Advice on Openings? - Chess Forums

Jan 2, 2016

0

#1

Hello all. Ive been a member for a few years now, but haven't seriously played competitive Chess since High School, and that was 1990, well, technically I won a tournament in Korea in 1992 or so, but the field was pretty poor.

Saying that, I am interested in getting back into the game and improving well past my efforts in the past. I never studied the Openings, or Middle Game, or even the End Game. What I did do, was take notes on my opponents so I knew their tendencies. That helped me achieve a few things, but certainly stunted my overall growth.

My reason for posting, is that my thought would be to pick a couple of Openings for White, and a couple for Black. At least to start. What would most of you recommend for my starting 4? Or, is my theory and plan all wrong from the start?

One thing I realize is that my favored style of play really has yet to be determined, so the 4 I start with might change dramatically once I am into a few games and some study.

I also intend to enroll fully into the site so I can take advantage of all things the site has to offer.

Any help is appreciated, and constructive criticism will not be ignored!

kindaspongey

Jan 2, 2016

0

#2

For someone seeking help with choosing openings, I usually bring up Openings for Amateurs by Pete Tamburro (2014).

http://kenilworthian.blogspot.com/2014/05/review-of-pete-tamburros-openings-for.html

I believe that it is possible to see a fair portion of the beginning of Tamburro's book by going to the Mongoose Press site. Perhaps it would be appropriate to look at Discovering Chess Openings by GM Johm Emms (2006).

https://web.archive.org/web/20140627114655/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen91.pdf

Here are some other books that strike me as having a good chance at being helpful for someone who has not done much reading:

Simple Attacking Plans by Fred Wilson (2012)

https://web.archive.org/web/20140708090402/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review874.pdf

Logical Chess: Move by Move by Irving Chernev

https://web.archive.org/web/20140708104437/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/logichess.pdf

The Most Instructive Games of Chess Ever Played by Irving Chernev

https://chessbookreviews.wordpress.com/tag/most-instructive-games-of-chess-ever-played/

Winning Chess by Irving Chernev and Fred Reinfeld (1949)

https://web.archive.org/web/20140708093415/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review919.pdf

Chess Endgames for Kids by Karsten Müller (2015)

https://chessbookreviews.wordpress.com/tag/chess-endgames-for-kids/

A Guide to Chess Improvement by Dan Heisman (2010)

https://web.archive.org/web/20140708105628/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review781.pdf

GalaxKing

Jan 2, 2016

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#3

To get a better idea of which openings appeal to you, play through games of different masters and follow their openings. It won't take long to see which openings you like and might feel comfortable playing.

ipcress12

Jan 2, 2016

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#4

Wiki has good summaries of all openings ... and it's free! Take a look around.

ripachu

Jan 3, 2016

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#5

The very first openings to study shouldn't be too theoretic, as there are much more important things to learn than opening lines of the most theoretical openings. Therefore I recommend checking the opening systems. One good example of those that pops in my mind is the Kings indian attack. It has been played at top levels as well, and it doesn't really require that much theory. I definetelly recommend checking it out!

This is the position of Kings indian attack for white, note that there are many many ways that black can play against it

ripachu

Jan 4, 2016

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#6

Lol just realized that the rook isn't where it's supposed to be, the king is castled of course

kindaspongey

Jan 4, 2016

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#7

Here are some books on specific less-theory openings:

1...d6: Move by Move by Cyrus Lakdawala (2011)