Discussion- What Type of Openings Should One Play to Best Improve?

I like being a varied player, who can play attacking or defensive at the same time. So I try to play openings that do not fit my style of play, so I can adapt to them, and become more varied and adaptive. It also makes me a bit sorpresive.

I think at the beginner - intermediate level there is no style, just lack of knowledge. Being a "tactician" is usually a euphemism for "knowing less about strategy". So #2 is the better approach for improving.

I guess... because of his/her pfp?

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then by this logic white should be able to get a comfortable edge, yet black is fully capable of equalizing despite having a knight on a "subpar" square. However, d7 is not "subpar" or any sort. It supports freeing pawn breaks on c5 and e5, gives the knight on f6 more support which makes any bishop pin on the f6 knight useless (as the queen can just move to c7). 

A knight on c6 could do exactly one thing, support e5. And get pinned.

French against e4, Dutch against d4...but I do it simon’s way with e6 before my f5. For multiple reasons, but for the relevancy of this discussion it allows me to transpose into the French if white plays (2. E4). I play a handful of different openings for white depends on the mood lol. And for the record I totally disagree with sticking to one opening for a year btw. I understand the purpose for beginners, but I would find and gun and shoot myself to break the monotony

IM Andras Toth’s (link to his video in another thread, Amateur’s Mind 3 on his YouTube channel) in another thread) opinions:

White:
-1.e4- Ruy Lopez best, Scotch Game (not Gambit). Italian Game is “okay.”
-1.d4 also good, but I don’t remember him making specific recommendation here.
-No London, Colle, English, King’s Gambit, Scotch Gambit, or Danish Gambit ... he is against universal systems and (most) gambits.

Black against 1.e4:
-Mainline openings (1...e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 rather than Petroff); or 1...c5 (Najdorf he seems to prefer in his comments).
-No French or Scandinavian. I guess that would imply no Caro-Kann, Pirc, Modern, Alekhine, etc.

Black against 1.d4:
Slav, Nimzo-Indian. In comments to video, he says QGD is “okay.”

He recommends anything mainline and flexible that may lead to a variety of pawn structures. Not anything where your pieces are cramped and passive, even if it is sound.

He claims that Richard Rapport is a good example of a very talented and entertaining chess player who stunted his development with non-mainline openings and will never ever be in the top ten. He says Magnus Carlsen played mainline openings when he from teenager to early twenties when he was “crushing everybody” and going from 2400 to 2750.

The Queen's Gambit is an aggressive opening for white that attacks black’s central pieces by temporarily sacrificing the c4 pawn. If black takes the pawn, it is impossible to defend it. A weak opponent may try to defend the pawn and jeopardise their position in the process.

The queen’s gambit is a space creating and piece mobilising option for white although it may take time to recover the lost pawn and is susceptible to counter attacks.

The queen’s gambit has various opening lines including the gambit accepted, symmetrical defence, slav defence, baltic defence, marshall defence, albin counter gambit and chigorin defence variations - here are some of them:

Queens Gambit Accepted: (dxc4)

0:16 Queens Gambit Accepted

0:26 Alekhine Defence

0:31 Rosenthal Variation

0:37 Main Line

1:01 Central Variation

1:05 McDonnell Defence

1:12 Rubinstein Defence

1:23 Linaires Variation

 

Baltic Defence: (Bf5)

1:44 Baltic Defence

1:50 Main Line

 

Catalan Opening: (Nf6)

2:19 Catalan Opening

2:35 Open Catalan Classical Line

 

Counter-gambit Variations:

3:01 Albin Countergambit

3:07 Albin Countergambit Main Line

 

Queen’s Gambit Declined Variations: (e6)

3:30 Exchange Variation

3:47 Ragozin Variation

3:58 Harrwitz Attack

4:04 TMB System (Tartakower Defence / Tartakower-Makogonov-Bondarevsky)

4:29 Anti-TMB System

4:41 Cambridge Springs Defence

4:46 Orthodox Defence

5:09 Lasker Defence

 

Misc:

5:30 Chigorin Defence

5:37 Marshall Defence

5:43 Symmetrical Defence

5:49 Tarrasch Defence

 

Slav Defence Variations: (c6)

6:04 Slav Defence

6:09 Exchange Slav

6:15 Chebanenko Slav

6:34 Slow Slav

6:47 Semi-Slav Defence

6:58 Geller Gambit

7:08 Steiner Variation

7:19 Soultanbeieff Variation

7:25 Smyslov Variation

7:40 Bled Attack

7:50 Krause Attack

7:57 Dutch Variation

Before we even contemplate any style we need to learn the variations of an opening, so we truly understand it's value and worth... and the information for just one opening is vast.

I personally like to play for the best possible accuracy in my games no matter how the game plays out. Being aggressive, positional, tactical or defending at the correct time in games is paramount. A balance of all and the analysis afterwards is my guide.

this... this is exactly why I will NEVER play d4-c4.

The Queen's Gambit is a worthy opening and it certainly stands on it's own and does need me to justify or promote it. Whatever openings we choose there will be many variations to explore and study and this was only to show an introductory video on the potential possibilities. 

"many variations to study"

as a lazy ### myself I can't bring myself to do that so I'll just focus on my Colle System and Bird's Opening.

One day when I get the chance I will look into that Bird's opening  I am sure it is good.

Many people say it's "bad" because it's "weakening" but for some reason they don't say that for the Dutch :\

Bird is more of a "feel" opening than a tactical one. For that reason I won't play it against lower rated players but I will play it against high rated players.

no kidding

Currently learning queens gambit. So far I’m not in love with it but I’ll keep bangin away at it for a while

Play Caro-Kann, get frustrated when you lose by being too passive, switch to Sicilian, be happy.

One GM adivised beginners to play a season or two of the open games before moving on to the modern and hyper-modern openings.  Lajos Portisch wrote in "How to Open a Chess Game" that gambits are good for beginners.  He went on to say

"I do not recommend them as effective weapons in serious play.  Beginners and and young players, however, should not ignore the classical gambits, for principles of opening play---rapid development, control of the center, King safety---can  be learned quickly from them."

BTW - If you can find a copy of that 1974 classic, buy it!  Seven chapters by seven GM's:  Larry Evans, Svetozar Gligoric, Vlastimil Hort, Paul Keres, Tigran Petrosian, and Lajos Portisch.  The wisdom it contains is a bargain at any price.

Oh, I forgot Bent Larsen.

Go back 400 years and start from there. Italian/Spanish for a couple of years. The open game is the cutting edge of chess, not the regressive 1. d4