Openings

I am just getting back to the game after 20 year leave.

I have just played a few games, and it is obvious that my complete lack of formal training is causing some problems at the beginning of most matches.

My method is to just get my guys out into the middle of the board and attack. But it seems better players are really pinning me down at the beginning and I am spending most of the match fighting to get out into the board.

My question is this:

What books or web resource could I go to to get some education on openings?

Or do I just need to keep getting punched in the chops and learn to protect myself better?

Originally posted by 8D
I am just getting back to the game after 20 year leave.

I have just played a few games, and it is obvious that my complete lack of formal training is causing some problems at the beginning of most matches.

My method is to just get my guys out into the middle of the board and attack. But it seems better players are really pinning me down at the beginning and ...[text shortened]... s?

Or do I just need to keep getting punched in the chops and learn to protect myself better?

http://www.timeforchess.com/gamesexplorer/

You could use the following for the first few moves:

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/explorer

I'm sure there are others websites too.

Online databases:
www.chesslive.de
www.redhotpawn.com/gamesexplorer

Teaching resources:
www.chessville.com
www.exeterchessclub.org.uk/

Wow.

That is a pretty cool site.

Thanks.

Any titles of books out there?

Yasser Seirawan's Winning Chess Openings is an excellent primer. Not overly complex and written for the beginner/lay reader.

Also, you can just type the move order into google and it usually brings something up... like "1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5" search for that, and you will get a bunch of stuff about that opening.

yasser seriwans winning chess openings is a decent book on openings. it explains some principles opposed to mco i dont like mco too much money for not enough information. heres a few things to go by knights before bishops develope knights to the center Nf3 and Nc3. don't move king pawns unless necessary you almost never move h3 until the 8th move in the ruy lopez. castle early develope rooks to the center of the board d and e files. push pawns up to open the center when the time is right. these are brief guiedlines but looking at your games it would do a lot better than playing moves like h3 early and playing f3 weakening your king position and taking away a place for your knight to go to.

Originally posted by 8D
I am just getting back to the game after 20 year leave.

I have just played a few games, and it is obvious that my complete lack of formal training is causing some problems at the beginning of most matches.

My method is to just get my guys out into the middle of the board and attack. But it seems better players are really pinning me down at the beginning and ...[text shortened]... s?

Or do I just need to keep getting punched in the chops and learn to protect myself better?

I would recommend you to buy MCO (Modern Chess Openings). It covers all the openings extensively enough to get a good feel for them. It's more of a nice database then a learning tool. I would strongly advise you to pick up another source to supplement it. I personally believe the best way to understand the opening at a novice level (1000-1500 USCF elo) is to learn the middlegame concepts. The Amateurs Mind by Jeremy Silman was my find strategy book and it helped tremendously. You will have a good base of understanding concerning strategy that will help illuminate MCO. For what it's worth.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Chess_openings

It gives background on most of the openings.

Originally posted by Falco Lombardi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Chess_openings

It gives background on most of the openings.

Yeah, that's what I use pretty often.

i like chessgames.com i can study various ways to go about certain openings.

Originally posted by kmac27
i like chessgames.com i can study various ways to go about certain openings.

I used chessgames.com extensively until I discovered Shredder, which is definitely a step up. http://www.shredderchess.com/online-chess/online-databases/opening-database.html

i don't like shredder it doesn't have as mnay games.

Originally posted by kmac27
i don't like shredder it doesn't have as mnay games.

When I wrote that Shredder is a step up from Chessgames, I should have added, IMO. Ddifferent strokes . . .