until you're rated at least 1500.
Originally posted by gaychessplayer I would recommend that you borrow or buy "Winning Chess Openings", by Yasser Seirawan.
It explains basic opening principles, and how these principles are utilized in all of the major openings.
This is probably the only opening book that you will need until you're rated at least 1500.
That is great advice, and Seirawan's books are excellent for starting out as well as experienced players. I would recommend finding one main line from the major openings, to understand the ideas, and know when you or your opponent deviates. While understanding is more important than memorization, there is a reason people follow an established opening - you don't have to recreate theory every time you play. When you see a move deviating from your expected main line, you can then evaluation it against the ideas behind what you expected.
IMHO this is one of the problems with most opening books. They spend the first several chapters explaining early deviations rather than getting down to the fundamentals of the opening, and then worrying about weird ideas on move 4.
Originally posted by Ramiri15 As an 1100 I wouldn't worry about specific openings too much. Just make sure to understand some basic opening principles: control the center with pawns and pieces, don't bring the queen out too early, don't move the same piece more than once if you don't have to, and castle early. Though remember these rules are simply generalizations and you must first and if the position calls for one of these rules to be broken then by all means break it.
I agree, I wouldn't study specific openings until you have the basic opening concepts down. Last year I joined my school's team after not looking at a chess board for 2 years and was about where you are now. If you really like to play the game, and are willing to read chess books and study the game, then you should improve pretty quickly. One year ago I was porbably a
Originally posted by Ramiri15 As an 1100 I wouldn't worry about specific openings too much. Just make sure to understand some basic opening principles: control the center with pawns and pieces, don't bring the queen out too early, don't move the same piece more than once if you don't have to, and castle early. Though remember these rules are simply generalizations and you must first and if the position calls for one of these rules to be broken then by all means break it.
This is excellent advice and I'm probably not the person to add to it, but what the hell...
Don't move your pawns unless it really benefits you - you can't move back.
The Catalan helped me to start winning games: King's bishop's pawn forward one; Bishop into it's home; knight out; castle.
Originally posted by Lukerik This is excellent advice and I'm probably not the person to add to it, but what the hell...
Don't move your pawns unless it really benefits you - you can't move back.
The Catalan helped me to start winning games: King's bishop's pawn forward one; Bishop into it's home; knight out; castle.
I don't think that White moves the king's bishop pawn in the Catalan. In the Catalan, White puts pawns on c4, d4 and g3. The KB goes to g2, the KN to f3, and White castles.