Why lower rated players should learn openings

H_Staunton · 2016-10-05T10:19:41-07:00

Often when lower rated players asks for advice about opening, they are told that they should not study openings. I on the other hand believe, based on my experience, that lack of opening understanding is one of the things that prevent lower rated players from advancing. Before getting into opening

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kindaspongey

Feb 22, 2019

#121

AlphaZeroDark30 wrote:

... The problem with opening memorization is a positionally stronger player will have little difficulty undoing your advantage from a book line, ...

"... I feel that the main reasons to buy an opening book are to give a good overview of the opening, and to explain general plans and ideas. ..." - GM John Nunn (2006)

"... Review each of your games, identifying opening (and other) mistakes with the goal of not repeatedly making the same mistake. ... It is especially critical not to continually fall into opening traps – or even lines that result in difficult positions ..." - NM Dan Heisman (2007)

https://web.archive.org/web/20140627062646/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/heisman81.pdf