Hey. I am not very good at chess. so I was thinking about using an opening other than the usual, easy, most common one (e4,e5, Nf3, etc.) so I might be able to improve my games. Trouble is, there are so many openings to choose from. I want at least 2 openings, 1 for black and 1 for white. I want them to be strong openings, but hopefully not very well known so it is harder for people to counter against them. Can someone recommend some good openings for me to use? Also, please explain why this opening is a good one and exactly why you move something to somewhere.

The Ponziani opening is quite good, and you´ve got a video where it is esplained how to get on with it, it is quite unknow;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOZLHeKWhTQ

 Hope i helped you :)

Thanks I will look at it.

Wow that is a good one. Anyone have an opening for black?

Thanks for the link.  It is a sweet opening.

 

Since you already play 1.e4 2.Nf3 the ponziani is a good opening to choose. Most known openings that have an ounce of theory attached to them are playable. Im not talking about 1.f3 or 1...h5 or anything like that; I am referring to openings played at master level,advanced and amatuer level even. All the major openings are covered in NCO (play some of these if your serious) so even if you dont know how to use it, its good to have a copy for the sake of it. Its cheap enough and although dated still really a reliable source for looking up openings. If you want to progress further you will need more than one as white/black. ie. what if black plays 1...c5 or 1...e6 ?
(not 1...e6? ha)

 

Its great that you want to learn an opening Feldmm1, its a good investment and its fun. I wish you the best of luck with it. Edit: because your a beginner dont get bogged down trying to learn too much opening theory. Main(line) ideas will suffice.

Thanks. Anyone else have anything to say or an opening to recommend?

try playing 1. g3 for a while, those openings are also fun, because they're not so common i think.

I think that you are thinking of chess in most wrong way possible.

You don't learn opening by heart (you do, but its a loooong way to it).

Learning chess should involve, respectively:

1. Learning game rules (all of them, 50 move, en passant, castling, piece moving)

2. Learning endgame principles (because this is chess)

3. Learning midlegame principles (because this is calculation and positional play)

4. Learning openings (because this is memorization, but for both sides at the same time, because you don't play alone, you can also be surprised)

For each opening there is a main idea and a main problem for both sides. Once you got them all by heart, you are on a one-tenth way of playing that opening. A lot variations remain to be seen and played, and to choose which one will suit your style.

It does not extremely appeal to me but I will try it.

I don't like these openings I'm about to give, but try the Ruy Lopez as white and Siclian as black (just to aviod a King's Gambit).

Ruy Lopez and Queen's Gambit as white// French defense,Sicilian defense and Nimzo-Indian Defense as black

I recommend the Caro-Kann as black.

Ruy Lopez or Four Knights Variation as White, and Caro-Kann as Black.

If you are aggressive, then I would suggest the Danish Gambit for the white peices. It is not well known and its a very fun opening. White is aiming 1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. c3 dxc3 4. Bc4 cxd2 5. Bxd2. Monster bishops.

 

Of course black can decline...and you still must deal with the black side of things and when black doesn't play e5. These are things such as the Sicilian Defense, the Center-Counter, the French Defense, Caro-Kann, Pirc, Modern, etc. But it is still a fun opening since a lot of players play e5 in response to e4.

For black, the Sicilian Dragon (my friend plays it, not me). I'm no expert but it looks fun...lots to learn though.

Casasayas wrote:

The Ponziani opening is quite good, and you´ve got a video where it is esplained how to get on with it, it is quite unknow;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOZLHeKWhTQ

 Hope i helped you :)

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I'm sorry to put it this way, but the Ponziani is just pure trash.I beat a 1700 who played it. I'm 1300 USCF! It ignores development and allows black to break in the center.

Thanks, I will consider all of your posts. Just a reminder though that I said I was looking for openings that are not very well know. However, I might consider the Sicilian anyway.