Study the Classics...Openings
Hey Impressive Chessers!
When I first got into chess, we had to fend off velociraptors...
okay, sorry, too many dad jokes. What really happened was that the "four-move checkmate" was all the rage. As White, I either checkmated my opponent before move 6, or I tried this trick:
Feeling like a self-described little genius, I started playing 1...e6, the French Defense, in response to 1. e4. No more four-move checkmate!
Georgy
This worked well at my school until a new student, whom we'll call "Georgy," joined mid-year. Georgy was from Russia and was excited to find a chess club at our school. He asked to play a game, and I accepted. He quickly played 1. e4, to which I confidently responded with 1...e6. His next move shocked me: 2. d4! What was this dark magic?! Georgy proceeded to crush me:
The above game was the turning point that pushed me to actually study chess.
(If you want to see how Georgy crushed my four-move checkmate attempt, check out this blog: www.chess.com/blog/NMChesstoImpress/the-phases-of-a-chess-player-revisited and/or this video:
For two years, Georgy terrorized our school's chess club, mostly by applying basic principles: don’t move a piece twice in the opening without reason, control the center, don’t bring the queen out early without a clear purpose, etc. Eventually, I managed to beat him at a pace of probably around 1 out of 10 games. Thanks to Georgy pushing me to improve, my estimated USCF strength climbed to around 1100, while Georgy was probably near 1400.
These were the days before chess YouTube, and chess.com didn’t exist. It took three years of playing at the chess club before I even heard about local chess tournaments. When I finally attended my first official USCF-rated over-the-board (OTB) tournament, I stuck with what I knew: the French Defense against 1. e4. Thanks to Georgy, I also started playing 1. e4 e5 2. f4!? the King’s Gambit. Here's a puzzle from one of my favorite King's Gambit Games:
No more Wayward Queen (four-move checkmate) for me!
The Early Days of Rapid Chess Improvement
Both the King’s Gambit and the French Defense worked well... at first. I began at just over 1400 USCF, but by the end of my first tournament year, my rating skyrocketed over 300 points to 1750!
The next year, I reached 1950, and I thought I was well on my way to National Master. In my third year, I crossed 2000, earning the title of "Expert." By my fourth year, I reached 2100.
Plateau and How I Got Out
But improvement was slowing down. I had already given up the King’s Gambit before crossing 2000*, though the French Defense still worked well, many players were dropping their d4-pawn with little compensation or allowing devastating attacks down the f-file after a timely f6 pawn break. However, the 2200 National Master wall is especially tough. By this point, I was in college, going to parties, dating, teaching students, thinking about my professional life. I was playing less and no longer gaining 100s of rating points per year.
*Check out: www.chess.com/blog/CraiggoryC/the-best-way-to-refute-a-gambit-is-to-accept-it-countered for the biggest reason I gave up on the King's Gambit, except for an occasional surprise weapon*
After six years of tournament play, I made a great decision: I took a few group lessons with my friend Simone, who is a strong expert (2000+ USCF) in her own right, from GM Melikset Khachiyan. Amongst the many things Melik taught me was this:
There has never been a World Champion who couldn’t play the Queen’s Gambit Declined against 1. d4 and 1...e5 against 1. e4, the 'Classical Openings.'
At that time, I was already playing 1. e4 as White, but my Black defenses were the King’s Indian Defense and/or Modern Benoni against 1. d4 and the French Defense and/or Dragon Sicilian against 1. e4. Melik gave me an assignment: play at least 20 tournament games with 1...e5 against 1. e4. I can’t recall why I didn’t get a similar assignment for the Queen’s Gambit Declined, perhaps because 1. d4 is rarer at the club level.
I played my 20 games of 1...e5 with mixed results, but I noticed an important shift: I played much better in open positions. I had gotten too accustomed to only closed positions from the French and semi-closed Sicilian structures. I did go back to playing the French Defense but this training helped me finally cross the elusive 2200 barrier and earn the National Master title.
If you're interested in my journey to National Master, I spoke about it with my friend and podcaster Dr. Scull, click --> here for the podcast on Spotify.
Francois
Fast forward to a few years ago. By now, I had developed a reputation as a French Defense expert and had taken on several students, including one I remember in particular, we'll call him "Francois." A French gentleman who loved the French Defense, makes sense, right? He sought lessons from me specifically because of my expertise in the opening. At his request, we spent most of our time reviewing French Defense theory.
However, I noticed something concerning in his games: his play in open positions was severely lacking. He knew the French well, but once he was out of theory, he was lost. Worse, if White ever played the Exchange Variation, creating a more open game, poor Francois was in big trouble! Here's a typical game that I'm taking about:
I recommended he follow Melik’s method: play 20 games with 1...e5, then return to the French if he wanted. But Francois refused. He was fixated on only improving his French Defense knowledge. After several more lessons, he eventually informed me that he wanted to pause chess lessons. The reason? Lack of improvement. Hmm… I wonder why? 😛
Conclusion
I don't want you to think that the French Defense, or any other opening mentioned, is a “bad” opening. The key takeaway is that you'll learn much more by starting with the classics before branching out. Just as no piano teacher recommends playing Chopin right away, they all emphasize scale work and simpler pieces first. Once you master those, you can tackle more challenging, avant-garde works.
So, study your classics...openings! Don’t be like Francois. Every great player has mastered playing 1...e5 against 1. e4 and the Queen's Gambit Declined (QGD) against 1. d4. If you do this, you’ll surely…
Stay impressive!
NM Craig C.
linktr.ee/ChessToImpress
My next blog will feature my first OTB USCF rated games as an Original Life Master (OLM), stay tuned!
