Want to improve your chess game? Open with a winner!

Learning chess and want to level up? We've put together a short guide on how to increase your chances of victory from the very start of the game.

Most chess instructors recommend novices not spend too much time on opening theory. The reasoning is that memorizing long opening lines does little to help your game, while learning tactics and strategy is better for your overall understanding. 

Don’t switch openings too quickly

A common misunderstanding is that it’s good to switch openings as much as possible. By doing this, you risk knowing a little about many different topics, but you probably you won’t be great at any of them.

Take a look at Magnus’ games when he was young: He typically played an opening 5-10 times, and only when he knew all the details, was it time to change. This way he traveled through the world of openings, learning close to everything that was out there. Magnus is an amazingly quick learner, which means you might need to play the opening 30 or 40 times before it’s time to change and expand your repertoire.