Only Chess
23 Oct 07
23 Oct 07
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.
Greatly appreciated.
-L.O.P.
23 Oct 07
Originally posted by Lord Of PieAs 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.
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.
24 Oct 07
1 edit
Originally posted by Lord Of Piedon'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.
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.
24 Oct 07
1 edit
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.
24 Oct 07
Originally posted by Lord Of PieI would recommend that you borrow or buy "Winning Chess Openings", by Yasser Seirawan.
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.
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.
24 Oct 07
Originally posted by gaychessplayerThat 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.
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.
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.
24 Oct 07
Originally posted by Ramiri15I 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
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.
24 Oct 07
Originally posted by Ramiri15This is excellent advice and I'm probably not the person to add to it, but what the hell...
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.
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.
25 Oct 07
Originally posted by LukerikI 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.
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.