I was reading this website:
http://www.chessville.com/instruction/instr_gen_path_to_improve.htm
which says for a beginner to choose ONE opening and learn it thoroughly instead of trying to learn a few moves of a few openings.
Seems like good advice.
But, which is the best opening to choose? I know 'choose one which you like' is a reasonable answer, but surely the most commonly used will be more useful in practical terms.
Also, if I learn say, the Scicilian, for both white and black, what happens when someone opens on me using the English?
I'm a bit overwhelmed, to be honest!
Choice of openings is a question of style and taste, but i would suggest learning classical openings. openings like the ruy lopez or the queens gambit are easier to understand than the indian defenses and would be instructional in terms of learning classic chess principles.
And yes it necessary to learn a separate opening for e4, d4, c4, Nf3 unless one opts for indian-type openings like the kings indian, modern, or pirc.
Originally posted by VargWhich opening is for you is something that is difficult for us to answer. If you are an attacking player who loves tactics then 1.e4 would probably be a good start. If you enjoy positional games then maybe you should learn a 1.d4 opening. I am still a novice but have enjoyed learning opening basics and this is my newest strategy on openings.
But, which is the best opening to choose? I know 'choose one which you like' is a reasonable answer, but surely the most commonly used will be more useful in practical terms.
1. I want to get you away from your comfort zone early in the game.
2. I want to stay away from 'well known' highly 'booked' openings such as the Sicilian and the Ruy Lopez.
3. I want something flexible so that I can transpose into it almost no matter what the other player opens with.
4. I want to play it exclusively so that I begin to understand it completely inside and out.
Therefore after much searching and reading and playing of other openings I've settled on the English as white and the Pirc as black. If you are interested there are two books I recommend on them.
Tony Kosten's 'Dynamic English' and Lev Albert's 'Pirc Alert' These will help you understand the openings. No matter which openings you decide on try to pick up some books on them and find some GM's who play them so that you can study the opening theory and see the games being played at a high level.
Bryan
There are three Eric Schiller books...
* A Complete Defense against 1.d4 (based on the Tarrasch)
* A Complete Defense against 1.e4 (based on the Caro-Kann)
* A Hypermodern Repertoire for White (based on the Réti & the English) and... don't forget about the King's Indian Attack, of course.
PS
I very well know that Schiller's books are not always to be trusted, but these books were very well received and reviewed by John Watson.
I am still quite a novice at chess, and relatively new to this site, although I've played on other sites / servers / and email organizations. I've noticed questions about opening lines on a number of forums. I couldn't tell you the name of the opening I usually use, but whether I'm playing white or black, I always try to accomplish 3 fundamental things in the opening,
1. Occupy or control the center
2. develop pieces
3. protect the King.
I think focusing on these ideas has worked out better than trying to memorize multiple lines and variations. When so much of the game depends how to reply to your opponent's moves, what is the advantage to memorizing lines?
Originally posted by cfordThis is the big question! Here are my thoughts...
When so much of the game depends how to reply to your opponent's moves, what is the advantage to memorizing lines?
1. I don't view the study of openings as the memorization of lines so much as the memorization of typical positions and strategies that arise from the opening.
2. There are Tactical possibilities in every opening and by studying some of the variations you can understand ways to take advantage of the tactics that would be hard to find over the board.
3. By understanding typical lines that are a part of an opening you can save yourself time. This is not critical here, but during a tournament if you can make the first 10 moves in 10 minutes based on your 'book' knowledge of the opening and your opponent takes 30 minutes for the same, you have just received a slight advantage for later in the game.
I'm no expert so this is just my humble opinion. 😉
They mean to learn one opening against 1.e4, one opening against 1.d4, etc. Even with that there's still a lot of variations to learn. If you learn the Sicilian as Black, you not only will have a *lot* of theory to learn, but you have to know how to face all the anti-Sicilian systems, and the major variations of the Sicilian system you choose. Against 1.d4, if you choose the Nimzo-Indian, for example, you still have to learn something to play against Nf3 instead of Nc3, such as the Queen's Indian, Bogo-Indian, or QGD. If you're fairly new to chess, I'd recommend starting off with classical openings, such as with White 1.e4. Against 1...e5 play either the Spanish or Italian, and then you still have to learn the remaining Black replies besides 1...e5. With Black, against 1.e4, reply 1...e5, and against 1.d4, reply 1...d5, with a QGD setup. It's best to start off learning classical (pawns occupying the center) systems before venturing into hypermodern and closed systems. And then there's the English 🙂 It would be good to play through most of the major openings and see what feels best for you. I've known some players who play a King's Indian setup against everything with both colors (which is the Pirc against 1.e4, KI against 1.d4 or 1.c4, and the KIA as White), although these King's Indian setups require some skill since you're allowing your opponent to gain a space advantage. I believe the point of what you read was that instead of learning the French, the Caro-Kann, the Sicilian, the Pirc, etc., just pick one system to play as Black against 1.e4, and know that system well.
Thanks KatrinaJ!
Actually I tend to play 1. e4 as white. I can cope with 1. ... e5 for about 3 or 4 more moves, tending to Italian type openings. If someone plays 1. ... c5 I play it by ear, same with 1. d5 but I don't get that so often.
I find most people open 1. e4 or 1. d4 against me. I tend to reply 1. e5 and 1.d5 respectively, but I need to learn a lot more.
Hello Chessfriend!
I am not suggesting that I am a better player than yourself, however,
I have studied much chess and have answers that will help you. I am
happy to help a fellow chess player any way I can, even though I do
realize that it might cost me in the future!
I have only one request and I hope agreement will be found. If you use any chess engines or helpers in any form, while playing a game in the RHP club, please let me know and I will silently back off as I feel
that those that use hints of any form while playing a game are not playing honest. I see it as a blatant form of cheating! If the club allows
"Opening Game" assistance, I will overlook the usage of an "ECO"
book which assists the "Open Game" only. ECO (Encyclopedia of Chess
Openings) help consists of 500 opening codes (e.g. the code "B20" 1.e4 c5 SICILIAN DEFENSE. B20 to B99 are 79 different codes the
Sicilian Game might encounter. B20 1.e4 c5 has 7 different lines from this point that the game can be played with 45 variations amongst the
lines. The Sicilian Defense has a vastness that easily supercedes all
others but I could teach the basics, giving you advantage over the
average player who knows nothing of my favorite Defense. My knowledge is limited, however, with understanding of the square that both sides are supposed to be fighting for control of, memorizing, and
experience as I have used it to defend 1.e4 a countless number of games.
If you agree on my request made earlier, e-mail me and I will help you with "Opening Play" which is my strongest weapon of chess!
My name is Davy Jones and my address is <kingsknight32@hotmail.com>
Wishing you much chess success!
SonofShaddey