Help me add some openings to my repertoire

Hi all,

I know this kind of thread is a bit of a cliche but I've reached a point where I want to start focusing on a limited set of openings a bit more rather than just playing whatever I feel like which is what I've done until now.  The only opening that is really secure in my repertoire is the Caro-Kann, I don't really have a regular opening as white or as black against 1. d4 (or c4, Nf3 etc.).  I've had a think about what kind of positions I like to play and I'm looking for lines that fulfill ALL of the following criteria...

-positions are not extremely sharp (I don't mind some tactics or open positions but I prefer to avoid the kind of razor sharp positions where both players are at risk of losing on the next move, so I avoid stuff like the Dragon, Botvinnik Semi-slav etc.)

-not too many structural weaknesses (I'm a Caro-Kann player so I like my pawn structure lol)

-straightforward plans and strategic goals (I have difficulty wrapping my head around some of the maneuvering that occurs in the QGD for example, I like to clearly understand the reasoning behind every move in the opening and I like it to achieve something a bit more concrete than just moving a piece to a better square)

Stuff I've play before is (as white) the Ruy Lopez - which for the most part fits the criteria I've given and I feel fairly comfortable in the opening although I find some of the middlegame positions arising from the mainlines a bit confusing - thus recently I've switched to 1. c4 with fairly good results.  As black against 1. d4 I've tried a few things with probably my favorites so far being the Semi-Slav and the Grunfeld although I find these a little dangerous against stronger players. 

I would suggest the grunfield, only a handful of players know how to play against it.

Would you share with me please?

How about the Petroff, Torre Attack (with or without c3 or c4 depends on the position if you want to move the c-pawn and where), and Nimzo/Queen Indian complex? 

Completely the wrong mentality.

You should be playing what you are comfortable with, not what a lower percentage of opponents know.

Case in point:  You end up with 3 Whites and 2 Blacks in a 5-round event.  You are playing in a tournament out of town, and so you have no idea what their repertoire is.  You are comfortable with the Slav Defense, but feel like fewer people know the Grunfeld, so you do a last minute cram session on the Grunfeld to prepare for your opponent.

It's Round 2 (after a round 1 loss), and you are facing an 1800.  He plays 1.d4.  You can play your bread and butter Slav or you can chance it with the Grunfeld.  You go for the latter, and luckily, this guy is no good with openings in general, doesn't study theory, and you happen to beat him.  He's an endgame guru, but never got to the ending.  You could have beaten this guy playing anything, including 1...h5.

You go on to win your third round with White, and now have Black against a 2100.  He plays 1.d4 on you.  Again, you have a choice - your bread and butter with the Slav, or take your chances on the Grunfeld.  It turns out, this guy is booked up on openings, and often has trouble holding advantages in the endgame, hence why he's 2100 and not 2500.  Little do you know, he's also a devoted Grunfeld player!

Had you played what you knew, you'd have had a legit fight against this guy.  You might have won, you might have lost.  But it would have been competitive.

Instead, you play something you know little about thinking it would trick him, and BAM - He blows you completely off the board, and laughs in your face because you didn't know jack about the Grunfeld past the 7th move!  You lose horribly, and feeling dejected, you completely blow the 5th round and finish with a score of 2 out of 5 and no prize money!

Moral of the story - Play your game, not your opponent's!  If everyone took on that stupid idea of "play what your opponent doesn't know", everyone would be playing the Grob!

Step 1: Improve general positional understanding and tactics

Step 2: Reach 2000 OTB rating 

Step 3: Care about openings

The QGD is a pretty logical and solid opening. You protect your center. Then you try to free the Bc8 and attack White's centre. The only tricky line is the Exchange variation.

It doesn't really matter what opening you study when someone can just walk in and outplay you in tactical and positional understanding. Did I mention they were 100 points lower?

Words from a master level coach with 30+ years experience (not from me):

You can play unorthodox openings but if you don't play top level openings you will be stuck as a club player for the rest of your life. The openings get played because they work. -November 30, 2014

@mosey69

Wouldn't you rather improve you overall game instead of just spending your time concentrating on the opening?

True. The fun thing is though, even if they played main lines, 99.9% of all chess players will stuck as club players for the rest of their lives. :-)

Exactly what I'm saying...

Thanks for the advice (not that I asked for it), but you're missing the point.  I'm not saying I want to spend alot of time studying openings at this stage just that I want to start playing a limited set of openings so I can build on my understanding of them later.

I like playing queens gambit (accepted or declined) as white, and a solid sicilian defence playing as black if white moves with 1.e4. I play these openings more times than not. I'll throw in a KID or Berlin if the situation seems like it would benefit from either. Other than this I just do the basics to be best of my ability i.e control the centre, develop pieces, castle, unify rooks etc.

The why you move a piece will help you build an opening repertoire , I think.

Thanks for the suggestions Fiveofswords.  I haven't been playing 1. c4 for very long although so far I've done fairly well and gotten positions I liked, although my opponents have generally not been very strong.  When playing 1. e4 I usually went for the Bb5 lines against the Sicilian since they kind of fit with my preference for the Ruy Lopez in open games.  I did play 1. d4 for a little while although I know nothing about some of the major systems so it's not really an option at this stage.  I had a look at the Lasker variation of the QGD - I actually don't mind these kind of lines at all I guess I just need a bit more study in d4 openings.  I think I've tried both the Nc6 and e6 lines against the Panov although I haven't encountered it too often tbh, most of my opponents go for the advance or the classical lines.

Get comfortable with 1.e4 1.d4 1.c4...then 1.Nf3