Opening Rotations!

Hey all, 

So I've decided, once and for all, to make a study of the openings! (Explained in this post.)

Suffice to say, my opening repertoire is... Gimmicky. Playing things like the Grivas Sicilian can be fun, but I really don't think I'm learning a lot about the game from the resulting themes and structures. So, I'm setting about fixing that.

I've decided to spend a month on each of a few preselected openings. (I'm only going to be covering Black responses to 1.e4 and 1.d4. Anything else like 1.b3 would be a headache.) Originally, it looked like I going to be taking about 10 months to complete it, but I've trimmed it down to 7. 

So, here's the schedule: (by the way, if you're one of my contemporaries prowling my blog to prepare a devilish little line against my opening of the month, please do surprise me, I shall be quite happy about the challenge.)

October (including the end of September): 
White 1.e4:
Against 1...e5 - Giuoco Piano
Against 1...c5 - Najdorf 6. Bg5
Black:
Against 1.e4 - 1...e5 2.Nf3 Nc6
Against 1.d4 - QGD, Lasker Variation

November:
White 1.e4: 
Against 1...e5 - Scotch Gambit
Against 1...c5 - Najdorf, 6. Be3
Black: 
Against 1.e4 - Petroff
Against 1.d4 - Tarrasch Defense

December: 
White 1.e4:
Against 1...e5 - Spanish
Against 1...c5 - Taimanov, 6. g3
Black: 
Against 1.e4 - French Defense
Against 1.d4 - Semi-Slav, Meran Variation

Jan 2019:
White 1.d4:
London System
Black:
Against 1.e4 - Pirc Defense
Against 1.d4 - Slav, Czech Variation
Feb 2019:
White 1.d4: 
Against QGD - Catalan
Against KID - Fianchetto System
Black:
Against 1.e4 - Caro-Kann, with 4...Bf5
Against 1.d4 - QGD, Cambridge Springs

March 2019:

White 1.d4: 
Against QGD - Setups with 5.Bg5
Against KID: Saemisch Variation
Black:
Against 1.e4 - Caro-Kann with 4....Nd7
Against 1.d4 - Blumenfeld Countergambit

April 2019: 
White 1.d4:
Against QGD - Setups with 5.Bf4
Against KID - Classical Variation, Bayonet Attack
Black:
Against 1.e4 - Whatever I liked most from the ones above.
Against 1.d4 - KID


So, you might be asking, what does my opening study entail?

Well, my current plan is to:
Run through a few (2-3)  master games in the openings I'm studying; I'll probably take about 5-8 minutes per game. I'll identify what the pivotal ideas were, what plans both sides were following, and how they worked. (I'll probably post my findings to the blog.)

Then I'll play a game or two at a reasonable time control like 30|5, maybe 30 flat or 15|10 as well, in whichever opening I'm studying, and dissect the game afterwards. (Surprises by my opponent will be studied too. Maybe I'll learn how to play Black against 1.b3 while I'm studying the French!)

Wish me luck; hopefully I won't need it!

Talk to you all later!

~ Willy

EDIT: I previously said I would be following 'systems' when playing White against the Sicilian. I've come to realize that there are just too many important differences between Sicilian Variations to have this make any sense.

So instead I've replace those vagaries with studying two of the main responses to the Najdorf Sicilian, which is by far the most common Sicilian Variation, then move to one response to the Taimanov/Kan family.  I think that trying to learn systems, or a series of moves, is counter to the goal, and I always have time to experiment after I've grounded myself in fundamentals.

I've also decided to commit to learning the White side of the Spanish, since it is almost a tabiya of chess.

Edit 11/3/18

Removed Scotch Game as, upon examination, I found the lines were not particularly instructive.

Removed QGD Tartakower to replace with much more thematic Tarrasch Defense.

Edit 1/1/19 

Decided this was yielding diminishing returns, and marked it down as a learning experiment. This experiment is now inactive. I am focusing on the first openings I learned from September.