1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6:
i score 68% with the hyper-accelerated sicilian dragon & it's not too theoretical.
Good opening to study
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ChesswithNickolay wrote:
The Scandinavian against e4, the Englund or Budapest against d4, and the Scotch Game for white.
Englund is not a good opening by any means.
I try
Mar 3, 2022
0
#25
modern, benko gambit, blumenfeld gambit, leningrad dutch & KID are some of my favorite responses to 1.d4... learn & play everything & you will have a more universal style.
Mar 4, 2022
0
#26
Dan Heisman suggests to all his students to play the French and the Kings Indian for six months. (Although not necessarily at the same time!). The reason is that the pawn structures that arise in those openings often arise in many other openings too. He says that none of his students, even those who ended up eventually switching openings, ever expressed regret at spending six months with those openings.
FWIW!
FWIW!
sholom90 wrote:
Dan Heisman suggests to all his students to play the French and the Kings Indian for six months. (Although not necessarily at the same time!). The reason is that the pawn structures that arise in those openings often arise in many other openings too. He says that none of his students, even those who ended up eventually switching openings, ever expressed regret at spending six months with those openings.
FWIW!
FWIW!
Interesting, I knew an NM who said the opposite, especially regarding the KID. He claimed that the theory is too complex for lower-rated players, too many pawn structures to learn once you start transitioning to the middlegame, and Black is in a passive cramped position for a while. At the time I asked, I was hoping he would endorse the KID, so I could play the first several moves against any White opening and hopefully get past move 8 without being down a pawn or two, or being riddled with weaknesses by move 10.
dannyhume wrote:
sholom90 wrote:
Dan Heisman suggests to all his students to play the French and the Kings Indian for six months. (Although not necessarily at the same time!). The reason is that the pawn structures that arise in those openings often arise in many other openings too. He says that none of his students, even those who ended up eventually switching openings, ever expressed regret at spending six months with those openings.
FWIW!
FWIW!
Interesting, I knew an NM who said the opposite, especially regarding the KID. He claimed that the theory is too complex for lower-rated players, too many pawn structures to learn once you start transitioning to the middlegame, and Black is in a passive cramped position for a while. At the time I asked, I was hoping he would endorse the KID, so I could play the first several moves against any White opening and hopefully get past move 8 without being down a pawn or two, or being riddled with weaknesses by move 10.
Honestly depends on your level. Judging by your current rating I'd say that shouldn't deter you from playing the KID.
dannyhume wrote:
sholom90 wrote:
Dan Heisman suggests to all his students to play the French and the Kings Indian for six months. (Although not necessarily at the same time!). The reason is that the pawn structures that arise in those openings often arise in many other openings too. He says that none of his students, even those who ended up eventually switching openings, ever expressed regret at spending six months with those openings.
FWIW!
FWIW!
Interesting, I knew an NM who said the opposite, especially regarding the KID. He claimed that the theory is too complex for lower-rated players, too many pawn structures to learn once you start transitioning to the middlegame, and Black is in a passive cramped position for a while. At the time I asked, I was hoping he would endorse the KID, so I could play the first several moves against any White opening and hopefully get past move 8 without being down a pawn or two, or being riddled with weaknesses by move 10.
KID is one of those easy to learn, hard to master openings. As a regular option in beginner to intermediate play it is fine but at some point you have to devote yourself into studying its massive theory if you want to continue using it regularly or play something else as your main.
Mar 7, 2022
0
#30
I would recommend e6-d5 against everything. Rubenstein french. Play e3 d4 as white.
Not fantastic, but at least sound, and not much theory either.
Mar 7, 2022
0
#32
dannyhume wrote:
sholom90 wrote:
Dan Heisman suggests to all his students to play the French and the Kings Indian for six months. (Although not necessarily at the same time!). The reason is that the pawn structures that arise in those openings often arise in many other openings too. He says that none of his students, even those who ended up eventually switching openings, ever expressed regret at spending six months with those openings.
FWIW!
FWIW!
Interesting, I knew an NM who said the opposite, especially regarding the KID. He claimed that the theory is too complex for lower-rated players, too many pawn structures to learn once you start transitioning to the middlegame, and Black is in a passive cramped position for a while. At the time I asked, I was hoping he would endorse the KID, so I could play the first several moves against any White opening and hopefully get past move 8 without being down a pawn or two, or being riddled with weaknesses by move 10.
A friend of mine was so kind as to correct me on what NM Dan Heisman said. He said that he recommends that everybody at some point in their career should learn and play French and KID (but not necessarily at the same time). So, the advice is not necessarily for post-beginners.
Sorry about the confusion!
Here's the actual quote:
"... This is a good point to make one of my favorite suggestions: At some point in your career, if you wish to improve, play the French Defense and the King's Indian Defense. These two openings do not have to be in your repertoire at the same time. But play them enough to get a feel for what to do in the main lines; for example, play at least 100 speed games and a couple dozen slow games with each defense. The pawn structures that occur in these openings are not only very typical and indicative of how to play central pawn strategy, but these structures can occur in many irregular openings no matter what your normal repertoire is after 1.e4 or 1.d4. Moreover, the King's Indian can be played as a 'setup' (see Openings vs. Opening Systems [( https://web.archive.org/web/20140627122941/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/heisman105.pdf )]) against almost any irregular opening. The 'Play the French and King's Indian' is one of my most successful recommendations; students who adopted both, at least for a few months each, have almost always reported that it distinctly improved their game, even if they did not like either of the defenses! ..."
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627022602/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/heisman138.pdf
Good stuff.
I like the advice to study the classical openings that follow general opening principles, but it is difficult to find appropriate resources with which to learn these for the lower level post-beginner. Main advice is to stick to general opening principles and then magically you, or anyone at any level, will have recreated chess theory and be in a sound principled modern opening by move 10 without ever having to read, learn, or memorize any opening by instead following the simple instructions to develop, control the center, castle, and connect your rooks.
The QGD and Black side of the Open Games may have a few good books (Sadler, Davies, McDonald for QGD; maybe Bologan for Black against 1.e4) that try to instruct, but it is tough to find resources at an appropriate level that attempt to teach other classical and principled openings at an early level (when it is needed most) such as the Ruy Lopez, Open Sicilian, and 3.Nc3 French for White or the reverse Sicilian for Black against 1.c4, etc.
The books that I have seen that cover these lines are either superficial opening survey books that give a few lines and words, or they are advanced repertoire books that give few words before move 8, but the. give plenty of lengthy variations after that. I can almost guarantee that most beginners who ask about opening study are trying to figure out how to get to move 8 without being blasted off the board, but this is where the instructional chess literature is quite lacking. I find it odd, since those early moves (before moves 8-10) in principled openings seem an ideal area to teach players about general opening principles in my humble opinion.
I like the advice to study the classical openings that follow general opening principles, but it is difficult to find appropriate resources with which to learn these for the lower level post-beginner. Main advice is to stick to general opening principles and then magically you, or anyone at any level, will have recreated chess theory and be in a sound principled modern opening by move 10 without ever having to read, learn, or memorize any opening by instead following the simple instructions to develop, control the center, castle, and connect your rooks.
The QGD and Black side of the Open Games may have a few good books (Sadler, Davies, McDonald for QGD; maybe Bologan for Black against 1.e4) that try to instruct, but it is tough to find resources at an appropriate level that attempt to teach other classical and principled openings at an early level (when it is needed most) such as the Ruy Lopez, Open Sicilian, and 3.Nc3 French for White or the reverse Sicilian for Black against 1.c4, etc.
The books that I have seen that cover these lines are either superficial opening survey books that give a few lines and words, or they are advanced repertoire books that give few words before move 8, but the. give plenty of lengthy variations after that. I can almost guarantee that most beginners who ask about opening study are trying to figure out how to get to move 8 without being blasted off the board, but this is where the instructional chess literature is quite lacking. I find it odd, since those early moves (before moves 8-10) in principled openings seem an ideal area to teach players about general opening principles in my humble opinion.
I'll add my support for playing the Scandinavian. It's somewhat uncommon, so you'll likely be much more familiar with the resulting positions that your opponent will be. This can be a huge advantage. I play the 2. ... Nf6 line, and it's always lots of fun.