Book suggestion - looking for "key squares" or themes of openings

I am a novice player.   I think I am around 1230 on standard games on here.  Against good players I usually am losing after the opening and struggle with coming up with good positional ideas in the middlegame.  I have not studied openings very much, prefering to study the endgame.  What I was looking for is a book or source that detail out several popular openings and the main variations and instead of going into a bunch of theory, just gave a summary about the key IDEAS behind the opening.  For example, sometimes people talk about in Sicilian variations, that the advance for black of the d pawn to d5 is key.  Sometimes they talk about openings as designed for queenside attacks or other specific principles.  Often there are references like, "of course, in the Benko gambit, the main battle is over the b5 square" or something.  These are just examples i made up, but does anyone have a good source for that?   Just a simple book of major lines and variations that highlight the key themes or squares behind an opening?  Thanks!

no one can help me with this??

http://www.amazon.com/FCO-Paul-Van-Der-Sterren/product-reviews/1906454132/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

There are several good YouTube videos on openings, that explain the themes well.

However, I would recommend getting a cheap copy of either Reuben Fine's The Ideas Behind the Openings or his Chess the Easy Way which includes much of his "Ideas" and ads endgame, middle game, and general positional advice.

Other books exist, and plenty of advice is available.

I am unfamiliar with NimzoRoy's FCO suggestion, but the 2nd reviewer refers to it as a modern version of The Ideas Behind....,  so we are apparently "on the same page"

What you are really looking for is a good middlegame book about pawn structures.  The Andy Soltis book about pawn structures comes to mind.

Fine's books are certainly a lot better than no books at all and also available dirt cheap compared to FCO but there is always that minor detail about them being several decades out of date, so don't expect too much on the SD Fischer Variation or Najdorf Variation, or the Benko Gambit etc. from Fine. Maybe some hopelessly outdated theory - if you're lucky. And certainly not incisive, up to date ideas behind openings Fine never heard of or never played, or did hear of and never played because they were considered garbage until decades after he stopped writing.

BUT I think they would be a good start - definitely not as good as his book on middlegames or Basic Chess Endings but better than nothing

Thanks for all te replies! I did a preview of the FCO book and it looks good but pretty in depth. I muh prefer endgame and don't like opening theory and I may buy it on kindle anyway but I was looking more for like a list of opening moves through move 8 or so and main lines with the key square or theme. Something like a 3 sentence explanation of each one a bullet point . Is it just not that simple or just nothing like that available?

The comment about really wanting early game themes and pawn structures is probably truthfully more accurate. Usually in my games I don't make blunders in the opening but don't really have a plan once my pieces are developed. I am either defending aggressive players off, or eventually I get tempted to play a tactical trick that i calculate as good, but computers and solid players come up with something I didn't think of.

There's a book called something like 101 Chess Openings for Beginners but I don't think it really covers the ideas very well. Soltis's book on pawn structures is excellent but very advanced.

FCO or Fine's Ideas Behind the Chess Openings is probably your best bet.

FCO is definitely not "Pretty in depth!"  ECO is "pretty in depth" even MCO is compared to FCO

I second the recommendation of FCO. It's a great resource for getting an overview of an opening, seeing some of the most common lines, and more importantly, learning the ideas behind the opening and what the typical plans are.

I struggle with this too. I think mainly it is because I key on pieces and tend to get more into overloading defenders than thinking in terms of if I am screwed if my opponent gets a particular piece to a particular square and then fight to control the square. So in summary, I try to force tactics when I should be looking at threats and fighting over squares. I guess that is almost always a prerequisite for playing high quality chess, knowing when to play positionally or tactically, especially if you have an obvious choice. Playing materially isn't always good. I think part of the key to it is recognizing your opponents best options and plans. If you find his best option and go all out to prevent it, but you get duped and he comes through the backdoor while your unprepared, it doesn't matter how well you were fighting for the key square that isn't the key square anymore... in other words, the way you play will be affected by your opponents choices. You are somewhat forced to play to the level of your competition in chess. Recognizing when to play along and take advantage or stick to your plan, inspite of their moves is key and not always easy. An example of this is I tend to draw better players, who choose to play conservative chess. Their moves are safe, but the retorts are easier to see and play. Against worse players I tend to win or lose, usually due someone's confusion ,as compared to when the plan is clear against the better player...

Mastering the Chess Openings is also good, mainly for players under 2000 I think but probably not suitable for a player who is 1200s standard on here (rank beginner). However it is a fun read!

just pick an opening you're interested in playing, watch some kind of youtube video on it, play some games in the opening and then look at games played in it on a database. you don't really need a book unless you want to get more in depth with something.