How to study Chess Openings?

Intro:

Hello fellow blog readers! Sometimes it happens that you need to prepare an opening against your opponent in the tournament, or learn an opening in general, to use in your matches. But then you look at the opening in sources over the internet and find numerous lines and variations, which are just too much for you. Also, after you do learn them, you soon forget them. So, if you're someone like this, then this blog post will help you.

Contants

1. How to Choose an Opening? 
2. How to Learn an Opening?
3. The Use of the Opening Explorar
4. The Use of Chess Computers

So without further ado, let's get started!

Details:

How to Choose an Opening?

Before actually learning an Opening, we obviously gotta find the opening we want to learn. Generally if you are a beginner, like let's say below 1000 rating, you should not focus much on your openings. Surprisingly, if you research a bit, you will find that many beginners are already good as openings (atleast at their level). And before learning openings, you need to check if you are a blunder master (just a random term for a person making a lot of blunders in one game). If you are, then you better rectify that and then learn openings.

Now, openings can be classified into two main types–

• Theory-based Opening 
• Setup-based Opening 

A theory based opening is where you have to make different decisions on different moves of your opponent and often you yourself have different options. E.g. King's Gambit.

A setup based opening is were you often follow a certain setup and use it in any variation, maybe except some variations. E.g. The London System.

Choose the theory-based openings when you have enough time for preparation. Choose setup-based openings when you have less time. These are easier to learn because you only have to follow a certain setup and not learn hundreds of different variations.

I will also tell you how to use databases to prepare against a particular opening against an opponent, later on in this blog.

How to Learn an Opening?

Now that you have chosen an opening, you of course have to learn it. For this you can check out different youtube videos about it, ask you couch to explain it to you, explore articles, lessons, blogs etc. in chess sites like chess.com and lichess. Also, watching games of ametures and top level players featuring that Opening can help.

Okay, but how? As you're going through the lines, ask yourself why you're playing that move, and why not any other move. This will help you understand the opening better. And tip I want to give you is- play the moves yourself on a physical board as you go through, and try to explain the idea, move by move.

Now, you do that but soon enough you forget everything, so now to retain the information, ask yourself the following questions and review them.

• What is your and your opponent's plan?
• How do we develop our pieces in this opening?
• What are the important and favourable exchanges for me in this opening?
• What are the common tactics in this opening? 

Now, that you have learnt a line or variation of an opening, repeat and practise. Do the same thing everyday and do play some practise games. These practise games should be Rapid (or maybe classical), and unrated. Then once you're comfortable, maybe play some rated games. Now you also need to review your games. I will talk more about reviewing on the next two sections of this blog.

The Use of Opening Explorar

We usually refer the Opening Explorar as a chess database. Every chess website has its own database. The chess.com database looks like this–

I think you know how this thing works but still for the ones who are new, the bars with the percentages show the result of the games featuring the line. The white part to the left represents the winning percentage of white while the black part to the right represents the winning percentages for white, and the grey part in the middle represents the percentage of draws.

So, when your reviewing your game, you can go the database the play the same move (a mistake in this case) you played in the game and see the results. Then you can go back a move and see the top moves (especially in the 'Master Games' database). Do the same for your opponent's mistake.

Moreover, let's say you're preparing for a game or a round for the tournament and pairings are there with you. Now, you can search your opponent's username and find their opening and see their games to know what they play what what openings they can handle and are common to them. To do that, simply click on the drop-down arrow with the 'Master Games' option selected as default, and choose 'Other Players'. Now enter the username to the textbox beside and now you can prepare the lines that are not quite popular. Also make sure you check the results your opponent had with that opening and you will compare this with the 'Master Games' database and the Computer Evaluation to know if you should prepare it.

You can also use the 'My Games' option to review the openings you have bad results with or have less preparation against it.

The Use of Chess Computers

This is an era of computers and you need to use these computers in chess as well. The most popular chess engine is Stockfish. You can use this engine to analysis your games. In chess.com, you do this using the 'Analysis' feature. It looks something like this–

That dark ribbon show the line the engine prefers. The Eval bar shows the evaluation of the position i.e. who is better. It is to the left of the board.

Now, to use this for reviewing your games, go over your moves and when the Evaluation bar drops, you know it's a mistake. Now look at that dark ribbon to know what you should have played. And of course as always, do the same for your opponent. 

In conclusion, choose a proper opening that suits you, learn the opening by the means of sources like videos, books etc., practise your openings by playing practise games, use modern resources like the Opening Explorar / Database and Chess Engines. And as the saying goes...

Practise makes a man perfect.

So, practising is very important!

Outro:

I hope you have enjoyed reading this blog. Please do comment your opinion about this and I will see you in my next blog.

Signing off,

@Utkarsho