Need a new Opening

Hello,

Although i've known how to play chess my whole life, I recently started to get serious about chess only 8 - 10 months ago.  I currently play at about a 1200, although I don't have an actualy ranking.  What I need is a new opening for white.  I almost always play e4 then nf3 then bc4.  Obviously I vary it as needed, but 80% of the time this is how I start.  Being a beginner, could someone give me a another few openings that are fairly common/sound?

Thanks for the help.

as white, i do the same thing too, 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 4.Bc4......

thats a good opening, you just have to study black's response to Bc4..there are two common reply to that move, one is Nf6 which leads to two knoghts defence and Bc5 which you can reply 5.b4 which is the evans gambit or 5.c3 which is the italian game...goodluck..

64_block_square...

i prefer 1.d4 to 1. e4 but as a beginner it may be easier to stick with e4 for a while.

however, Queen's Gambit (1. d4 d5 2. c4) is a good solid opening. also, the Indian Game is good as well (1. d4 Nf6 2. c4). these are the two games you'll probably see the most of when playing 1. d4

d4 lines tend to be a bit "slower" than e4 lines because it takes extra time to castle your king (which beginners should be looking to do pretty quickly).

 Well, firstly, start mentioning your opponent's moves.

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 is fine (as are 3.Bb5, 3.d4, 3.Nc3, 3.c3), but if Black plays other moves, you need to adjust.

you can try e4-e5/Nf3-Nc6/Bb5-a6/B:c6 Ryu Lopez exchange variation. Lasker played it a lot. After ...d:c/ d4-e:d/ Q:d4-Q:d4/N:d4 idea of this variation for white is to take advantage of extra pawn on King's side. Black has an extra pawn on Q side but it is hard to use it becouse his pawns are dubled

wow, this is a very profound question you're asking, there are endlessly many ways to open a game. And while 1.e4 2.Nf3 3.Bc4 is a decent setup, I think you should much more play in respnse to your opponent. If you don't intend to bother yourself with the great amount of theory you need to study when learning specific lines, you should at least make sure that certain principles apply at your openings: control the center, develop your pieces, fight for the initiative, use tempos to get a lead in development, don't play unnecessary waiting moves like i.e. a3 or h3 early in a game etc. Kasparov says that at low levels (that is to say everything below 2100 in his opinion) chess players tend to  put too much of an emphasis on their openings and that they really only become important at higher levels...

My advice is to pick a couple of openings and do some studying on them so you get more comfortable with certain ideas and schemes in those openings.

So 1.d4 openings have a reputation of leading to more closed positions than 1.e4 where you can easily open lines and have a nice and sharp game. You have to find out for yourself what sort of positions you like to play more.

For 1.d4 there's the entire Queen's Gambit Accepted/Declined stuff (i.e. 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 = the semi-slav) or the King's Indian defenses (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 O-O 6.Be2 e5 and so on) or the Benoni, the Benko Gambit, Grunfeld, Torre Attack, Colle system, maybe Blackmar-Diemer Gambit if you're daring, you'll find a lot of useful stuff when you look for those names on the Internet...

1.e4 features the Ruy Lopez, the Italian Game (there the Evans Gambit is pretty cool) French Defense, Pirc Defense, of course the Sicilians, Scotch Game, King's Gambit, maybe Danish Gambit, Philidor's Defense and a lot more. All those names might not quite help you at the moment but if you are interested in learning new openings you can find out about the moves on the internet.

There also are the 1.c4 English Opening or the 1.f4 Bird's opening, both pretty good to maybe surprise your opponent a bit...

Assuming the sequence is 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4, what you play is sound and 100% fine.

 If you want to learn more about possible ways to continue play in your setup, read a little on the Italian opening, two knights defence and if you want to spice up your play have a look at the Evans Gambit.

Play the Petrov!

How is he going to do that with the White pieces  ?

Your opening setup is fine. I suggest going and learning opening principles and, in the opening, try to understand what the opponent is trying to do. Mastering the Chess Openings Vol 1. by John Watson has a GREAT introduction to opening principles. I suggest you either purchase the book or obtain it in some fashion. The first section is sufficient opening knowledge for anyone under 2000 USCF. I'm 1600 USCF and I only ever lose on tactics and never opening blows, which is indicative on what I need to work on. I wouldn't even consider changing from e4 or basic opening theory till atleast 1800 IMHO.

evans gambit !

1e4 e5 2 nf3 nc6 3 Bc4 Bc5 4 b4! bxb4 5c3 be7/Ba5 6 d4 usally followed up with nc3 and Qb3 O-O and re1

A chess coach recommended to me the following openings for White as good for novices:

Giuoco Piano (which you already play), Four Knights' Game, Scotch Game, Queen's Gambit Declined.

Capablanca didn't study openings either.

Try the Scotch!

I wouldn't dispute the claim that there is too much focus on the opening, but I would still say that no matter how many strong players you name that didn't study the opening, there are far more that do (or did).  Don't overemphasize opening study, but don't go to the other extreme and suggest there's no need for it.

There are also a lot of players who studied openings a lot and never went above 1900; and a lot of the strong players say they didn't start studying openings until they were at least 2000+ (Van Wely says he didn't study them "seriously" until he was 2400+ -- though he doesn't say what he considers serious)

Anyway, just because almost all GMs study opening theory doesn't mean it's a good idea to do so before you learn the rest of the game pretty well.

Also, do as I say, not do as I do... I love openings :-)

I don't think we disagree. I'm just saying not to throw the baby out with the bathwater, so to speak. ;)  (And by opening study, I'm not referring to memorizing seven variations fifteen moves deep, but rather knowing the first few moves and and the reasons behind them, and knowing the general plans and structures -- nothing too extreme, I think.)

i've been playing d4 most of my life but d4 tends to be good against stronger opponents as i got a solid position but e4 tends to be better against weaker players as they don't always know all of the lines? I am speaking in general terms here.... this might not apply all of the time! I tend to draw most of the time with d4 (OTB that this) as i am naturally a passive player .... but need to become more assertive/aggressive in my play ........