I will try to describe the way I build my opening repertoire. Maybe it helps someone. Please note that the lines I use probably won’t fit to you, I will just try to explain how I found the lines I study.

1) Thinking process:

As the first move in chess is always white's move, it makes sense to start with a repertoire for white.

Before we think about openings and lines to study, it is important to know what kind of player someone is. I am a 1.e4 player, so I stick to that.

The first opening I ever learned was the Italian Game. I felt and still feel very comfortable with it. I recently read an article[1] from FM Cats4Sale (I only notice his name now!!!) in which he describes that sticking to one system and knowing the ins and outs of it, is a good idea. That means I will build my repertoire around the Italian Game.

But, the black player is not obligated to play the line I want. After I play 1. e4, there are plenty of ways black can go. It is important to cover all those lines in the repertoire. As the goal of the opening is to not lose equality, it makes sense to be prepared in all those lines. Knowing the mainline, the “well-known traps” and possible transpositions is the goal.

If we now look at the line of the Italian Game:

e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4

There are 2 moves where black can “leave” my mainline. Those are the moves that need to be looked up. The easiest way is probably to use the Game Explorer from chess.com, but if you have no membership you can use any other OpeningDatabase[2].

After moving 1.e4 black can answer in 4 common ways and in three more uncommon lines.

We note them:

… e5 - The mainline I want to play
… e6 - The French defense
… c5 - The Sicilian defense
… d5 - The Scandinavian defense
… c6 - The Caro-Kann
… ?? - any other move

These are the Openings you can’t avoid/ignore if the first move was 1. e4. In best case black answers with the expected move (1. … e5). The only move white wants to play now - as white wants to reach Italian game – is 2. Nf3. And again black has a couple of possible moves.

These are:

… Nc6 - The mainline I want to play
… d6 - The Philidor defense
… Nf6 - The Petrov defense
… ?? - any other move

If black plays the mainline with Nc6, white’s next move is 3. Bc4 and white is happy to be in the Italian Game. If white ends up in another position, it will probably be one the openings above.

2) Looking up lines

Now we know which “Openings” we could face. But an opening is not only 1 line. There are many lines and sidelines. But which lines fits most to study? Well that might depend from 1 player to another. A good start would be, to look up the openings on Youtube. That gives a first idea of the “goals” of the opening. It is very important to know the key-idea and the key-squares in an opening.

The Game Explorer helps here too. It is a very useful tool. Even if you have learned the first 10 moves of an opening, the opponent can always move crazy. Also beginner tend to play other moves than masters. If I watch in the game explorer it shows after the standard Italian 3. … h6, a move that no master would play. but in the database I faced 64 games like that. This line should be in the repertoire!

Line Italian Game (1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4)

Max Lange Attack (1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. O-O Bc5 6. e5)
Murphy Attack (1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. O-O Nxe4)
Italian-Kotlanowski Gambit (1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. d4)
Check with engine the best answer and then find best moves against “3. … h6”

The French and the Sicilian are very deep Openings. I prefer to study the Italian game as deep as possible but keep the work of the other openings to a minimum. The mainline(s) is/are a must. I will just point out how I found the lines for two openings. The process is always the same…

Example: The French

If black decided to play the French, I have to follow. Let’s take a look at the French. There are many lines! But there is also one line that white can force! After 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 white can push with 3. e5 to the “French – advanced variation”. Black can’t do anything against it. This fact makes it interesting for me. It is important to have something against all of black’s moves. If I can keep the learning part for one opening to a minimum, it helps. Later, when the basic repertoire is burned in the brain, it might be worth to looking for other lines in order to make the repertoire grow. For now, the French, advanced variation should be enough to face the French.

Line: French advanced (1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5)

Example: The Sicilian

The Sicilian is most hated for white. Anyway, I am not afraid. And as I plan to play it as black as well, I need to learn all lines black can play. Najdorf and Dragon are the most common ones, so it’s good to start with them. And as I “want” to see the Dragon I won’t play the c3 Sicilian or the wing gambit. Those are lines white can go, but as I don’t want to go them, I don't need to add them to the repertoire for now. Also important: It makes a difference if the game, in which the opening is used, is a blitz/bullet or an online game with plenty time to think. e.g in the Dragon: if it is a blitz it could be worth a try to play 6. f4. In an online game better the mainline with 6. Be3.

In the Sicilian exist Forcing black to play a line i wish, like the c3-Sicilian

Sicilian Najdorf (1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6)
Sicilian Dragon (1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6)
Levenfish variation (1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. f4 Bg7 7. e5 dxe5 8. fxe5 Ng4 9. Bb5+)

Other openings:

Same process: think about, find lines and note them……

3) Let it grow

If the basic moves are learned, the repertoire can grow. Just follow same thinking process: What am I playing => Max Lange attack. What sidelines exist, what if I do that, what if black plays that.

You can use a chess engine for that or just the game explorer.

After a while the tree for just 1 line (Max Lange attack) can grow very big and you will have a good repertoire in that line…

Also, are there traps or tricks exist in the lines I play? Especially the traps I could fall in. Example Italian game:

Beside traps there can be looked for transpositions.

4) Repertoire for black!

After knowing what to play as white it is now time to build a repertoire for black. Actually it is just repeating what we did for white, just adjusted a little bit …

Thinking process:

This is again my personal way of thinking. As black I would try to go into the same lines I studied as white, but not in the way that I try to mirror a white opening, but go in the lines black could go against e4. I already know how to play those lines, because I prepared them as white. (Dragon, Najdorf…). As the Sicilian is the most feared opening for white and I can also face it as white, I think those are a "must do".

Another point for the black repertoire is that black must react on whites first move. That fact makes it a bit more work. If white opens with 1. d4 I like to play something I am familiar with. The Kings Indian defense has a similar position like the Sicilian dragon...

Find similar positions and similar pawn-structures...

Look up lines:

As done for white...

Study:

As for white...

5) How to build a training system

Now the basic repertoire is noted. There are many ways to learn the lines. Here is just 1 way:

Install a free chess GUI (or use Fritz). Open the board and play the moves of 1 line. Then save the moves by saving the game in a database you create.

Now it is possible to create an opening training based on the openings you saved. You can also force the computer to play the openings u have in the repertoire. The computer will randomly switch between the openings in THAT repertoire and warn you if you play not your repertoire.

I also work with “?”, “??”, “!” and “!!” to let him switch between the variation-lines. He plays the move more often with “!” and less often with “?”

Like that it is possible to learn all lines in a very short time. Just start a new game, play the first 10 moves, and restart again and again and again…

Whenever there is something that has to be noted (like ideas or why a move is played) it can also be noted in the notation.

Here are some videos:

That was “My way”, my thoughts and my preferences. You might have others. But the way of building a repertoire could be the same.

So if you ever ask yourself what opening to study, you know how to find the openings you should study if you play what you like to play most

I would of course share my PGNs, if someone is interested.

Links I found interesting during my research:

[1]

https://www.chess.com/article/view/building-your-repertoire-a-quothow-toquot-guide

[2]

http://chesstempo.com/game-database.html

http://www.mark-weeks.com/aboutcom/aa02i07.htm

http://www.mark-weeks.com/aboutcom/aa02i21.htm

http://www.chesspositiontrainer.com/index.php/en/blog/item/what-is-the-best-way-to-build-a-chess-opening-repertoire

http://exeterchessclub.org.uk/content/choosing-opening-repertoire

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