i have the need to know?

Try the Leningrad Dutch as black

 

for beginners, the english opening and the french defense are great to start learning with.  i like the gambits myself, but in the end, i believe it boils down to personal preference.

For beginners?

 

1.e4 e5 

ericmittens wrote:

For beginners?

 

1.e4 e5 

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I agree with this. Stake out your position in the center and build your game around a solid defense of E5. Once you feel comfortable playing this, then consider other openings. By then you will have a firmer understanding of attack/defense and some beginning positional play.

bbl1053 wrote: for beginners, the english opening and the french defense are great to start learning with.  i like the gambits myself, but in the end, i believe it boils down to personal preference.

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 Absolutely not! To play the English and French, you have to know what you're doing. They're good openings, but not for beginners. As stated above, stick to advancing center pawns two squares on your first move (and second, if your opponent lets you) as a beginner. You'll learn more that way.

 

Here's a guide to general opening principles, which is all anyone below 1500ish on this site (or 1200ish in OTB tournaments) really needs to know:

 

http://www.chesscafe.com/text/heisman53.pdf

 

--Fromper 

for beginners:  

1.e4 e5  2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.d3 h6 5.Nc3 d6 6.h3

How boring!

 

Try the evans gambit if you plan on playing the italian game. Play over some Morphy games for inspiration.

You don't have to play the Evans Gambit to get an interesting game from the Italian. But I agree that dalmatinac's proposed line is boring. If you're not gambiting, white should go for 4. c3 and 5. d4, to trade pawns and open things up right away.

 

--Fromper