Learning a new opening before a tournament

Hi guys,

How long do you think it takes to learn an opening good enough to play it in a OTB tournanment? Please post here.

I have a tournament in 2 weeks and I am trying to decide whether or not to switch some openings as I am more frequently getting unfavorable positions. Is this too soon or not? I have a reasonable amount of time to be studying chess everyday.

Thanks.

I don't think two weeks will be enough time.  You might be able to learn the main line.  Once your opponents goes on a variation from the main line, you'll be in trouble.  You should concentrate on the opening that you normally use.

2 weeks seems like plenty of time IMO.  It depends on how much time you actually have to spend on chess.  If you have work or school (I don't know how old you are) every day then you might need to stay up late to learn the openings, but you can do it.

Why should you switch? Did you learn your current openings in such depth that you are bored playing them?

Thanks for your feedback guys :) @jphillips how long everyday do I need to spend on openings then? I go to school and after school for me is usually completely free and I have very little homework so basically I could study about 3 hours a day if really needed

@pfren I am sort of hopping between openings right now especially as black. Against d4, I am choosing between KID, QGA, Grunfeld, Slav, or Dutch/stonewall. For some of them like KID and dutch/stonewall I have played it once or twice OTB but have not studied it in depth.

Against e4, I play Paulsen sicilian but have not gotten very good progress with it (lost 2 games with it in last tourney) so I am thinking of switching to dragon.

The way I learn openings if I need to do it quickly is usually a combination of YouTube and databases (usually the one on Chess.com).  Then play some games online with it to get a feel for the kind of positions that arise.  And don't just learn the mainline.  You need to be able to learn the themes of the opening so that you can play well regardless of whether your opponent plays the mainline.  I don't know what kind of tournament you're going to, but if it's just a 1 day tournament there is a very good chance that you will never even get to use your preparation.  I bought a book on the Open Sicilian and had some lines prepared for a Saturday tournament, but nobody played Sicilian against me xD.  So don't worry too much about being totally prepared; just be familiar with the kinds of positions that typically arise from it and you should be fine.

Oh if you are going to switch to the dragon then you might not have enough time.  Some of the lines in the Yugoslav go like 30 moves deep.

The Dragon variation leads to EXTREMELY sharp lines and contains a lot of theory. I doubt two weeks is enough time for understanding and studying the Dragon variation.

NO, you need more time.

AND REALLY STOP SWITCHING! If you switch after 2 loses you will be playing all the openings known to man to the end of the year.

Exactly!

Congratulations. This is the sure way to avoid improving forever.

Choose just ONE simple & sound opening against any opponent reply, and play it again, and again, and again... learn it thoroughly, and do NOT be afraid about the opponents "preparation". Chances are that you will know it better than him if you are faithful to it.

I'd say you need at least a month.  I agree you should not be switching very often.

Depends...If your playing in a class section like USCF B or below,  youre fine.  Once you start getting to Class A and above, youre getting into "opening Territory" where people are much more booked up.  But even at that level, youre not really in any danger of being blown out of the water out of the opening.  

I actually read the rest of your post, and jumping from opening to opening because of a couple of losses isnt going to help your growth.  Find an opening you like to play and stick with it.  

Perhaps it would be of interest that, in one of his books about an opening, GM Nigel Davies wrote (2005), "The way I suggest you study this book is to play through the main games once, relatively quickly, and then start playing the variation in actual games. Playing an opening in real games is of vital importance - without this kind of live practice it is impossible to get a 'feel' for the kind of game it leads to. There is time enough later for involvement with the details, after playing your games it is good to look up the line."

It is definitely useful to use the opening in real games early on.  I just wouldn't make those real games tournament games.  I would make them online games or something on that level of importance.