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My Favorite Openings
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Jun 12, 2020
0
#3
I used to play the caro until I got into overly passive positions. Now I stick to either Alekhine's or Nimzowitch, but I play the Pirc when I'm seal clubbing (basically bullying lower rated players, lol).
Against 1.d4 I play the Budapest gambit but recently I've started learning Chigorin.
Jun 12, 2020
0
#4
@SNUDOO Ah yes, I'm a big fan of the Alekhine's. I don't play the Nimsowitch too often though. Thank you for sharing.
1. In the Dragon the OP showed there was no mention of the critical 11.Nxd4 line (Topalov) or 12.Nc4 rather than Re8.
2. 11.Bf4 in the Caro line is inaccurate because Black can play Qa5+ (transposing to lines after the accurate 11.Bd2 after Bd2...Qc7 (12.c3 is not great)) or sit and potentially play a strong Nd5 with tempo.
hi
Oliver is too pr0
more like life gambit
Oct 6, 2020
0
#16
Opening courses prepared by grandmasters, from chessmood will very helpful too, I leave the link here for you guys! https://chessmood.com/courses
Greetings! My name is Oliver Prescott, and I'm a chess enthusiast. I wouldn't say that I'm an expert of a grandmaster of some sort, but I have been playing chess for a while, and I kind of know my way around the game. Over the last hundreds of years since the game was initially invented, chess players have come up with chess openings and systems, along with many variations that branch off of them. Today, I'm going to share some of my favorite openings that I like to play with during my chess journey. Remember, this is all opinion-based, and please do not send hate or any hurtful comments towards me or anyone who may support my claims. Thank you!
1. The Italian Game
The Italian Game is one of the most simple and understandable openings of all time, making it a very suitable first opening to learn for chess beginners. This was indeed my first opening, and I still do play this frequently. This opening perfectly illustrates the three major opening principles: center control, piece development, and king safety. The Italian game also features an extremely powerful light-squared bishop, that can relentlessly place pressure on the pawn on f7, which is one of black's weakest points, especially after castling kingside. The board you will find below shows you my favorite variation as white.
2. The Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation
Although I like to classify myself as a positional player, I do have aggressive tendencies. Sometimes, when I play black, I'm up for a challenge and some crazy chess, and this is as crazy as it gets. The Dragon Variation of the Sicilian features the opposing kings castled on opposite wings of the board. Therefore, both sides use a tactic known as a "pawn storm" to break their opponent's defenses and deliver checkmate. There are many ways to play the Dragon Variation as the Sicilian is one of the most complicated openings, but my favorite is known as the Yugoslav Attack, one of the more common systems that you'll surely encounter.
The first twelve moves above features the mainline of the Yugoslav attack. After this, some ideas for white could be g4 and h4 to begin the pawn storm or Bh6 to weaken the kingside. Some ideas for black may be Qa5 to develop the queen, a6 and b5 to begin the pawn storm or Nc4 to trade off the light-squared bishop.
3. The Caro-Kann Defense
The Caro-Kann Defense is a semi-open opening that is characterized by the moves e4 and c6. Like the French Defense, the Caro-Kann uses the pawn to strike in the center with d5. While in most cases for black, the dark-squared bishop is extremely valuable and typically considered more powerful than the other bishop due to it being able to attack white's weak f2 square, the Caro Kann bishop is indeed the light-squared bishop and will be exceptionally powerful in the opening.
The board above displays the classical line for the Caro-Kann. White wants to trade off black's powerful bishop with his own, developing his queen in the process. Then, Bf4 prevents any Qc7 ideas. Black typically uses his c6 and e6 pawn to exert dominance over the d5 square and looks to castle queenside in most cases. Overall, this is a solid defense for black and makes my list of my favorite openings to play for chess.
4. The London System
The London System is a very smooth and easy opening to learn. This system has one of the highest drawing percentages and is typically played if you aren't in the mood for anything crazy. The system is characterized by the moves d4, Nf3, and Bf4 for white. Because it's a system, move order doesn't really matter for either side.
The position above shows one of the more common ways that you will see players at the top level play the London System. However, there are many ways to continue and this isn't necessarily the only continuation. It's a very flexible opening, and you can do almost anything without the worry of making a bad move.
5. Catalan Opening: Open Variation
This queen's pawn opening is very easy to transpose into as it can arise from various openings: the Reti, the QGD, or the English. Both sides fianchetto their bishops on the g-file and both sides want to castle kingside. It's a relatively smooth opening, which I'm a big fan of as I'm not exactly what one would call an "aggressive player". The Catalan has two main variations: the open and closed. The reason
I'm sharing the open variation is mainly due to the fact that it is much more common, and will be of more use if you play in tournaments frequently. The difference between the open and closed is whether or not black holds on to the c4 pawn. If black attempts to defend it with a6 and b5, it's closed. If he allows it to be captured to develop pieces, it's open.