none because you are bad at the game hehehe (Now this of course is a sign or sarcasm because you don't play the game, however it can be taken in the three ways.
As a beginner (~500 ELO), should I be playing the Italian Game or the Scotch?
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Either is fine. Spanish is fine as well, you don’t need to learn mountains of theory to play it. I would personally like to recommend the Italian but the scotch is perfectly good. You could even pick both of them and play them interchangeably.
At your level I would probably focus on tactics and board vision though
How would you recommend studying tactics? just puzzles or should I get a book or something?
Learn the basic tactical patterns first. Fork, skewer, pin, puzzles are good for it and there should be some good YouTube videos too. You could also look at your games and see when you made a 1 move blunder or could have forked a piece or something. Also playing more games in longer time controls helps.
May 8, 2023
0
#6
Yes. If you're about 500, you'll need to learn how to develop, defend, plan etc. and open games are a good teaching tool.
thx im ~600 and know no openings so I could do same
I really like the Scotch but I may just be biased because I play it. The Italian is a great opening- especially if you manage to get an Evans Gambit imo, but I think the Scotch is super forcing and gets your opponent into lines where your position is almost always very good. Plus, the Scotch usually gets you into positions where there are both positional and tactical possibilities, which is a great setup for the middlegame.
But I never played the Italian. I tried it once, and I didn't really like it, so I settled for the Scotch, but I've built nearly no experience with the Italian.
If you want to play the Italian, it's an excellent opening choice and I think you'll do great with it. If you want to play the Scotch, it's an excellent opening choice and I think you'll do great with it. It's your choice.
play italian
I'm no expert, but I prefer the Scotch (for Black, I recommend either the Petrov's or the Scandinavian). I think the Scotch is rarer at that level, so more people will be unprepared. Plus, the Scotch is fairly easy to learn, and I find it intuitive. The Italian is fine too, though. But as others have said, focus on tactics more, because at 500 elo, the game is not decided by the opening, but rather by which player is able to punish the other's blunders.
May 10, 2023
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#14
if youre just asking for a solution when you are 500 and arent thinking about the future:
you can literally choose every game which one at random and it will work
if you are thinking about the future:
choose one and (when you need to) learn about the ideas in it
ok, so from what i've seen so far people seem to be recommending the scotch more, but basically everyone is saying to learn tactics. I feel I have a good understanding of basic tactical patterns (fork, skewer, absolute pin) but I believe I need to practice them far more, i.e. playing more games of chess.
I think everyone can play any opening
Probably Italian.
And yes, do puzzles.
May 13, 2023
0
#18
Play 30-50 10/0 games with each opening then choose whichever is most fun for you. Actually gambits are a good idea,they really force you to play by principle...you either get better or you get crushed.
As a beginner you should probably play the Scotch Game as it's easier to understand.
In the Italian Game, however, there are plans that you have to follow, and if you like the Italian playstyle more, you should definitely do it.
In the Scotch Game, you can either play the easiest line.
There's nothing wrong with white's position and it's equal. However, you can go a more aggressive route with the Scotch Gambit.
There are many, many, traps for black to fall into and white's chances are pretty good.
If ever in the future you need a good main gambit this is the one.
Now, for the Italian game, against the two knights defense you can probably play the knight attack and win doing the Fried Liver Attack against your opponents at the 500 Elo level.
Or you can choose a more solid option and castle.
Or even play the Modern Bishop Defense.
Now against Bc5 you have to go for c3 d4, or c3 d3. You can also even play Nc6.
Now I get you will face the Blackburne Shilling Gambit, Just know that Nxd4 is best move.
If White plays Nxe5 like this.
White can fall into a ton of trouble after Qg5. In this example, white is forced to give up their queen or get checkmated.
For the other beginners who want a main opening, if you like gambits, check out the Nakhmason gambit.
damn, this is a really in depth explanation, thank you
i think i'll take badger_song's advice and play a couple games with each (scotch, potentially even with scotch gambit, and the italian perhaps with the fried liver) to see which I like more, and maybe even try out some of your other suggestions. that, of course, would involve me playing more games of chess, which would involve me finding the time to play a ten or fifteen minute game so that i can actually learn ;-;
anyway thanks for your help everyone
Hi guys, I am a beginner at chess and want to know whether the Scotch or Italian is better to learn at my level; and if neither, then what else would be good. I don't want to play the spanish because of theory, and I'm probably not ready for some of the hyper-aggressive gambits stuff. If possible a recommendation for black as well would be useful. Thanks in advance.