The openings we love and why we love them

I like openings with lots of traps - where if the opponent makes the slightest mistake, I can capitalise on that. I like variations which restricts opponent's choices - so I have to think of less variations!

I like playing the Giuco Piano. It is the first opening I ever learned, so I play it for the sake of nostalgia.

The Trompowsky is not a stinky opening.

Unfortunately, I can't endorse my favorite opening because I'm afraid I'll be so convincing that everyone will play it.

     The Leningrad Dutch was designed to combat White's own kingside fianchetto, not be a stand alone variation of the Dutch Defense. 

I tend to go with the smith morra gambit just coz i'm a fan of gambits and it speeds up development. For black, I like KID or Caro-kann.

I have been a fan of the ruy and the sicilian. I like to scrap. I'm trying to widen my play by hacking my way through queen pawn openings for white. Against queenpawn openings, i like nf6, or sometimes the meran against queens gambit. I've not really fleshed out an opening system cause i have learned more studying other aspects of the game. Side note.... I HATE the petroff, yeah i'm talking to you Excalibur portable chess computer.

BirdBrain, not really. I'm still slowly getting a good grounding in the openings I like and picking up on things that I either hadn't noticed or hadn't expected. Once I have a good feel for all of them I'll move onto things like looking at the Scotch Gambit :)

As Black to d4, I like the KID and Benoni.  So you have a space advantage--I'm after your King, sucka!  To e4, the French and Sicilian, 'cause sometimes I like endings, sometimes insane middlegames.

As White, I always open with e4, playing KG, Vienna Gambit, and other gambits (including the Evans).  I like the Sozin against the Sicilian, Panov-Botvinnik against the Caro, Winawer French.  In short, anything crazy or rowdy, I'll play it!

Ruy Lopez ruiles, lots of traps, no end of continuations, completely sound

I really like the Grand Prix Attack in the Sicilian, as it is really sharp and sometimes ends with fascinating exchange sacrifices and king hunts.

Queen's Gambit because it is an opening that can allow both defence and attack at any time.

My favorite opening is the ponziani (1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3) because it contains many traps and also can lead to a tactical game.

Queens Gambit. When I win with this line, its just so visually and logically pure; either lightning fast classical mates on the queenside or a slower, positional choke if black defends adequately in the opening, or even cuthroat centre-board if they decide to open the centre. I also like the feeling of safety I have in the opening, as if nothing black tries can work against me. I can only assume this is because the first half-dozen or so moves have become natural to me now. That said, I do think it is a line that holds up extremely well against early counter threats, especially in the declined lines. I'd been playing 1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.e4 before I studied openings, so naturally QG appealed when I came to learn about chess properly.

Strangely enough, I played d4 as a youngster, because I wanted to emulate Nigel Short, and an article (with a misprint) claimed he usually met 1e4 with 1...d5 (should have been ...e5!) so after playing a lot of centre counter as black, I adopted the queens pawn thing as white also; I liked the way attacks were easy to line up against the kingside with Q & Bs.

I play the English as a secondary opening, because I think you should be comfortable opening more than one way for more rounded chess. I love the English, but its certainly not "in my bones" the way QG is.

Okay, my reason for why I chose 1. f4 - a silly one, but it definetely inspired me to search out an offbeat opening.

I used to have Chessmaster 8000, and before I understood anything about chess, I always played 1. e4 (I don't know why I chose that move, but I did).  So I began to learn a bit about chess and about openings, and I was facing the computer, who played the Alekhine against me.  So we went 1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Ne4 3. d3 Nc5 and I don't remember the rest, but I remember the fear that the computer put in me about taking my f-pawn so early and exposing my king!  I was only about 1000 rated at the time, so it shook me up, and I saw that my pawn sitting at f2 was "weak".  Somehow, I envisioned the f-pawn at f4 on the first move with the knight behind it (no lie). 

I had never heard of Bird's Opening before.  As a matter of fact, come to find out, many players didn't even respect 1. f4, nor give it a second thought.  But that didn't matter.  I began to see that my f-pawn was weak and I could use it from move 1 to help control e5, and that the silly Alekhine knight could no longer take my f2 pawn!  Yeah!  :-)

So from here I began to look into the Chessmaster database and found 1. f4, Bird's Opening.  I began to look a little into the system, and I even (at my earliest times) remember envisioning creating a pawn structure with a2-b3-c4-d4-e3-f4-g2-h2 (a system that finally I understand a bit about and use, coming into a Stonewall with c3, then b3 and finally preparing c4). 

I used to try the system against a personal chess computer and lost constantly, but I didn't give up. 

I finally bought Taylor's Bird's Opening book and tried to learn some of the principles behind the opening, and was fascinated by the different ideas that he taught about - the Classical, the Queenside Fianchetto, the Leningrad, the Antoshin, the Stonewall, etc.  I began to just play through the games quickly, trying to understand some positional ideas.  I found myself busted a lot of times because I wanted to immediately attack, and I would often leave e3 uncovered and suffer a knight fork against my queen and rook, or my king exposed.  Through a slew of games, I began to learn more patient development schemes.

Then for Christmas I received two books by Soltis on 1. f4, and they unlocked the key to understanding what the Bird is really about.  Soltis' book is more geared to help a beginner understand the principles of the systems, and they helped me unlock understanding in Taylor's book.

So here's my personal experience with the opening against people - when I first came to a chess club, I went 3-1 with 1. f4.  I won my division twice in my first two tourneys.  I found that people knew less about 1. f4 than other openings, and that was to my advantage. 

So here's my story - I am still learning it, but it has been a fun ride.  Plus, it helped me with another opening - the Dutch!

Fascinating!

I like Kings Gambit too, that and the Ruy Lopez.

Many people have probably read my comments so:

GO THE LOLLI ATACK!!!!!!!!

It gives an incredible advantage over black and as white I play sicilian I have no idea what it's called. 1.e4 c5 Nf3... and Later I try to getmy Bishop to c5 and Q to b6 and/or knight to g4. Lots of exchanging.

im quite found of the lopez exchange as white. White has a very small but lasting advantage that in amateur play can easily be converted to a win 

c4 all the way

1. c4 is a good choice I believe.  I have had interesting results with it.  I think it is a good choice for a guy like me who likes to experiment in the openings.

the najdorf sicilian <3 <3 <3

BECAUSE it is FREAKING amazing!!!