Hi all,
Part of my plan in addressing that is to expose myself to different kinds of opening ideas and themes, preferably from both sides, to expand my knowledge database.
So my questions I guess are a) is this a waste of time, and b) what do you think I could add or subtract?
Cheers,
William
I also have the upgraded version of the same thought " convincing 4 members (just for example) of any club in which we are present and then all five of us play the same openings - learn the concepts and ideas of those openings post our self annotated games in our club forums with the name of the opening" first two weeks start with 1.e4 (tell them what opening to play against sicilian, carokann, French, Scandinavian and e5), next two weeks start with 1.d4 and then Next two weeks with 1.c4 but carefully avoid the positions which you got from d4 openings. Use similar ideas in black too(like against 1.e4,1.d4 1.c4) . Probably during the fourth 14 days you can try gambits and traps. Complete this entire process within two months and the important thing is to understand that this is just a learning phase about different positions of chess and should never worry about ratings. Throughout the journey get your self annotated games analysed by other players present here for continuous improvement.
In what world is a bishop on c4 the same, or even similar, to a bishop on b5?! Maybe for them, but not for me, a mortal.
It's an admirable goal and I'm sure you can improve your planning through this method eventually. It will take ages though. If you want to study opening plans, study the pawns structure. The pawn structure will tell you what plan to adopt throughout the game. I think you will discover this fact going through the master games and the openings. Please don't study pawn structure in isolation though. Look at how pawn structure impacts factors like king safety, piece activity, and endgame chances. I like the idea of studying the Petrof for black, take a particular look at the Cochrane Gambit for a detailed study of pawn structure, space, king safety, and piece activity against material. Another good use of your time would be to look at the Carlsbad structure. It will give you an excellent idea of what to do in any Queen's gambit declined situation. Don't forget endgames and tactics though! Be sure to check out Find the Right Plan with Anatoly Karpov and Pawn Structure Chess by Andrew Soltis.