Purpose of learning openings.
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Hi. Maybe a stupid question but I have to ask... What is the need of learning openings when most of the time the opponent goes out of the "official" line?
There is none, at least not for people at low enough ratings that openings don't matter. But once you get to a level when your opponents do play the main lines...then you have to do it to some degree.
Jun 16, 2016
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#3
dpnorman wrote:
This.
That said, if studying openings helps you learn the mechanics of the game and gets you excited to play games and study, that's a reward by itself :)
There is none, at least not for people at low enough ratings that openings don't matter. But once you get to a level when your opponents do play the main lines...then you have to do it to some degree.
Jun 16, 2016
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#4
Some painters transform the sun into a yellow spot, others transform a yellow spot into the sun.
"... In games between novice chess players, color is not the most important factor, but acquired knowledge is crucial. Without the basics of opening play it is easy to fail, and that's why openings must be learned. ..." - Journey to the Chess Kingdom by Yuri Averbakh and Mikhail Beilin
"If you find an opening here that appeals to you and you wish to find out more about it, the next step would be to obtain an introductory text devoted entirely to that subject." - GM John Emms in his 2006 introduction to basic opening principles, Discovering Chess Openings
"Throughout the book Emms uses excellently chosen examples to expand the readers understanding of both openings and chess in general. Thus equipped the student can carry this knowledge forward to study individual openings and build an opening repertoire. ... For beginning players, this book 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, reviewing the 2006 Emms book
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627114655/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen91.pdf
"Openings are overrated." - Anish Giri, one of the world's leading theoreticians.
Jun 17, 2016
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#7
When I was starting out, I felt following a basic opening, even when my opponent didn't respond to the opening in expected ways, helped me develop my pieces and gave me at least a rudimentary plan to follow. I've been teaching kids how to move center pawns, followed with knights and bishops and learn just about 7-8 moves into a game with some basic openings. (We focus on tactics and endings after that.) Just this knowledge helps them defeat other kids who think they know it all and don't need to learn because they get a great jump in development and seize control of the center. I've been amazed at how some of these kids (incarcerated kids who are behind in school) grasp tactics and quickly develop into pretty good chess players. I taught one talented young man the Yugoslav Attack and he repeatedly destroyed the Dragon.
Jun 17, 2016
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#8
GuiOhms wrote:
Hi. Maybe a stupid question but I have to ask... What is the need of learning openings when most of the time the opponent goes out of the "official" line?
You'll want to learn the ideas and strategies involved in the opening—the kinds of middlegame struggles that come out of it, the tactics to watch for, the outposts to use—not just memorize lines.
This way, even if your opponent goes out of book, you'll know exactly what to do.
just my .02 cents...
Beginners waste entirely to much time on openings. You can find post after post after post asking this standard question. "I know the <insert opening here> 10-20 moves deep, but im dropping pieces what do i do?"
What do you do? Quit memorizing openings and learn Opening Principles. If you dont understand the where and why behind each move, then why are you playing them?
After you understand Opening Principles, then find a couple of openings with white, and a couple with black that you like to play. Find GM's that play the openings you want to learn. Go over their games to get a feel for the opening(s) This will give you a general idea of the move order of the openings. Though the move order wont make much sense, you will at least get an idea of what to do move order wise.
Pawn Structure...Why is this highlighted? because when you start to understand the pawn structure associated with each opening, the moves will start to make sense. Get a good book on pawn structures, and the opening(s) you want to learn.
One of the most important things about learning and understanding openings is that youll understand the middlegame involved with that opening.
@yuri.
I don't see what happens after Bxe6 fxB? then what
Jun 17, 2016
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#11
You study openings so that you don't get destroyed in a highly theoretical, forcing line.
Since most players don't/shouldn't play these lines, opening play is focused on learning general principles: improve your activity, or prevent the opponent from activating, and these work the vast majority of the time.
You'll find that most good players have memorized a lot of opening theory, not on purpose, but because they've played many many games and know these lines well just from practice
Jun 17, 2016
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#12
If that NM didn't study any opening theory, there's no reason he should've played the Najdorf Sicilian lol
One very practical reason in favor of knowing your openings 10-15 moves deep is that it saves time on your clock . ( if you are an otb tourney player ) This is becoming even more important today because they are speeding up the game with faster time controls .
Reb wrote:
One very practical reason in favor of knowing your openings 10-15 moves deep is that it saves time on your clock . ( if you are an otb tourney player ) This is becoming even more important today because they are speeding up the game with faster time controls .
This. But of course it doesn't apply much to people under 1500 or so.
For me the purpose of learning openings is not so much to remember them in a game (I think this is a little wasteful, especially for people like me who have a memory shorter than a gnat). It's much more to get a flavour for what type of middle game they result in and to get a general idea of the plans and overall strategies. This means that I don't have to remember the moves exactly.
Openings create a framework for you to learn strategy, tactics and endgame play.
So despite the constantly repeated bad advice to never study openings, yes you should study openings. But study them properly.
YuriSenkevich schreef:
dpnorman wrote:
There is none, at least not for people at low enough ratings that openings don't matter. But once you get to a level when your opponents do play the main lines...then you have to do it to some degree.
I knew of a NM that thought as most of you guys did. He amazingly enough reached NM title without studying openings.
I had the opportunity to play with him and here is what happened.
Just so people know, Bxe6 was first played by Keres if I'm not mistaken
For a beginner, openings théory is a wide universe to explore! I think by exploring this universe without, of course, memorizing each part of it, helps to understand the basics of chess play. For those who like to learn, study, this is an almost endless source of pleasure! My opinion, for what it worths, is that reading about openings is not ''bad'' but not necessary to apply the basics of openings.
jengaias wrote:
SilentKnighte5 wrote:
Openings create a framework for you to learn strategy, tactics and endgame play.
So despite the constantly repeated bad advice to never study openings, yes you should study openings. But study them properly.
That's a bad advice given by Capablanca.
But today every ignorant thinks he knows better than Capablanca.
Wat?