idk.
ive played chess for over 5 years and to me any plan is better than none at all.
i dont care if the engine says 16...g5 is a mistake, if the engine will shuffle its pieces around.
the way formulate my plans comes to the position.
open files may be exploited and used for doubled/tripled rooks + 7th rank/8th rank checkmates, for example.
weak pawns should have a way to be attacked, or at least exposed through forcing moves.
most of the time though, trying to breakthrough your opponent's position is the plan, generally through pawns or attacking sacs.
That's what i have to say.
For openings: look for recurring moves in the lines. They should be the important moves to play (for a reason) Think about what the move actually does (defends pawn, enables castling, attacks f7, attacks d5, gives way to a queen and etc.) and look at some example games to see what black/white does in the opening. for example in the 4 knights, whites kings bishop may come back from d5 and go to g2. from there it defends the king, still controls d5 (through e4) and gives luft too.
e.g. looking at games really helps. multiple of them.
Learning openings
idk.
ive played chess for over 5 years and to me any plan is better than none at all.
i dont care if the engine says 16...g5 is a mistake, if the engine will shuffle its pieces around.
the way formulate my plans comes to the position.
open files may be exploited and used for doubled/tripled rooks + 7th rank/8th rank checkmates, for example.
weak pawns should have a way to be attacked, or at least exposed through forcing moves.
most of the time though, trying to breakthrough your opponent's position is the plan, generally through pawns or attacking sacs.
That's what i have to say.
For openings: look for recurring moves in the lines. They should be the important moves to play (for a reason) Think about what the move actually does (defends pawn, enables castling, attacks f7, attacks d5, gives way to a queen and etc.) and look at some example games to see what black/white does in the opening. for example in the 4 knights, whites kings bishop may come back from d5 and go to g2. from there it defends the king, still controls d5 (through e4) and gives luft too.
e.g. looking at games really helps. multiple of them.
When you play an opening, you have a goal you want to achieve. You play a certain move, because you want to take the game into a position where you can execute your plan, a plan that is specific to that opening. And, I may be wrong, but I think that all openings have general plans and ideas associated to them, things you want to achieve when playing the opening. So when the opponent goes out of theory, you can rely on those plans and ideas to play your game. That's what is really missing on those Chessable courses. I can certainly memorize a couple moves that are present in the lines, but I don't actually know if these moves are always good, and I also don't have a general understanding on how to play the opening. If I buy a 50$ course by a GM, he should be able to tell me those general ideas and plans that I need to accomplish in the opening.
To me, playing an opening a lot gives me a sense of all the key squares.
For example in e4/e5 openings d5 breaks are nearly forced as black. That's why white plays moves like bc4, nc3 etc. and for black nf6.
Get to know those key squares and breaks, I think.
#1
"How do you guys go about learning openings and actually understanding the ideas and plans in the variations ?" ++ By just playing to gain experience.
"giving any insight on how to play the positions if the opponent goes out of theory."
++ If the opponent goes out of known theory, then think. What are the advantages / disadvantages of the move he played? How can you possibly profit?
"The author describes the move 5...f5 as dubious"
++ ...f5 is often dubious as it does not develop a piece and as it weakens the position of Kg8 after O-O
I found an opening that has worked pretty well for me recently, I believe it's called the WAP Gambit. Has anyone else had success with this method for themselves?
yeah I have, its the best opening ive seen in a while, used it myself ever since I learnt it months ago, https://www.chess.com/forum/view/general/traders-are-the-worst-or-why-not-just-play-checkers?page=5#comment-60845617 This is the game, check it out
I am reliant on using the engine and analysis which is why I don’t own one book.
Engines, statistics and databases have influence on the openings and variations I choose to play now.
There are many master games in the database that I will review and play along with in a goal in finding the best moves. Of course, you have to understand the strategy as well to pick the best moves.