Learn and play principled chess. Chess openings are not about memorizing moves they're about understanding moves. Chess principles include:
1) Controlling center squares
2) Developing pieces
3) Setting up the king to be safe (usually but not always by castling)
By the way your opponents did not do anything obviously wrong or punishable just didn't play the most critical lines.
@1
Chess is a game of skill, not a game of knowledge.
'Chess should not be memorized' - Lasker
Whenever your opponent plays a move you do not know, then take time to think.
In this game Keres played white. He was one of the strongest players of the world in 1938. He was the author of a book on the Ruy Lopez. After 4...Bc5, he thought for 2 hours (they were playing a time control of 40 moves in 2.5 hours).
https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1072293
What line do you normally play in the Sicilian?
@Post #6
The position your showing isn’t finished, yet.
What is your 5th move as Black.
a6 - Nadjorf
Nc6 - Classical
e6 - Scheveningen
g6 - Dragon
Depending on your 5th move, it can determine whether or not Bc4 is good move or not in previous diagram
Chess is not about memorization. It is about understanding. The fact that you have no idea what to do when your opponent doesn't play the best move basically says you know nothing about the opening, and just memorized lines.
For example, as a French player, I have faced the following before in an over the board game:
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Qb6 5.Ne2
OK, so 5.Nf3 Nc6 is the "Main Line". If all I did here was whine and bellyache that White didn't play 5.Nf3, it would show that I know nothing about the French, like as if I was the same as you and the Sicilian.
But the difference is, I don't just memorize lines of the French. I understand it! WHY is 5.Nf3 the main line? Why not 5.Ne2 (also covers d4)? Why not 5.f4?
So the game was 5.Ne2. I sat there and thought about "What does 5.Nf3 do that 5.Ne2 doesn't that is beneficial to White? What does 5.Ne2 give Black that 5.Nf3 doesn't?"
So Nf3 covers both e5 and d4 whereas Ne2 ONLY covers d4. So e5 is weakened. If White plays f4, then he may have trouble castling Kingside as he created a weakness on the g1-a7 diagonal with potential tactics on d4, like a trade and Bc5, pinning what is hopefully the Queen to the king, but other pins can also cause White problems.
So instead of focusing on d4, I shifted gears to e5 and played an early ...f6. By move 18, White was lost, and he resigned in under 30 moves total!
You actually have to think for yourself and understand why your opponent's move isn't the main move. There is likely a reason!
And by the way, 5.Ne2 also slows White's development as it hems in the Bishop on f1, which in turn slows down White's ability to castle.
What to do indeed??
Here is where practical vs unpractical meet.
You want to play 1..e5 and face a hundred responses by white? You got the time to master those as a club player?
You want to take on the Sicilian Nadjorf, spend months studying it, spending hours going over the latest theory as a refresher etc... Just to face it every 1 out 10 Sicilians?
You want play the KID, spend months studying it, going over the latest theory with hours of refresher courses etc... Just to face a main line 1 of 10 ...
who does that?
People who think they are professional GM's
In this game Keres played white. He was one of the strongest players of the world in 1938. He was the author of a book on the Ruy Lopez. After 4...Bc5, he thought for 2 hours (they were playing a time control of 40 moves in 2.5 hours).
https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1072293
I find that remarkable, Alekhine played games with 4...Bc5 published in his best games book(s) and Keres with surely know that. So no idea why 4...Bc5 would put him in such a top spin.
I disagree with Thriller Fan.
I think Chess requires both a mixture of memorization & understanding.
When I was intermediate player, I use to play the Sicilian Dragon.
When I became advanced player, I switch over to the Nadjorf.
Bc4 is main move in the Nadjorf.
So it’s not bad move - usually played on move 6
I disagree with Thriller Fan.
I think Chess requires both a mixture of memorization & understanding.
When I was intermediate player, I use to play the Sicilian Dragon.
When I became advanced player, I switch over to the Nadjorf.
Bc4 is main move in the Nadjorf.
So it’s not bad move - usually played on move 6
If you understand the opening, there is no need to memorize. The moves will come naturally. Far more important is to know WHY each move is played. Let's go with the opposite extreme in my case - the Grunfeld.
I could tell you the Seville Variation is 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Bc4 c5 8.Ne2 O-O 9.Be3 Nc6 10.O-O Bg4 11.f3 Na5 12 Bxf7+ Rxf7 13.fxg4. Great, I can regurgitate a line. That is useless! What if Black alters any move, what should White do? No clue! What should white figure after these 13 moves? No idea! The Grunfeld makes no sense to me. Couldn't tell you what to do from either side. Just because I have 13 moves of a line memorized from the past means ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! Memorization is utterly useless if you don't understand the position. There is a reason you see my handle answering questions all the time in French threads, but you rarely find me in Grunfeld threads!
I disagree with Thriller Fan.
I think Chess requires both a mixture of memorization & understanding.
When I was intermediate player, I use to play the Sicilian Dragon.
When I became advanced player, I switch over to the Nadjorf.
Bc4 is main move in the Nadjorf.
So it’s not bad move - usually played on move 6
And not to mention, 6.Bc4 isn't even the main line of the Najdorf. The old main line used to be 6.Bg5, but that got taken over by 6.Be3. 6.Bc4 is a line, but not the main line.
@14
"like, 2.Bc4?"
1 e4 c5 2 Bc4 e6, though it is not as easy as some people think
https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=2211621
@15
"The Grunfeld makes no sense to me. Couldn't tell you what to do from either side."
++ The strategic aim of the Grünfeld Indian Defense is to win the endgame based on the queen's side pawn majority a7-b7 vs. a2, i.e. an outside passed pawn.
For white the aim is to attack the black king based on the strong center d4-e4,
the absense of Nf6 to defend the king and the weakening by the move g6.
I disagree with Thriller Fan.
I think Chess requires both a mixture of memorization & understanding.
When I was intermediate player, I use to play the Sicilian Dragon.
When I became advanced player, I switch over to the Nadjorf.
Bc4 is main move in the Nadjorf.
So it’s not bad move - usually played on move 6
And not to mention, 6.Bc4 isn't even the main line of the Najdorf. The old main line used to be 6.Bg5, but that got taken over by 6.Be3. 6.Bc4 is a line, but not the main line.
I never said 6. Bc4 is the main line.
I just said it is a main move along with like 10 other main moves.
Yeah, 6.Bg5 has been regarded as main line for long time.
Yeah, it is probably fair to say 6.Be3 has taken it over as new modern main line.
Sometimes, they will use 6.f3 move order to get into English Attack to avoid the Ng4 lines.
It’s all same thing.
I have some openings that I know, but many of my opponents does not play the usual lines and instead plays stuff like this