kindaspongey wrote:
If interested in d4 and Bf4, perhaps it would not be too time consuming, from time to time, to play over a game from First Steps: the Colle and London Systems.
https://www.chess.com/article/view/how-to-understand-openings
Which Openings to Learn for Time Efficiency?
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Most of the time, one faces a position with no knowledge of a specific move indicated in a book. One has to accept that as part of chess, and think of opening knowledge as a sometimes helpful aid. After a game, it makes sense to try to look up the moves in a book and see if it has some indication of how one might have played better in the opening. Many opening books are part explanation and part reference material. The reference material is included in the text with the idea that one mostly skips it on a first reading, and looks at an individual item when it applies to a game that one has just played.
Thanks all for your suggestions. I've looked into a couple of the openings and watched some overview videos...not sure which I'll go with yet...
Maybe adding a few more criteria will help narrow things down?
In general, I don't care if an opening is more positional or tactical, closed or open -- since I'm not good enough to have a valid opinion on which I should play, haha. But I do want something that's solid and won't automatically lose from not memorizing some obscure move.
I think what I want are openings which don't rely on extensive memorization and help develop good habits. And I want to narrow the options of the opponent to lead them away from random memorized traps and force them to just play better than me to win. I'm perfectly fine playing the same opening over and over again, since neither I or the opponent will play theoretically accurate and there will always be a new (but familiar) position.
Thoughts?
Nov 30, 2018
0
#25
As white, play the Kings Indian Attack. As black, play Scandinavian Defense against e4 and KI Defense against other 1st moves. I hope this helps.
Nov 30, 2018
0
#26
If you are just playing at club level then you can get away with playing just about anything. The London, Hippo, or KIA are probably you best bets as White and the hippo as black. All these openings still have quite some theory (I don’t know about Hippo...), but just look at some games by stronger players and some typical plans and you should be good.
Nov 30, 2018
0
#27
UMDRevan wrote:
Hey All, thanks in advance for your time/help!
I've played chess on/off for a while, but never had too much time for concerted study. Now I'm looking to improve as I've a little more time to spend on the game.
First off, I'm going to be focusing 80-90% on middlegame/endgame/tactics -- I know at my level, that's where my focus should be. And focusing on solid opening principles and leaving it at that. But I'd still like to learn a few "set-it-and-forget-it" openings so that every game isn't a complete shot in the dark in the first few moves. In general, I can identify the major openings (not variations), without necessarily knowing how to play them though.
I was hoping someone might have a few efficient openings to suggest -- and that would fit with my "style" of play and ability level....and that's one of the sticking points. I have no idea what that is XD ... So I've included a few win/losses of both white and black to give something of a sample of my (low) level of ability and tendencies. My opponent in all games is Shredder 12, playing at roughly 1300-1350 ELO, according to its own estimation. They are all rated games with no take-backs allowed (quick note... I'm very inconsistent...I'll play great one game, then blunder hard over and over the next):
White Wins:
White Losses:
Black Wins:
Black Losses:
At the risk of sounding like a broken record...
Opening Principles:
- Control the center squares – d4-e4-d5-e5
- Develop your minor pieces toward the center – piece activity is the key
- Castle
- Connect your rooks
Tactics...tactics...tactics...
The objective of development is about improving the value of your pieces by increasing the importance of their roles. Well-developed pieces have more fire-power than undeveloped pieces and they do more in helping you gain control.
Now we will look at 5 practical things you can do to help you achieve your development objective.
They are:
- Give priority to your least active pieces.
- Which piece needs to be developed (which piece is the least active)
- Where should it go (where can its role be maximized)
- Exchange your least active pieces for your opponent’s active pieces.
- Restrict the development of your opponent’s pieces.
- Neutralize your opponent’s best piece.
- Secure strong squares for your pieces.
Don’t help your opponent develop.
There are 2 common mistakes whereby you will simply be helping your opponent to develop:
- Making a weak threat that can easily be blocked
- Making an exchange that helps your opponent to develop a piece
Pre Move Checklist:
- Make sure all your pieces are safe.
- Look for forcing moves: Checks, captures, threats. You want to look at ALL forcing moves (even the bad ones) as this will force you look at, and see the entire board.
- If there are no forcing moves, you then want to remove any of your opponent’s pieces from your side of the board.
- If your opponent doesn’t have any of his pieces on your side of the board, then you want to improve the position of your least active piece.
- After each move by your opponent, ask yourself: "What is my opponent trying to do?"
For black: 1...d6 is a good move regardless of if your opponent plays 1.e4,1.d4, or 1.c4