Best Rating to begin studying openings ?

hello chessers,

in my games I still recognize the paradox that I play much better when it comes to position and winning chances when I do not think about opening lines at all. That means if I just following the known general opening rules I do much better. I`ve tried playing certain openings lately, studied them to a certain degree, watched videos about it ect.Okay, I know from this forum that the openings have to think in you deeply before the outcome is succesful - but then I question the use of studying openings when I feel myself more comfortable by sticking just to the opening rules instead of seeing 90 % of your opponents never answering lines which been given in opening books, videos etc. So then the opening is useless for me at my level.

Therefore I ask myself when it is the right time to start studying openings ? Or is it even useful to study openings at all when I have no intention to become Master or tournament participant ?

Generaly opening study is reserved for the 2000+ players .But no problem if you want to study openings right away

I think you are still a long ways from the point that serious opening study is going to be useful.

I see you play a lot of online chess. This means you can research openings WHILE playing.

Here is what I've been doing the last few months:

1. Once I have enough moves to determine the opening, I go watch a video on Youtube. Usually one of the ChessOpenings.com videos. I will often watch a video 2 or 3 times in one opening.

2. When you are looking at your next move, click the 'Explore' link. It will tell you the next most common moves played by masters.

3. Once I have played an opening enough that the videos are no longer needed, I will search Google for more in depth information.

This method has helped me build-up a pretty good basic collection of openings and their first 6-10 mainline moves.

Beyond this, I would only suggest tactics and endgame study for your level.

I think anytime, any level is an great time ta learn openings! It's my personal opinion that, if you can master general principles~you can master an opening's general strategy & principles as well.

Indeed. Most openings have at their core, basic fundamentals...controlling central squares, knights before bishops, rapid development. You just have to play through them. Practice before you wheel it out.

Opening theory is an absolute must nowadays. It's fun even though you have noo intention of becoming an master, GM or professional.

Again, any level is great to start learning opening theory.

8)

@motzer2000

You will find a lot of people saiing that its better to not study opening while untill you are much better than now. I will explain why of that. Obviously they ar enot saiing that do don't need to know anything. You should have a grasp of the opening you are playing and the most likelly continuation your opponent will play. But the intention is to not push too much effort in opening theory. The reason its that after the few first moves the possibilituesfor moth dised are soo many that you will need a HUGE ammount of work to go even a bit further. On the other hand if you just understand the opening principles and follow them, the you will get a pretty decent opening. Better use your time to study tactics, endgames, puzzles, commented games, and play play, play a lot.

Try to open always the same was and if you opponent does something new , after the amtch try to give a look in any chess database. Slowly you will bet better and better in a specific opening without wasting moths on book, but just plaiing and analizing your own games.

following some very basic ( but very good ) youtube videos about basic opening principles:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89E1e7lR0VA&index=16&list=PLVWaFpMwtaGiVZ77NhhvGGGzvF7oFSWcA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7oevckYWDI&index=2&list=PLVWaFpMwtaGiVZ77NhhvGGGzvF7oFSWcA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFOWoUdwsjo&list=PLVWaFpMwtaGiVZ77NhhvGGGzvF7oFSWcA&index=55

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgUQBYOWaOE&index=43&list=PLVWaFpMwtaGiVZ77NhhvGGGzvF7oFSWcA

Thanx to you all for all the good advice.

when you get over 1500. Because I can guarantee you that you wont reach 2000 wihout opening study.

I don't know. I started very quickly with Italian opening and then transposed it to Ruy Lopez when I was 1300 I guess.

Is this what chess is all about ? Not in my life - I want to have fun playing chess. I think it is not about reaching certain rating levels - I have this bulllshit going on in my job.

Hallo Motzer,

what I meant was just an answer to all those guys who said you should just start studying openings when you have reached 2000. I answered that they wont reach 2000 wihout opening study. But when you really just want to have fun playing chess and dont have any serious goals, then I am asking myself why Do you care about openings? Just play whatever you like, as long as you have fun ( like crazy gambits). Isnt that what you like?

I think people in this thread have a different understanding of what it means to "study openings" than I do. 

I can't identify more than two openings by name.  I haven't spent a single hour reading about any particular opening.  

Yes, my game performance clearly suffers.  Picking an opening or two to get comfortable with is next on my agenda.  At my level, I've been concentrating on tactics - clever openings don't matter when you make obvious blunders all the time.  At this point I'm still happy to move almost randomly in the opening and see what works.  But I'm getting better at tactics (though not yet as consistent as I'd like) and it's time to start thinking about the next step.   I'd obviously be more consistent if I had a repertoire of moves that I understood close to properly, and I'd improve faster with a framework for understanding which moves really work and which were due to bad play by my opponent, so that'll be coming soon.  It's just that the fun:effort ratio for hours of study really isn't there for me.  Those videos might be just what I need.

1187.

As a couple people mentioned it really depends on what you mean by studying openings. Watching opening videos can be a great way to think you are improving your chess when you really aren't. Memorizing a lot of moves and variation is also dubious help, especially at lower ratings where you opponents aren't likely to make more than 3 book moves if you are lucky.

What is useful to learn as soon as you know how to move the pieces is opening principles. There are only 10 of them, but knowing them can be a big advantage.

http://www.chess.com/article/view/the-principles-of-the-opening

When it comes to learning specific openings that is when opinions start to vary. I recommend picking a couple opening to learn. What you want to learn is not every variation, but the first several moves and where the pieces generally wind up.

Which openings to learn is somewhat a matter of preference but there are some constraints to consider. The most obvious one is that your opponent gets a choice in openings too. So try to pick one that there is a high probability that your opponent will play back. 

Most beginner games start out as 1.e4 e5 or 1.d4 d5. So I'd recommend starting with something from there for white. Roy Lopez and 4 knights are two good options if you like to play the king's pawn. If you prefer queen's pawn I'm a big fan of queen's gambit. 

Try to avoid any openings or variations that are described as "sharp", prefer ones that are called "solid". A sharp opening is one that is just as likely to cut you as your opponent if not played exactly right. Solid openings are more forgiving.

Again you don't want to try to memorize all the move orders and variations. Just start with the first several moves, and good idea how your pieces will be arranged when it is done.

Also look out for what your oponent does, if they aren't following opening principles is there a way you can take advantage of that? Link below to "Exploiting Typical Opening Errors".

http://www.chess.com/chessmentor/view_course?id=334

You don't need to memorise lines. Agnostic Oracle's suggestion of the four knights is good. A lot of people play pretty badly in the four knights for all the talk of how "boring" it is. 

I remember watching a blitz game of an IM who works for Everyman (I don't remember his name.). He mated his opponent in under 30 in the four knights Spanish while he was talking lol.  

1400+

1800-1900, but generally 2000

In bullet game maybe 1400-1500, but generally 2000-2100

http://www.chess.com/livechess/game?id=820732785

really? I started as a 1200 and it won me a lot of games straight out from the opening. It was a big part in my jump of rating from 1200-1850

The advice isn't based on anything. You don't suddenly hit a point at the extremely round arbitrary figure of 2000 where it is useful, and not before. Nor do all players at the same rating have the same weaknesses in their game.

I don't see how it's a good idea to ignore any mistakes you're making and repeating in the opening until you get to a certain level.

But it's the advice along with 'only study tactics until you're 2000' that people love to give. But nobody actually does.