Originally posted by iru
Here is my problem - I have rather poor memory. And opening is where you need to memorize the most. I love all the aspects of chess except for opening theory which I find boring and uninspiring.
Yesterday I made just another attempt to refine my d4 repertoire for an OTB game I have to play tomorrow and after 15 minutes I was fed up and bored to death. I feel ...[text shortened]... way). Do you think it's reasonable not to learn opening at all and only do what I really enjoy?
OK,
I don't much like staying out of anything. I felt like I should stay out of this one because Mr. Pawn had sorted this all out. Now I fear people may not be listening to him. The 'fella gaff's a few endings so you're sure he's a mine of coal. Well thats balderdash, the man delivered gold this time.
Mr. iru
You're on a good road - one that will take you to expert class with a bit of time and dedication.
"
endgames, strategy, master games (which gives some indirect exposure to various openings by the way)." -iru
No reason to quit doing this at all. The master games and endings are exceedingly important. Don't quit them. I say
KEEP UP THAT GOOD WORK. Now that the above is clear - its time for me to say what...I don't like having to say.
Mr. Pawn is right this time, you're still at the level that while endings and master games are very importan(the easy part to say) - you need to be working out puzzles (the hard part to say). The lads here all gumble together to call these puzzles tactics. Silly word for it if you ask me. No matter what they call it, this is your current hurdle. I recommend a stacked diet of Mate in 2 and Mate in 3 puzzles. The more per day the better...
BUT! it is
more important to study each day with these puzzles than it is
to look at a hundred all at once! You will gain from them eventually.
Mr. Pawn is right, but don't stop your regimen! Keep fighting the good fight with the master games and the endings. Endings are huge, HUGE, HUGE!! But you may be missing the forest for the tree's until you get some of the finer maneuvers down (fine...you gaffers... " tactics "😉.
As far as opening preparation goes, Mr. Robbie is on point. Watch the pawn formations and most importantly where master players put there pieces. Robbie illustrated a semi-slav vs QG (although you'll find that exact pawn variation of the Semi-Slav only rarely). Do your best to learn the most important ones - Tarrasch, Classical, Dutch, KID, (QID I say, but its rare too), Slav and so on...
So you like Queens Pawn games? I recommend some Rubenstein, some Tartakower, and Definitely some Tarrasch!!! Find a few masters you like and watch how they do it. Copy them if you can. I have a copy of an old book here that has some great games in it - I'd be surprised if Mr. Pawn doesn't figure out which one I'm citing by the games I choose out of it... These are games every queens pawn player must know:
La Bourdonnais vs McDonnell, 1834
La Bourdonnais vs McDonnell, 1834
Marshall vs Janowski, 1907
H E Atkins vs Von Bardeleben, 1902
Euwe vs Flohr, 1932
Euwe vs Alekhine, 1937
Alekhine vs Book, 1938
Capablanca vs Reshevsky, 1936
Gruenfeld vs Tartakower, 1926
They are annotated by the very best (and I mean it!) I'm sure you can find them online with annotations with a few searches. Best of luck to you iru!
Q