🧐 Opening course comparisons – Which one should you choose?

With so many opening courses available on Chessable, it can be hard to decide which one to focus on. In this topic, we compare and contrast various opening courses. Share your experiences with different openings, discuss their strengths and weaknesses, and help others choose the right course for their playing style and level.

I was wondering if anybody has tried Vanquish the French yet, as I am thinking of getting it. I normally play the exchange, but as the course into outlines, that is what a french player wants - any other lines which anybody recommends?

ajverdi123, I didn't took that course. But I am in the course 'Trample the French: French Tarrasch Variation' by IM Patrick Gong. I like it. Also because there is just 7 hours of video. It's doable to watch all the video's (instead of 20 hours).

And indeed, I think the Tarrasch variation is much less known by French opening players; unknown territory.

Most of all, I decided the Tarrasch variation for the French opening as it is completely new. It feels a bit counter intuitive to me. I figured, If I get this down it will broaden my chess skills.

That's what I have down with the Caro-Kann opening previously and it improved my overal play. Caro-Kann used to be awful opening as I love open positions instead. But now I love that opening as Black as I know how to manoeuvre the pieces. The feeling for the pieces is improved, I know more about piece activity.

Hope this helps!

سلام .چه نوع افتتاحیه ای را برای شروع انتخاب کنم ؟

پاسخ به همان اندازه سخت است که می تواند آسان وساده باشد .اما چگونه . ؟ عرض می‌کنم...

اگر بازیکن بیشتر به بازی هایی که قبلآ انجام داده یا به شکلی تجربه کرده تکیه کند پاسخ برای او سخت است اما اگر مانند یک کودک سبکبال باشد ومثل آب روان و دارای انعطاف پاسخ ساده است او در آنچه بر ذهن اش بتابد حرکت می‌کند. ....

2 of the more popular opening courses are Counterblow by Robert Ramirez, and Alex Banzea's London system - and for good reason. The courses can be a great start to an opening repertoire for black and white. One of the advantages of these two courses, is the coaches have both shared speedruns using their system with extensive commentary. If you're on a budget you can skip the videos, and watch the youtube. But if you can get the whole course + video on a sale, you won't be disappointed.

French: Simplified (by FM Dalton Perrine) is really good and beginner friendly. It avoids Classical and Tarrasch lines by playing a rare line, which will take opponents out of their book. The Advance Variation also has a little twist, making White pause for a while to think what to do. Sidelines and gambits are also covered to make sure you always end up on top.

Attacking Repertoire for Beginners: Jobava London (by FM Midas Ratsma) offers a powerful tool for people who are bored of playing typical London setup. Midas divided the whole course into plans to follow and shows how much more there is to the opening besides the reversed Fried Liver attack. There are some lines which need to be supplemented on your own, but most sidelines are annotated and explained why they do or don't work. A big plus is that the opening also covers the French, Benoni and Englund Gambit, in case opponent doesn't play d5 on the first move.