An opening won't win you a game, but it can lose it for you. If you're hoping for the biggest advantage out of best play by both sides, you're probably going to get a subtle positional edge that's not even worth half a pawn. My advice to you would be to study some more tactics and then play to open the game up as much as you can.
Building an opening repetoire
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Ok, thank you for the help!
I forgot, I do have plenty of tactic books, so since in addition to the tactics I want add some opening study, so does anyone have tips?
Learn plans, not moves.
I based my entire repertoire around openings that are plan based.
Ok, so do you mean by plan opening that have a clear goal? Such as (for example) to castle kingside and then advance in the center?
i think you need to say what opening you prefer to use. I think the best way is UNDERSTAND not memorize the mainline of X opening line the most common moves and development of the pieces ¿this opening have a bad bishop?¿this opening have a weak square?¿I like this position or prefer another?
just for add i learn opening doing a history about the game this is the more easy and funny way to understand and memorize opening for me.
What I mean is for example, learn
which pieces do you trade?
which pieces do you not to trade?
What type of endgames are favourable for you?
How should you arrange your pieces?
How can you improve your position?
How can your opponent improve their position?
How can you attempt to prevent or interfere with their plans?
This way theory is not needed, you should be able to find at least satisfactory moves on your own.
I see, so I should try to find the main points of the position and find the best way to exploit my opponent's weaknesses. By the way, I play Scotch Gmabit as White, and Hyper-Accelerated Dragon and Benko Gambit as Black.
Benko is a good plan based opening which this type of study would work well for.
Unfortunately I think the scotch gambit maybe a bit too tactical for this method. And I have no experience with the Acc.Dragon really, so I can't give any suggestions there.
Hey Gpod!
Take a look at this page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess_opening
It shows the basics of most openings. This way you can do a survey of the most popular openings and see which ones appeal to you. Then as a secondary survey, you can search for Grandmasters that play those openings. THEN you can see what other openings those Grandmasters play and by that time you should be thouroughly confused!
My point is that you need to look long and hard at all sorts of games and positions and players to get a good idea of what chess has to offer. I've been doing that for almost 40 years and I still don't have a locked down opening repetoire. You might find what you love right off the bat or you may see new ideas and change the whole way you play.
In the end, you won't find the chess that you love to play; it will find you.
Good luck!
Gpod wrote:
I see, so I should try to find the main points of the position and find the best way to exploit my opponent's weaknesses. By the way, I play Scotch Gmabit as White, and Hyper-Accelerated Dragon and Benko Gambit as Black.
Uhm, if you want lines that lead to the greatest advantage (based on your OP), you should kiss the Scotch Gambit good-bye immediately! White doesn't get jack sh*t from the Scotch Gambit if Black defends properly, which is what you need to go based on, not based on whether or not you can swindle in the opening. If you want an advantage after 1.e4 e5, you better start figuring on the Ruy Lopez or Scotch Game (4.Nxd4), the former being more of a sure thing for an advantage.
The Benko is one of 3 openings I have zero respect for, and feel like Black is busted in the Fianchetto Variation. I have a number of very convincing wins as White in this line. I have also tried to play it as Black and every game has been miserable. There is also a reason why you almost never see it at the extreme top level. The other two that I find to be a complete bust are Alekhine's Defense as Black and the King's Gambit as White. When I say this, I speak from actual experience with extremely high scores from the opposite side. It has nothing to do with opinion, and no liking an opening.
Case in point. I absolutely DESPISE the Sicilian Najdorf as both White and Black. The entire position makes zero sense to me. However, I have total respect for the Sicilian Najdorf. It just isn't my cup of tea. Very different than my total lack of respect for the King's Gambit, Alekhine's Defense, or the Benko Gambit.
You want the best results? Play something more solid. 1.d4, 1.c4, or 1.Nf3 as White. 1...d5 or 1...Nf6 and 2...e6 against 1.d4 as Black. 1...e5 or 1...c6 against 1.e4 as Black.
I do switch between c5 and e5, depending on the game, and I am deciding between the Benko and Grunfeld as Black. I do prefer the Scotch Gambit due to the fact that it can easily transpose to both the main line Giouco Piano and the main line Two Knights, while leaving opportunities for move order mishaps. Also, many people who have caught "Anti-Fried-Liver-itis" play 3... h6, effectively throwing away the game.
I also don't play either the Scandinavian or the Najdorf, I play a variation of the Dragon.
My first opening repertoire I tried to copy Fischer but quickly had to ditch the sicilian as black ! I adopted Alekhine's def in its place and used it until breaking 1800 OTB .
Gpod wrote:
I do switch between c5 and e5, depending on the game, and I am deciding between the Benko and Grunfeld as Black. I do prefer the Scotch Gambit due to the fact that it can easily transpose to both the main line Giouco Piano and the main line Two Knights, while leaving opportunities for move order mishaps. Also, many people who have caught "Anti-Fried-Liver-itis" play 3... h6, effectively throwing away the game.
Well, your messages contradict each other.
Guioco Piano, Two Knights, and Scotch Gambit equate to a dead equal game, no advantage for White what-so-ever! Your OP is asking for an advantage. If you want an advantage, play the Ruy Lopez.
The fact that you are basing your opening on the opportunity for your opponent to mishap (i.e. Fall into a trap, leave out a critical move in the opening, etc.) is the most assanine thing that I see one chess player after another do. ASSUME CORRECT PLAY BY BLACK! Do you still like the Scotch Gambit so much after 15 "best moves" by Black? I can guarantee you that if you were to face the correct moves enough times, that would be a resounding NO!
As for your two options with Black, the Grunfeld is a thousand times more sound than the Benko Gambit.
When building a repertoire, t's good to find openings that compliment each other. These are openings that either easily transpose into one another, or which have the same opening ideas -- control of specific squares, similar piece placement, similar pawn structures, etc.
For example, if you like the Pirc as Black, you might want to pick up the Alekheine against e4. You see a lot of players your level play 2. d4 after 1. e4 Nf6, after which you can avoid most of the stuff Alekheine players hate anyway with 2... d6. Tadaa, the Pirc.
If you like the French as Black and don't know what to play against 1.d4 or 1.c4 answer both with e6 and hope to transpose if they play 2.e4. But by doing this, your family opening to learn might be the Nimzo-Indian, since they may open with d4, c4 and you have your move in place to go there instead.
Just a couple of examples.
Hello,
lately I have been starting to assemble my opening lines, and I have a couple questions.
1. What would be the best way to choose the opening lines that give the biggest advantage from a set opening?
2. What would be the best way to organize the variations? i.e. theory table, list, etc.
3. What is the best study method?
I appreciate you taking your time to answer this!