Please recommend an opening to suit my style of play

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kindaspongey

https://web.archive.org/web/20140627012235/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen111.pdf

RussBell


A nice review of Andrew Greet's book on the Accelerated Dragon.  THE book to have on this particular variation!

kindaspongey

"... I do have all (Hyper)Accelerated Dragon books printed up to date (starting with David Levy's back in the late seventies) and if I had to pick one, it would be Greet's. It's not perfect, but fairly thorough and very well laid-out." - IM pfren (March 30, 2017)

"... Having read [Starting Out: The Accelerated Dragon by Andrew Greet (2008)] cover to cover, I recommend it to anyone who is eager to learn more about chess in general and the Accelerated Dragon in particular. This book is quite an achievement and it has much to offer to ambitious players. I also recommend it to those who already play the Accelerated Dragon, because it contains plenty of original material, and it is sure to deepen your understanding of the opening. ..." - FM Carsten Hansen (2008)

I recently got [The Hyper Accelerated Dragon by Raja Panjwani]. I think it's not a good book for class players (unlike Greet's). Good & thorough analysis, but the lines picked are not the easiest, and there are no simple verbal explanations." - IM pfren (December 31, 2017)

Born1993

What do you think about: An Unbeatable White Repertoire after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3

 

https://www.amazon.com/Unbeatable-White-Repertoire-after-Nf3/dp/0875681719/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1527611351&sr=8-1&keywords=unbeatable+white+repertoire&dpID=51jyCaLgB6L&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

RussBell
kindaspongey wrote:
HappyEverAfter93 wrote:

… why don't you suggest a good sicilian book for black? I want to know too.

"... For players who are beginning to learn about openings and want a good overview of the many lines that constitute the Sicilian complex, [Starting Out: The Sicilian, 2nd Edition by GM John Emms] is the answer. ..." - FM Carsten Hansen (2009) https://web.archive.org/web/20140627122350/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen123.pdf

Emms' book is an excellent overview of all the Sicilian variations.  Good for getting perspective on which of the multitude of Sicilians might appeal to you.

Born1993

For Black, I am currently using https://www.amazon.com/Open-Games-Black-Igor-Lysyj/dp/954878288X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1527611875&sr=8-1&keywords=open+game+for+black&dpID=51ULTe5iWzL&preST=_SY291_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&dpSrc=srch

Because I am a post-beginner player so I love open game for its practical play and common use grin.png

RussBell

I have the book (one of the first opening books I ever bought in 1989).  Understand that it is not a "comprehensive" nor an up-to-date repertoire of the most recent theory.  Nevertheless it would be useful as a first book, introduction to 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 lines to get quickly oriented in playing the primary variations that can arise.  Another plus is that the book is not a tome - it will not overwhelm you with reams of lines to memorize.  Also any book by Larry Evans (Bobby Fischer's second) shouldn't be bad.  (But buy only if the price is cheap, <$15USD!)

RussBell
Born1993 wrote:

Good stuff!  Every player should start out playing the open games...the best chess training ground!

Born1993
RussBell wrote:
Born1993 wrote:

Good stuff!  Every player should start out playing the open games...the best chess training ground!

 

Here is the game I just played. Up to 15th move, I use the line covered in Open Games for Black. I also follow the strategy in the middle game and endgame in the examples. I can say that this book is very good for open game as Black.

 

RussBell
Born1993 wrote:
RussBell wrote:
Born1993 wrote:

Good stuff!  Every player should start out playing the open games...the best chess training ground!

 

Here is the game I just played. Up to 15th move, I use the line covered in Open Games for Black. I also follow the strategy in the middle game and endgame in the examples. I can say that this book is very good for open game as Black. I just wondered why the engine say 9...Qe2 is a blunder

 

No offense intended, but I prefer to not get involved with analyzing people's chess games.  Especially "engine" moves.   This is simply a personal preference relating to how I prefer to expend my energies in the forums.  (I have a huge chess library, so commenting on and recommending good books is of more interest to me).  But I'm sure there are hoards of players that will eagerly chime in to answer your questions of the nature "what is the best move here?"  For that I recommend to post the game in the Game Analysis forum section.

Born1993
RussBell wrote:
Born1993 wrote:
RussBell wrote:
Born1993 wrote:

Good stuff!  Every player should start out playing the open games...the best chess training ground!

 

Here is the game I just played. Up to 15th move, I use the line covered in Open Games for Black. I also follow the strategy in the middle game and endgame in the examples. I can say that this book is very good for open game as Black. I just wondered why the engine say 9...Qe2 is a blunder

 

No offense intended, but I prefer to not get involved with analyzing people's chess games.  Especially "engine" moves.   This is simply a personal preference relating to how I prefer to expend my energies in the forums.  (I have a huge chess library, so commenting on and recommending good books is of more of interest to me).  But I'm sure there are hoards of players that will eagerly chime in to answer your questions of the nature "what is the best move here?"  For that I recommend to post the game in the Game Analysis forum section.

Agree!. I totally respect your preference. One last question, and hopefully I can get the answer from you. Is there any opening book that has a section for the endgame? Like, it may suggest that this typical variation of this opening is often a pawn endgame or a minor pieces endgame.

Born1993
BobbyTalparov wrote:
Born1993 wrote:

Agree!. I totally respect your preference. One last question, and hopefully I can get the answer from you. Is there any opening book that has a section for the endgame? Like, it may suggest that this typical variation of this opening is often a pawn endgame or a minor pieces endgame.

9. .. Qe7?? is a blunder because Be2 wins a piece, while Qe7 is simple equal.  That is, you missed a tactical opportunity.

 

Most opening books will discuss the types of middle games you will see, but not go into too many details regarding the endgame.  This is because there is too much that can happen in the middle game that can change the way the endgame is defined.  This is also why Capa stated players should learn in reverse (i.e. learn endgames, then learn middle games that lead to those endgames, then learn openings that lead to those middle games).  There are some variations where the opening is built around a potential endgame advantage, but at the opening stage of the game, that is too abstract in most cases.

 

By learning the endgames, do you (did Mr. Capablanca) mean learning specific endgame like Rook vs Minor pieces or learning Master game?

SeniorPatzer
eques_99 wrote:
I tend to thrive in middle games that feature a lot of slashing and hacking back and forth across an open board. What openings (Black & White) tend to produce such a middle game? Thanks

 

Find gambit lines for both Black and White and play them in Blitz games.  

 

You will have a lot of hacking and slashing going on.  ;-)

Ashvapathi
Born1993 wrote:
BobbyTalparov wrote:
Born1993 wrote:

Agree!. I totally respect your preference. One last question, and hopefully I can get the answer from you. Is there any opening book that has a section for the endgame? Like, it may suggest that this typical variation of this opening is often a pawn endgame or a minor pieces endgame.

9. .. Qe7?? is a blunder because Be2 wins a piece, while Qe7 is simple equal.  That is, you missed a tactical opportunity.

 

Most opening books will discuss the types of middle games you will see, but not go into too many details regarding the endgame.  This is because there is too much that can happen in the middle game that can change the way the endgame is defined.  This is also why Capa stated players should learn in reverse (i.e. learn endgames, then learn middle games that lead to those endgames, then learn openings that lead to those middle games).  There are some variations where the opening is built around a potential endgame advantage, but at the opening stage of the game, that is too abstract in most cases.

 

By learning the endgames, do you (did Mr. Capablanca) mean learning specific endgame like Rook vs Minor pieces or learning Master game?

 

Mr. Capa didn't clarify as far as I know. And thats the beauty of vague 'learn endgames first' type of suggestions. You are made to run after a mirage that you can never reach.

 

Be practical: a) learn a few openings b) practice middle game tactics and strategies(based on openings you play); and then and only then c) learn endgames(by this time, you would have gained enough experience to know what type of endgames you will encounter in your games).

RussBell
Born1993 wrote:
 
Is there any opening book that has a section for the endgame? Like, it may suggest that this typical variation of this opening is often a pawn endgame or a minor pieces endgame.

Strike two! (My attempt at humor).

It's not a crazy question, but it is one that is close to impossible (IMO) to answer in the sense that opening books do not typically (in fact I don't recall any off the top of my head) contain separate treatments/sections/chapters dealing with endgames that arise out of the opening.  This makes sense when one considers that for a given opening there is a virtually unlimited number of permutations of piece and pawn structures that can arise out of the middle game.  On the other hand, there are certainly some opening variations, mainly characteristic of the "closed" games, which tend to give rise to specific types of positions out of the middle game with a not negligible frequency of occurrence than is the case for for the open games.  For example, in certain variations (don't ask me to name them - I'm not an opening theoretician) of the Ruy Lopez or the Queen's Gambit Declined one might see the same kinds of late middlegame positions repeated more frequently.

 

Thematic opening pawn structures can, and often do, lead to specific middle game positions which in turn can have an influence over the evolution of the endgame, but it is unlikely to be the case that this will happen with high enough frequency of occurrence to warrant separate treatment of typical endgames in an opening book.  Chess book authors are generally concerned with elucidating the opening, not the endgame - attempting to do so would be akin to running down a rabbit hole.  Finally, book editors and publishers tend to tightly control and confine the scope of the books.

 

Having said all that, the books which come closest to dealing with the spirit of your question (again, IMO) are the books on pawn structures arising out of the opening (not the endgame).  The two most prominent in this regard are:

"Pawn Structure Chess" by Andrew Soltis

https://www.amazon.com/Pawn-Structure-Chess-Andrew-Soltis/dp/1849940703/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1527618447&sr=1-1&keywords=pawn+structure+chess+by+andy+soltis

"Chess Structures: A Grandmaster Guide" by Mauricio Flores Rios

https://www.amazon.com/Chess-Structures-Mauricio-Flores-Rios/dp/1784830003/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1527618367&sr=1-1&keywords=chess+structures+a+grandmaster+guide

 

Finally, a truly outstanding book that gives the best (IMO again) generalized treatment of opening theory relevant to all the major openings is the four volume series....

"Mastering The Chess Openings" by John Watson

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_2_19?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=mastering+the+chess+openings+watson&sprefix=mastering+the+chess%2Cstripbooks%2C281&crid=1AS7WSXSZTYCF

If this is of interest, I would suggest to first acquire a copy of Volume 1 to see if you like it - this is the volume which contains the articles on general theory of the openings, as well as coverage of the open and semi-open games (Giuoco Piano, Two Knights, Philidor, King's Gambit, Ruy Lopez, Sicilian, Caro-Kann, French).

 

Of course, I can't end without a plug for my blog articles!...

https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell

RussBell
BobbyTalparov wrote:
Born1993 wrote: 

By learning the endgames, do you (did Mr. Capablanca) mean learning specific endgame like Rook vs Minor pieces or learning Master game?

When studying endgames, you want to start simple and work your way up to more complex.

 

Start with winning endgames:

KQ vs K

KR vs K

KRR vs K

KNB vs K

KBB vs K

 

Then start with king and pawn endgames (noting when these are wins and when they are draws):

KP vs K

KP vs KP

KPP vs KP

 

 

Very good!  Note the most common endgames are those involving the rook....

https://thechessworld.com/articles/endgame/chess-statistics-most-often-occuring-endgames-in-chess/

After mastering king and pawn endgames (tip - learn the OPPOSITION like the back of your hand!) the rook endgames are the most profitably studied...

 

There are lots of good endgame books, but by far the best single endgame book for those who don't yet have "Master" in their chess title is....

"Silman's Complete Endgame Course" by Jeremy Silman....

https://www.amazon.com/Silmans-Complete-Endgame-Course-Beginner/dp/1890085103/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1527620784&sr=1-1&keywords=silmans+complete+endgame+course

Born1993

Very nice suggestions from you all. I learned a lot today. Thanks!

RussBell

Another excellent, but relatively advanced endgame book is...

"Fundamental Chess Endings" by Karsten Müller & Frank Lamprecht...

https://www.amazon.com/Fundamental-Chess-Endings-Karsten-M%C3%BCller/dp/1901983536/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1527621305&sr=8-1&keywords=fundamental+endgames

fieldsofforce
fieldsofforce wrote:
eques_99 wrote:
I tend to thrive in middle games that feature a lot of slashing and hacking back and forth across an open board. What openings (Black & White) tend to produce such a middle game? Thanks

                                                           ____________________-

After purchasing Chessbase or Chess Openings Wizard you will begin to build together with the assistance of your computer a chess opening tree.  Constructing an opening repertoire of 2 openings as White and 2 openings as Black.  After completing this process you will have an accurate assessment of your playing style and the openings you should choose to play.

 

kindaspongey
RussBell wrote:

… "Pawn Structure Chess" by Andrew Soltis ...

https://web.archive.org/web/20140708101523/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review908.pdf