"Simplified" Opening Repertoires

Does anyone have any experience on "simplified" opening repertoires that can be played with a lesser amount of memorization (although they may not be simple, they are simply simpler than what a GM might memorize). One example of this is what Aww-Rats teaches in his video lessons. There are also books on other systems. What is out there and what looks good? How do they compare (if you know)?

Ok.  I'm going to answer your question, but I'm also going to give some advice first.  I"m currently reading my 15th book on chess.  EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM says that a person should not start working on openings until they are rated about 1800.  If your ratings on chess.com are accurate, you really aren't rated that high, and neither am I really.  Now, please don't take that as an insult because it isn't meant to be one.  But there are several pieces of advice I would like to share with you based upon my readings, own experience, and your posts because you seem to be a little obsessed with openings.

1. A person should start with learning Tactics.  I am going to assume your Online Chess rating is the most accurate which means you are rated about 1400.  I would use Chess-tactics.org to get familiar with tatics and work with Tactics Trainer and the Polgar Chess book you mentioned in your posts to get your tactics rating up to 1400.  Trust me, that will do wonders for your play.

2. Lean as much as you can about strategy BEFORE you get bogged down by the quagmire of opening study.  I have the book, Fundamental Chess Openings and in that alone there are over 400 openings, not including different variations within those openings.  Trust me when I tell you that if you get bogged down in this your rating will only go up about 2-300 points studying openings and then you won't progess any further.  This is because of 3.

3. All the books and advice I have gotten from people play OTB and on chess.com is that Memorization is required in order to play chess.  But Understanding is better than memorization.  The reason being that you will run into a player who takes you out of your opening prep.  And if you don't have any understanding of strategy when that happens, you will lose.  Now best is Understanding + Plus Memorization.  But Memorization of variations is not required to become a great chess player. 

Nigel Short was a World Champion contender and he has always said his ability with memorizing openings is horrible.  The same is true of Samuel Reshevsky, whom Bobby Fischer thought was the strongest player in the world in the mid 1950s even though both players hated each other.  But Reshevsky often suffered time pressure because of his inability to study the openings.  I even seem to remember reading that he could study an opening all day and not remember any of it five minutes later.  And Reshevsky beat Capablanca, Alekhine, Euwe, Lasker, Botvinnik, Fischer and Smyslov; all world champions.

4. Every great player I have read about says that you need to understand the ideas behind your openings.  This includes Karpov, and IM Daniel Rensch on this site.  The best way to understand the ideas and strategy behind your openings is to have a good understanding of strategy before you start studying openings.

5. Bobby Fischer said that chess was based on ideas, and he loved when someone, regardless of strength, new what they wanted over the board.  This is where strategy comes into play.  If you spend your time understanding strategy, you will be able to always have a plan regardless of opening.  And having a plan will go a lot farther than knowing an opening out to move 20, because even if you get that far you will have to leave your preparation at some point, and then what do you do.

6. Everything I have also read was that a person can get to 1800 or so just playing correctly.  This means properly understanding the primciples and strategy of chess.  And I know that most people say that absolute rules don't work in chess, and it is the exceptions to the rules that matter.  But in order to break the rules, you must first know and understand the rules so you know when it is ok to break them.

Ok.  Now I will answer your question.  First read the book Mastering Opening Strategy by Johan Hellsten.  That will give you a great understanding of how the opening functions and the principles which need to be understood.  Plus it will give you some advice on how to build a Repertoire.  Second read, How to Build Your Chess Opening Repertoire, by Steve Giddins.  It will help answer a lot of your questions about openings.  Now some openings that don't require a lot of prep are "The London and Colle Systems."  I use the London and I like it a lot.  It's been used by a lot of world class players such as Kamsky, Petrosian, and Kasparov.  But the thing you need to look out for with the London and the Colle is that you will not be exposed to a lot of different positions using them and it can hinder your progress if you use them too much.  Finally another grreat opening book is the Dynamic English by Tony Kosten.  It deals with the Englsih Opening with 1.C4, 2.g3.  It also doesn't require a lot of prep.

Now I have a headache. I expected a lecture from someone. I am familiar with everything you said, from the very beginning of your post down to the books you mentioned at the end. Please don't patronize me. I was just reading an article by respected IM Greg Shahade (I think I mentioned this to you the other day -- did you forget already?) that states that you should have an opening repertoire at a lower rating, but it should be adjusted according to your rating. He gives different repertiore ideas for different ratings. If you have watched Aww-Rats's videos, he feels that elaborate opening study is not that important early on at all, but that you should have a simplified repertoire as a beginner. However, he stresses that many disagree with him who are Masters and feel that it is imperative to study opening early on. Watch his videos. His suggestion is to listen to other people, and not just him. Many opinions my friend. Not just yours or the ones in books you have read. Think outside the box.

I don't want to debate this with you in this thread. (Too late.) Please start a new thread for this debate if it interests you. I would appreciate it. Many people agreee with what you said, and many others don't. Not my question. Please focus on my specific question. (Long forum posts such as yours that don't answer the questions posed are a waste of time, and so are my almost necessitated responses thereto. Think about that. No offense.)

The books you are talking about may be fabulous (I may get them), and I took note of them before during my own research before reading your scathing diatribe above, but I'm not sure you understand the difference between opening theory and an opening repertoire. I'm looking for a canned opening repertoire, simplified, that I can build upon.

Please stop the lecturing. You have absolutely no idea what kind of preparation I am doing related to tactics or strategy, but read some posts and assume I am "obsessed with openings." Do you know that I allocate about 10% of my chess time on openings and repertoires? Sometimes multiple posts are required when you can't get a straight answer the first time(s).

I'll repeat my simple question:

Does anyone have any experience on "simplified" opening repertoires that can be played with a lesser amount of memorization (although they may not be simple, they are simply simpler than what a GM might memorize). One example of this is what Aww-Rats teaches in his video lessons. There are also books on other systems. What is out there and what looks good? How do they compare (if you know)?

Thanks Melvin. That's exactly the type of answers I am looking for in this thread. I'll make a note of it and save it.

The simplest I can think of is probably:

Scandinavian and Old Benoni as black. In both cases white is forced into blacks line. Probably paired with 1.d4 2.Bg5 is gnerally quite simple.

Other idea include ''themed repertoire'' such as:

Kings indian defence and king's indian attack, and probably the french or Pirc, they have some nice similar themes.

Another common one is Caro-Kann, Slav and London system, they all have similar piece setups.

@Godlike: Those sound like some good ideas. Thanks. I think I will hold off on the KID for now though. I know it can be quite powerful, but it is also a great deal of theory and I have limited time to study openings. My friend uses it (2150 USCF) all the time OTBh with success though. KID may be something I add down the line a bit. KIA for White is quite doable for me, as are the other systems you mentioned (I think).

Yeah, honestly the KID/KIA repertoire sounds extremely repetitive to me, but I know several strong players who use it to good effect.

I would personally go with the Caro-slav-london repertoire, which I actually used to play, mostly because I don't like the old benoni or scandinavian positions.

I did answer your question at the end of my post.  It's not my fault you didn't read it or missed it.  Although I realized I forgot to mention black which I will do at the end.

Ok.  Now I will answer your question.  First read the book Mastering Opening Strategy by Johan Hellsten.  That will give you a great understanding of how the opening functions and the principles which need to be understood.  Plus it will give you some advice on how to build a Repertoire.  Second read, How to Build Your Chess Opening Repertoire, by Steve Giddins.  It will help answer a lot of your questions about openings.  Now some openings that don't require a lot of prep are "The London and Colle Systems."   There are two books on those both by Cyrus Lakdawala.  I use the London and I like it a lot.  It's been used by a lot of world class players such as Kamsky, Petrosian, and Kasparov.  But the thing you need to look out for with the London and the Colle is that you will not be exposed to a lot of different positions using them and it can hinder your progress if you use them too much.  Finally another grreat opening book is the Dynamic English by Tony Kosten.  It deals with the Englsih Opening with 1.C4, 2.g3.  It also doesn't require a lot of prep.

For Black I use the French against e4, because it closes the center and stops counterplay.  Against d4 I use a combination of the Nimzo and Queen's Indian but those can be a lot of prep but I use them to imediately create weaknesses to capitalize on.  I don't have anything against C4 yet.  Also the Dutch 1.d4, f5 apparently can work against anything a d4 or c4 player uses.

One more suggestion is to use Opening repertoires with the same pawn structure like the Caro/Slav pawn structure.  That way all you really have to do is learn the pawn structure and you will have learned both openings.

@Senchean: I had read your entire post. OK, thanks for the ideas. Just to clarify, which of those above are you using when you are White versus Black? You said French for Black against e4....

What do others think? About this or other opening repertoires for White and Black?

So you have nothing against c4. How about c5?

I'd recommend starting with the symmetrical openings (e5 against e4, d5 against d4).  Lots of masters recommend the same, because you really learn both strategy and tactics best that way, as you are contesting the center, developing your pieces naturally.  And you don't need to memorize much, because general principles apply nicely to those openings.  You'd be playing lots of Spanish, Italian, King's Gambit, and Queen's Gambit, and I'd recommend familiarizing yourself with the main ideas of each of these openings.

The problem with this is that you're probably walking right into someone's book lines.  However, if the main idea is to improve (as it is for me), then that doesn't matter, and you'll learn much better how to handle the openings and early middlegames on strategic principles, and get a good 'feel' for lots of important positions.  In open games (1.e4 e5) you'll usually get a good tactical workout too.  That's my current "repertoire", anyway.

Honestly one thing that helps with a simple and easy repertoire is openings that pan out similarly. For example, I highly doubt you will see me NOT throwing my F-Pawn to the wind in an opening. I play the King's Gambit, the Latvian as Black, and 2. f4 against the Sicilian. Having a lot of similar openings that just depend on the first few moves tends to be helpful. If you like one opening, look for a line in other openings that has the same move or something (f4/f5 in my example).

Also, picking one where you can leverage tactics rather than the positional play that most lower-rated players (myself included!) lack.

Another thing: e4, d4, c4, etc. Pick one and stick with it. When you're White you should always play the same opening move. I never need to know how to play against the Nimzo-Indian as White because I never play 1. d4.

Ok.  This is what I use, and I will label what has little prep.

White:

1. Nf3 d5. 2.d4 and I fianchetto the king's bishop.  But 1.Nf3 takes a lot of prep but the great thing is you can customize the opening against everything because it transposes into a lot of different openings.

1.D4 2. Bf4 is the London System.  Takes very little prep because you can use the same setup against just about everything.  It really cuts down counterplay, but you won't have much of an advantage at all.  Fighting for an advantage will be pushed to the middle-game.

The Colle System has much of the same setup as white but you don't develop the queen's bishop to Bf4.  A lot of the time it is fiachettoed on the queen's side.

There is also the Englsih 1. c4 which will give you a positional game.

Black against e4:

1. e4 c6.  The Caro Kan it's solid but can take a lot of prep.  But you will often get the same pawn structure as the London and the Colle if you choose to use them.  Same with the Slav: 1.d4 c6.

1. e4 e6 is the French.  it really cuts down on counterplay, but white can generate a strong flank attack against the kingside if you aren't careful.

There is also the Scandinavian Defense, 1.e4 d5.  This is also called the Center Counter.  I haven't used it a lot but I find it interesting because it breaks the rule of not developing the king early.  But I feel you must really know the opening because it develops the queen early and if it is constantly attacked it will cause you to lose initiative.

Black against d4.

1. d4 c6, is the Slav, again it will give you a similar pawn structure to the London, Colle, and Caro kann.

1.d4 Nf6, c4 e6, Nc3 Bb4. is the Nimzo Indian.  I use it because it generally created a weakness immediately by doubling the b pawn to w/bxc3.  This gives you counterplay.  But it takes a lot of prep.

1. d4 Nf6, c4 e6, Nf3 b6 is a siter opening to the Nimzo called the Queen's Indian defense.  Basically you play it if you start out with the Nimzo and your opponent plays Nf3 instead of Nc3.

Against c4 I don't have a reply yet but c5 will work very well it's called the Symetrical English.  There is also e5 which is the Reverse Sicilian.

There is also the Dutch Defense 1. f4.  I don't use it myself but I have read that it can be a universal replay to all of d4 and c4.  So that could cut down on a lot of prep.

Would you elaborate on that? Which of those openings are you using for White and which for Black. Also, please tell me which you are using when you open as White with e4 and with d4 etc., or if you are Black and White opens with e4 or d4 etc. Thanks.

I agree with you and I don't. While I certainly see the advantage of sticking with the same first move as White every time, aren't you missing out on learning a lot of different tactics and structures and patterns etc. by not playing e4 etc. some of the time?

I like this repertoire. That level of detail was helpful to me. It's not a simple repertoire to master, but I like it. Do you ever try the Semi-Slav, or just the Slav?

I thought thread meant Simplefield, as in simple field, as in sinquefield where cauarana had a simple field of players...

First, I need to tell u that openings are a matter of taste. You mentioned aww-rat's lessons, and he said that u need to study your own play. So, I personally like playing aggressive open games. I have taught myself a few openings that I am still working on; the sicilian, the Benoni/Benko gambit as black, and the French and Ruy Lopez as white. And to truly understand your opening, you should play against it! So, when I play against Sicilian, I know its traps and pitfalls.

After some time, the rest of the openings are may be slight tweaks of the positions that arise. You don't really need to memorize ALL variations at once, but every now and then you will find a reply that isn't played quite often, and there's probably a good reason for that, it simply doesn't work very well!!

Makes sense, LifeBoard. I am still learning what I like and what I don't.

Nice info here, thanks Chicken_Monster.

I have played chess, on and off, for most my long life. Joined chess.com a little over a year ago, and I was not doing very well. So I decided to learn openings, and I ended up learning 1 for white and 2 for black. Now I am a 1400 player.

So I do not understand the first comment, about waiting to learn openings. I'm ready to learn more. Please explain?