Learning 1.e4 e5 thoroughly

I search for "troll" and you name came up 17 times. Do you really have nothing better to do?

i meant no offence. it was natural to think you didnt knew about the search function after your last post where you had no problem with some guy having 87 threads on openings:) sorry about that

That's like telling Mozart his music has too many notes.

I use those Till. Thank you. You gave me lots of great stuff. I really appreciate it.

No I get it. I think it is good to have a familiarity with all the major openings, but I need to learn one response to 1.e4 well before the Caro-Kann. I know. EVENTUALLY I will study the Caro. Not in a month. 1...e5 has so much to it, potentially.

I personally feel that you should read a book at first and see if it REALLY suits you.Then if you like it,then the next stage is playing.Try to play as many SLOW games you can play with that opening (about 100-150)  and last thing is the Advanced research.Explore more about the opening(all its lines,variations,middlegames which can arise due to it and the endgames which can arise through it too) and again practise and try these lines in slow chess.You can also play speed chess but the slow chess is more preferable and at last you will end learing 1 opening

yeah it all depends on which lines you learn. for example you can learn the berlin defence to ruy lopez in a few months but use years to understand the zaitsev defence on the other side of the scale. also when you dont know what to do in 1.e4 e5 you can get away with it by putting your pieces on good squares like knights on c6 and f6 and bishop on c5. i almost got to 2000 chess.com rating that way before my nerves got in the way so my rating here is a bit misleading for now

Thank you. That's a good idea. I should find a book and read it first.

Ruy Lopez was a man, not a book.

you should see how you like meeting the kings gambit. many people stay away from 1.e4 e5 because of this opening alone

I know how to handle the King's Gambit thanks to Till_98. That's a good point though. I personally don't see it played a lot, so it can really catch you off guard if you are inexperienced (as I am) and forget about something like that. Excellent point.

@Chicken... just a quick one on FCO (Van der Sterren).

I own it and I love it. It is my go-to-book for any new line I'm being forced to play or get interested in playing myself. Of course it is not comprehensive or very deep in each opening. But it does explain quite a lot, and I am sure you will gain a lot of insight from it. It is an excellent introduction to the whole openings universe and I would highly recommend it as a must-have book. It is full of relevant knowledge. I am quite convinced it will fit your present and future requirements perfectly.

Buy it. And if you don't like it, I will refund you the money. Seriously.

Thanks. I'm so stoopid. I thought Ruy Lopez was a man.

I'm a chicken and a jack of all trades and master of none, so what the heck do I know.

No, Ruy Lopez is the nickname of a man and not a book.

I have heard only good things about FCO. I think I should get it. It explains the reasonings behind the moves of the various openings, correct?

It's good to have an overview of everything, since one cannot possibly learn everything about every opening...or most people can't...

Yes, it very much does so. FCO really is a book that you will appreciate a lot, and you will pick it up many, many times.

Whenever there is a question, say you hear about the "Crappy Gambit", you'll instinctively say "Hmm... let's see what FCO says about it..."  If it's not even in there, chances are high it is crap indeed. And if it's in FCO, you will get a nice overview of it and some concrete lines. It might tell you that with this move order you can achieve that, or this move order is bad, or this is similar to an idea found in the French Defense Winawer after 5...c5 (whatever)... really FCO is just pure gold. Besides the layout is very clear, it has a table of all the variations in the back where you instantly find whatever line you were looking at. It also has a list of additional literature... it simply is a must-have, in my opinion.

If any particular opening interests you more deeply, of course you will find special books, videos or dig the databases and all anyways.

Almost as many books as you have opening threads. Ha.

Hey man, if they could fit all of chess into just one book I would buy it! It's not my fault!

Would you say that it would be suitable for creating your own repertoire? Say I want a certain line in the Budapest Gambit, but not the most common or second or third most common. Something a bit esoteric for my repertoire. Would this work for that?

Suitable for creating your own repertoire? Oh yes. It will give you tons of ideas.

..."esoteric" stuff in any particular opening line? No I would rather not think so. This requirement would rather ask for specific material on that particular opening. FCO will give an excellent overview of say the BG, explain the main points and ideas. But it will not provide with *all* the possible lines and how to play or defend it. That is very much the point and the value of FCO, to not cover everything in *detail*.

The way it works (for me) is, for reasons whatsoever I get the spleen to play e.g. the Slav Defense.  I look it up in FCO and study what's being said there. I will get some ideas, and if I still think it's interesting, I learn the main lines, if necessary with help from databases mainly. Then I start playing it.

The first few times I play the Slav I expect to get soundly beaten. Either because the opponent knew more than me, or I forgot my stuff, or he didn't know anything and played some (reasonable enough) move that I have not prepared for and it is freestyle after move 3 or 4.

Trying to steer into any particular sub-variation ("esoteric") will come with practice. I am of the opinion you have to know the mainlines first before you know WHY you want to steer away from it. Usually mainlines are there for a reason, namely they give you good positions and the game will be decided later on (middlegame/endgame).

I just read about FCO on Amazon. I read some of the book. It's a perfect starting point, I agree. After you understand the principles and some main lines, then get some experience and delve deeper elsewhere. I am getting it. It looks tremendous.

Incidentally, I looked at Play 1 e4 e5 again by Nigel Davies (repertoire for Black). This book looks great if you want to play 1.e4 e5 as Black. This book was mentioned earlier in this thread. It does indeed cover the Ruy Lopez, and just about everything else except for the Marshall Attack I think. It is quite detailed with interesting lines from which to choose, but there is not a lot of explanation. This is a bit advanced but something people should consider I think (if you wish to play 1...e5 as your defense against 1.e4 often and want to utilize the Ruy Lopez etc.). I just read a bit. It is definitely not for beginners.