Opening Repertoire?

Hey everyone, just wondering as a kinda beginner like myself, what kind of opening repetoire do you think I should have? I am a big fan of the english and am thinking of picking up the Reti opening, so I would have English and Reti opening as white, but I guess I am struggling for black. Any suggestions on maybe like 2 defenses I can learn for black or 3? I guess because I like the english and the reti I like a more flexible defense, would you suggest something like the pirc and the alkehine? Or are those too crazy. Any helpful tips would be well appreciated. 

Thanks in advance

Hello there! Yes, finding a suitable opening repertoire it's a longer process than you might think because it is required a lot of time to test your self in it, while learning, practising and re-evaluating.

For your chess development as a beginner, i wouldn't suggest starting your opening repertoire experience with flank openings as the English, Reti because of the character in positions you will get to play. It is a common opinion that beginners should prefer to play more the so-called open positions 1.e4 e5 that will help them grow their ability calculating tactics in open board and later expand their knowledge how to handle closed positions and pawn play in the opening phase.  

I think you should start first with 1.e4 and after a while see the 1.d4 repertoire. The most important as a beginner in Chess is to have a study plan, otherwise its easy to lost your self in this universe.

https://www.chess.com/article/view/study-plan-for-beginners-the-opening2

The Pirc and the Alekhine are both fun, but they involve many subtle, counterintuitive moves that you can only really understand from a lot of playing, or studying.

So, if you're looking for a long road: try them both and just learn from trial and error.

But if you're looking for a quicker path: pick up a book on either of them. The "Starting Out" series is a pretty helpful one.

Between the two, I'd recommend the Alekhine before the Pirc. The Alekhine tends to give black a bit more of an offensive say in things, whereas the Pirc tends to be a bit more on the defensive, "Can you survive white's 150-Attack?" side. (The 150-Attack is a common, aggresive setup that white uses to pressure Pirc players.)

You'll also want to choose a defense against d4 structures, as well.

Just like what was said two posts ago, you need to stick with opening concepts and kill the hypermodern approach until you have learned the basics of classical chess.  Memorizing reams of hypermodern openings at your level won't do you sh*t!

You are still very weak a player to bother about hypermodern stuff. You should try to improve your tactical play (which is poor) and understand a thing or two about the game principles, including the opening ones. No more work on the opening required right now, just review your games and find mistakes which need a cure.

Here is an example: You apparently followed some advice by player XYZ to play "the awesome Fried Liver", and ended up blundering almost everything.

Please analyse it WITHOUT ENGINE AID and send it back here with your own comments. I will gladly add mine.

For someone seeking help with choosing openings, I usually bring up Openings for Amateurs by Pete Tamburro (2014).
http://kenilworthian.blogspot.com/2014/05/review-of-pete-tamburros-openings-for.html
https://chessbookreviews.wordpress.com/tag/openings-for-amateurs/
I believe that it is possible to see a fair portion of the beginning of Tamburro's book by going to the Mongoose Press site.
https://www.mongoosepress.com/catalog/excerpts/openings_amateurs.pdf
Perhaps TheRennuR would also want to look at Discovering Chess Openings by GM John Emms (2006).
"... For beginning players, [Discovering Chess Openings] will offer an opportunity to start out on the right foot and really get a feel for what is happening on the board. ..." - FM Carsten Hansen (2006)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627114655/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen91.pdf
https://www.chess.com/article/view/picking-the-correct-opening-repertoire
http://chess-teacher.com/best-chess-openings/
https://www.chess.com/blog/TigerLilov/build-your-opening-repertoire
https://www.chess.com/blog/CraiggoryC/how-to-build-an-opening-repertoire
https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/9029.pdf
https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/9050.pdf
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627132508/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen173.pdf
"... Overall, I would advise most players to stick to a fairly limited range of openings, and not to worry about learning too much by heart. ..." - FM Steve Giddins (2008)
"... Once you identify an opening you really like and wish to learn in more depth, then should you pick up a book on a particular opening or variation. Start with ones that explain the opening variations and are not just meant for advanced players. ..." - Dan Heisman (2001)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140626180930/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/heisman06.pdf
"... To begin with, only study the main lines ... you can easily fill in the unusual lines later. ..." - GM John Nunn (2006)
"... I feel that the main reasons to buy an opening book are to give a good overview of the opening, and to explain general plans and ideas. ..." - GM John Nunn (2006)
"... If the book contains illustrative games, it is worth playing these over first ..." - GM John Nunn (2006)
"... the average player only needs to know a limited amount about the openings he plays. Providing he understands the main aims of the opening, a few typical plans and a handful of basic variations, that is enough. ..." - FM Steve Giddins (2008)
"... For inexperienced players, I think the model that bases opening discussions on more or less complete games that are fully annotated, though with a main focus on the opening and early middlegame, is the ideal. ..." - FM Carsten Hansen (2010)
"... Everyman Chess has started a new series aimed at those who want to understand the basics of an opening, i.e., the not-yet-so-strong players. ... I imagine [there] will be a long series based on the premise of bringing the basic ideas of an opening to the reader through plenty of introductory text, game annotations, hints, plans and much more. ..." - FM Carsten Hansen (2002)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627055734/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen38.pdf
"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." - GM Nigel Davies (2005)

Yeah I am starting to see I should learn those classical openings and understand even more about the principles before trying to jump in with flashy openings like the English or the Reti, thank you for these tips! But is there any black defense I should learn? Like a standard one for beginners that I can expand on with tactics or whatever? 

Thank you very much for the response! And wow yeah that from a month ago I remember that and the bad moves I made. I am getting the sense from everyone that I need to ditch the english and the reti right now and just focus on making tactical plays, and playing more games instead of just studying chess openings and stuff. 

I will play a game in a little while and I could send you it? With my own analysis on it? 

Just analyse THIS old game, and put it here with your comments. No matter how poorly you played, you always have something important to learn when analysing.

Alternatives mentioned at:

https://www.chess.com/article/view/how-to-understand-openings

You don't need to ditch the English or the Reti. But looking at your games, a lot of your mistakes are happening because of missed tactics—not because of a lack of opening study.

You can still keep playing the English (or the Reti), while improving your tactical vision along the way.