Openings - beginner

Hello everyone, I am looking for a good book that can help me better develop my openings. Right now I am only familiar with the Queen's Gambit and I would like to broaden my knowledge.

I would prefer if they are available for order online and will ship to Canada.

Thanks everyone :)

Most useful?  FCO by Paul van dr Sterren (Fundamental Chess Openings) 

Easiest to understand?  The 4 volume Chess Opening Essentials

Best historical perspective? Reuben Fine's "The ideas behind the chess openings".  Probably good only if you already have an opening library though.

Most useless?  MCO and it's parade of unexplained variations found in any good database.

You want a book that explains the main ideas for each side and major variations and how each impacts plans for the middlegame.  As I said, FCO is probably best at doing that but Chess opening Essentials is a little easier to understand.

Amazon carries all of them.

I highly recommend Fundamental Chess Openings 

I'm not familiar with the 4 vol Chess Opening Essentials

Fine's Ideas Behind the Chess Openings is much better than nothing but its 70 yrs old and won't explain many newfangled openings such as the Najdorf Sicilian - in fact it never heard of them. Don't get too hung up on openings for now aside from general opening principles and some very basic lines that you play or have to face frequently. Keep in mind this advice from Capablanca, one of the greatest GMs in history:

In order to improve your game, you must study the endgame before everything else. For whereas the endings can be studied and mastered by themselves, the opening and  middle game must be studied in relation to the end game.

The best way to learn endings, as well as openings, is from the games of the masters.

To improve at chess you should in the first instance study the endgame.

The game might be divided into three parts, the opening, the middle-game and the end-game. There is one thing you must strive for, to be equally efficient in the three parts.

http://www.chesscorner.com/reviews/books/usa/beginner/beginner.htm 

Thank you very much. I would be very interested in starting with a different book, if it helps with the order of learning. Basically up until now I have just been doing it on my own. Hoping to obtain some materials to push me up in to the 1200's. Small goals haha

Sounds good to me. I will check it out.

Fundamental chess openings= FCO. FCO is great for just about everything for a beginner. As you continue to improve you might want to get MCO 15, which includes nearly every variation of every line you would be interested in studying. However, the only problem with it is that it gives very few explanations (you might see a footnote here or there). I personally believe that its a great book, however people will have varying opinions about it. 

 MCO 15. What does that mean?

MCO = Modern Chess Openings. It's a reference book, updated periodically.

Thanks for the info blueemu!

Its kinda like a handy dandy opening book with every line you can think of- they are not all explained but its very helpful if you want to figure out what to play vs. a certain opponent in a certain line. And yes, Modern Chess Openings by GM Nick DeFirmian