I read somewhere long ago - "advice is like a drug in the market, whose supply exceeds its demand".
Here is my two cents: it is much important to analyse any given position several moves ahead (opening, middlegame, etc.) than to memorize the openings. What is apparently good might prove to be bad if we analyse further, and vice versa. It is also important to consider all opponent's choices.
Manny,
I posted this in CPAD (I sent you an invite..you should join..or stop in and check us out) forum, thought it might help.
”The most common error that chess teachers and players make is to spend the beginning of their chess lives memorizing opening variations with which they think they can win lots of quick games. There is nothing more tempting than learning to win fast; but this is a terrible mistake. If you memorize variations, you may do well in the short run, but over time you'll falter because you're not learning the heart of chess.”-Josh Waitzkin
In this group, I believe we should focus on taking our first steps to thinking about chess like a master. We are not learning how to trick a beginner.
1. Control the Center
The first principle is to control as much of the center of the chess board as possible. The key squares are d4, d5, e4 and e5. This will occur naturally for white with most openings, the two most common opening moves being the Queens pawn move to d4 or the Kings pawn move to e4.
2. Develop your Pieces
Moving your Queens or Kings pawn first then controls either d5 or e5, it also allows room for movement for the more major pieces. Bringing in to play the second principle of developing your major pieces, starting with your Knights followed by the Bishops. You may need to move another pawn to develop your Bishops fully.
Moving your Knights to either c3 or f3 will help protect your advanced pawn and also control more of the center of the board.
3. Castle Early
You should then Castle as soon as possible, preferably on the Kings side. This helps protect your King from attack and release the Rook into the center.
4. Connect your Rooks
Once you have Castled you should then move the Queen to allow your Rooks to connect and have free movement on the back rank. Move your Queen with caution though, as another principle in the opening is not to over expose your Queen.
5. Build a Solid Structure
Do not be tempted to attack until your pieces have been developed. Your aim in the chess opening is to build a solid structure from which you can then attack your opponent. By following these principles your chess pieces will have more freedom of movement and be less vulnerable to attack.
Lastly, whenever you have a principle that you want to use, you also want to think about how to prevent your opponent from using those ideas. So you want to develop while preventing your opponent from developing. You want to bring your king to safety while preventing your opponent from castling his king to safety. You want to control the center, while preventing your opponent from controlling the center. You want to move each piece of yours once, while trying to incite your opponent into moving as many pieces of his as many times as possible. This is how it works in chess
so many beginners[like myself] are interested in the open moves ?! most of them [as myself] dont understand most of it and why it is a good /bad position...i try to get an opening that i ''understand'' and concentrate on whether it leaves me in a good middle game which should give me a reasonable end game...i am not trying to be a'' world killer '' so i am happy to compete at my level and change my game to suite my skill level and at the same time enjoy the game[most important].i see however most play thinking that their game will improve thru just play but if you keep making same mistakes and dont learn from them well what is the point ,unless you like posting a loss.