any ideas

i have been playing chess since i was 5 but i always play pawn to e4 as my opening and my opponents know that is my game plan and know my entire plan and i need a new opening strategy does anyone have any suggestions 4 me

Hi Vernon,

Can I suggest the Barcza? 1.Nf3, 2.g3, 3.Bg2, 4.0-0

It leaves room for tons of dynamic variations (some of them extremely tricky, but well worth trying) and immediately tucks your king into safety.  It's moderately well known, but from what I've seen (someone please correct me if I'm wrong), there's no set "deal breaker" for the base Barcza.

From the Barcza you can move into the very powerful (and very popular) King's Indian Attack (KIA) 1.Nf3, 2.g3, 3.Bg2, 4.0-0, 5.d3, 6.Nbd2, and 7.e4 

The biggest weakness with the Barcza is that it allows black to develop at their leisure to begin with.  However, once you've mastered the different nuances (and especially the KIA), I think you'll discover just how powerful the base Barcza and its variations can be.

Give it a try some time. Let me know how your games go! Good luck!

It's very enticing for beginners to play scholars mate, but like you said, it doesn't work against someone who kind of knows how to play chess, and it leaves you with a worse position.  The purpose of an opening is to get into the middle game with as much advantage as you can.  When you start playing against better players you will not be able to fool anyone with scholars mate, or any other "trick" opening.

Never mind the beaten path and search to valid alternatives. Try the Grob attack 1.g4 ... 2.Bg2 while playing with white. But remember do your home work, define your strategy other wise it wont make any sense.   

I think you can stick to 1.e4 there are any number of different ways to play after anything black plays. 

I would suggest the english opening, 1. c4

This system was used by greats such as Karpov, Botvinnik, and current world champion Vladimir Kramnik.