help with repertoire

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justarandomaccount1

so now that i have a bit more free time i'm attempting to get back into chess (starting fresh), and i was wondering how this looked for an opening repertoire (i'm an agressive and tactical player):
•ruy lopez
•najdorf
•kings indian
•grunfeld
•nimzo-indian
•french
how does this look? any suggestions on what i should add or take off?

yyankdog

yeah my first impression is that its broad..especially if you are returning.  I just returned and used to play the Najdorf and consdidered a change because even JUST the Najdorf is too broad.  Adding the French seems a lot.

I dont see why you need the Gruenfeld and Nimzo if you play the KID.  The KID is not a bad choice because it is a set up you can use against c4 and Nf3 by white.

 

What is your repertoire as White?  I ask because it probably has to be pretty simple if you need time to become that proficient with so many Defenses as black.

 

But good luck to you-it is tough to come back :)

 

What

justarandomaccount1

i realize its broad but i've found that studying openings with deeper and denser theory is more rewarding in the end, but then again i blow so i'm probably just talking out of my ass

also the openings i listed are a mixture of the two, i don't exactly know what else to pick for white :x (which is part of the reason i made this post lol)

 

thanks for the comments thus far though, appreciate the help

justarandomaccount1

oh i thought i had mentioned that, i play e4 99% of my games

yyankdog

Hi again Joel,

Yep sounds like you have your hands full.  I sort of agree that learning a lot of openings will help your chess by familiarizing you with many positions-I think this is what you are saying.  I used to approach it that way.  But I have found that while that may be true, players tend to be better and better prepared even in class levels so that having a repertoire that broad as black when you are returning is pretty risky.  But it may work for you!

Additionally, e4 is just a beast to learn when coming back as well.

 

I am in a similar situation as you and here is mine.

Vs. e4 I play Najdorf but learning the Taimanov type set ups because they are simpler.

vs d4 I play KID.

vs c4 and Nf3 I play KID set ups.

Like you as white I play e4 and I even dumped the Ruy so as to simplify my life :).  I play Bb5 variations against most Sicilians but still looking for how to respond to 2.....e6 in the Sicilian.  I play the Four Knights and Scoth Four Knights vs...e5 instead of the Ruy.  I have some lines vs French/Caro, etc.  But the beauty of knowing the four knights is that it is a useful way to answer Alekhine and Petroff.

This is just something to think about.  I wish you luck in your return.  It is not easy

justarandomaccount1

@yyankdog thank you, and yes that is the general idea behind what i am doing

@Fiveofswords ah then what would you suggest?

malibumike

There is a wonderful book by Steve Giddins:  " How To Build Your Chess Opening Repertoire".  While it doesn't create a repertoire for you, it does lay-out all the things you should be thinking about.

CPawn

It all depends on your style and what you are comfortable playing.

yyankdog

Joel, have you considered the Dutch?  It is not to everyone's tastes.  But if you are going to play the French, it is a natural fit with the French and avoids KID and Grunfeld Complexity.  And it gives you good positions to learn from I think.  Just a thought.

Pikachulord6

I agree with yyankdog about the Dutch, but I also suggest the Chigorin Defense, the Alekhine Defense, and the Albin Countergambit (If you're that kind of player).  They are both very aggressive and don't take enormous amounts of time to learn.  Of course, everyone has different tastes, so these may or may not suit you.  Regardless, good luck.Smile

justarandomaccount1

@  Steinar:

1) The amount of time you intend to commit

for now i'd say 4+ hours a day, but next semester i'm taking 23 credits so i'd like to get as much grunt work out of the way now

2) Your goals

long term ability, i basically want to be able to play competitively at a decent level by the time im out of college and have a job

3) Your playing level

as of now i'd say i am, at best, a fucking idiot (give or take a little bit)

i took a year break and am now missing the most trivial 4-5 move combinations

@pikachulord @ yyankdog: i'll look into them but i don't want something that is easy or quick to learn, i know it sounds stupid but it doesn't feel fufilling at all (when i played somewhat seriously in high school i refused to play the accelerated dragon even though i had a close to undefeated record with it, anytime i played the actual dragon against somebody who knew what they were doing i got demolished)

 

anyways thanks for all the comments, i appreciate everybodies input and suggestions

Tnk64ChessCourse
JoelDaniel wrote:

so now that i have a bit more free time i'm attempting to get back into chess (starting fresh), and i was wondering how this looked for an opening repertoire (i'm an agressive and tactical player):
•ruy lopez
•najdorf
•kings indian
•grunfeld
•nimzo-indian
•french
how does this look? any suggestions on what i should add or take off?


If you are a tactical player then you should avoid the Ruy at all costs. It is perhaps the most positional opening in chess. If it's tactics you want then you should play the dragon, the KID and the grunfeld are both tactical and aggressive defences against 1.d4.

justarandomaccount1
Steinar wrote:

You say you don't want something that's quick to learn... I don't know. I think you should think economy when studying the opening, especially if you're not master level - simply because your study time is that valuable.

 

Stick to e4, will save you a lot of time.

If you're prepared to work, I could recommend "dismantling the sicilian" for a white repertoire against the sicilian - which goes a long way since it's such a popular opening. I would recommend this over the classic "experts vs. the sicilian" since the former is built on the idea that the variations you choose to play should have some similarities so you can more easily build a good understanding of the inherent ideas, and your understanding of one system to some extent transposes to another (to encounter themes from other systems in a position... e.g. thinking like "this would be much like that variation in the najdorf except black's pawn is already on b5 and white exchanged his dark-square bishop- must be good for black" can be helpful).


i don't think you understand what i was getting at before, i have a nice amount of free time right now and i'm not playing rated games or going for any immediate improvement

i feel like since i have all of this time it would be wiser to invest in things i'm not going to be able to do when i have a family and a job

justarandomaccount1

nobody ]=? i emailed nigel davies and he, in short, told me to buy his book "the gambiteer"

 

all i want is a list...