Beginner Openings

Hi Everyone,

I am relatively new to chess but have had some beginner experience in the past at low-key school tournaments that were mostly played for fun. Due to the WC my interest in chess has sparked again and I am looking to get back into it.

People suggested to me that I practice tactics on chesstempo.com to improve my game and I have been doing that for the past few days. But when I play games on Live Chess I seem to get demolished during the opening/middle game.

If anyone has some suggestions on how I go about learning openings or some suggestions on my first openings to learn for white/black that would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,
JM 

The first thing you need to do is figure out what type of player you are. Are you more solid/positional, or more aggressive/tactical? I am a fairly aggressive player and recommend openings like the Italian Game (I am very fond of the Two Knights' Defense), Evan's Gambit, the Sicilian Chameleon (1.e4 c5 2.Ne2, it's pretty interesting), the King's Gambit, and the like (White playing 1.e4). For black I like the Queen's/Nimzo-indian against 1.d4, against 1.e4 1...e5 is easier and involves a lot less theory than the Sicilian or French. There are some very sharp lines in 1...e5.

For a more solid player, I'd recommend a 1.d4 approach with traditional QID and Queen's Gambit lines. Against 1.e4 the Caro-Kann is very good for solid players.

If you are more solid but still like 1.e4 as white, I'd recommend the Four Knights Game after 1...e5. After 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3, there is not much black can do other than go into the FKG. Against the sicilian play the Alapin, and try the French exchange variation.

The bottom line is, you just need to experiment until you can figure out a repetoire that works for your particular style of play.

Good luck!

No, you don't need to figure out what type of player you are. You are neither positional or tactical player at this stage. As people often say, "beginners don't have a style - they have a collection of weaknessess" (and I think the same of myself). Here you will find good advice on the opening. As for the specific opening, I would recommend looking at Italian Game (1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4), as it follows basic opening principles and you should have many opportunities to play it.

Thankyou very much for your help Twinchicky. I think that I am a more agressive/tactical player which is good for my stronger end game. I think I might learn the Evan's Gambit. It looks rather interesting so I might study and experiment with that one for now. 

Thanks again. 
JM 

Thankyou ajmeroski. I wasn't too sure what type of player I was to be quite honest. Thankyou very much for your advice. I will have a look at those ten rules for the opening now and hopefully I can start setting my self up for a more competitive middle game. I will also look into the Italian Game which you suggested.

Thanks again.
JM 

The nice thing about Evan's Gambit is that it is a very "thematic" opening. You don't need to memorize too many lines (Other than 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4 of course) because in all three main variations, the same general themes occur - the d4 pawn push, et cetera.

As White, Italian Game is good.  If you are brave, you can try the Ruy Lopez (more theory but also better at higher levels).

As Black, play 1 ...e5 against 1 e4 and 1...d5 (intending Tarrasch Defense) against 1 d4.

a grandmaster once said.  Untill you are 1600, your first name is tactics, and your last name is tactics... My >1600's, play e4 as white, and answere anything as black with e5 or d5, and use your tactics to discover an opening that might be new and better than anything ever before!

Here are some beginner openings

1. Fried Liver

2. Open Game

3. Queens Pawn Game