Best Openings for beginners - Chess Forums - Page 2

h4java

Mar 15, 2023

0

#21

LordVandheer wrote:

If you are an improver, Sicillian, Ruy, Queens Gambit are stuff you should look for. Italian is of course solid too. These kinds of openings challenge both sides. Stuff like London system lacks the fight in chess, which is a fighting game. Why waste your initiative for safety? You are here to fight.

That's good advice. Thanks.

LordVandheer

Mar 15, 2023

0

#22

SamuelAjedrez95 wrote:

AL0NSH0W wrote:

The OP is 650 Elo. What you said might make sense at 1200+ Elo, but not at his level. At his level he doesn't need any openings at all, just following opening principles is more than enough for him. And if he really wants to learn an opening, then London is the best. No opening is boring at 650 Elo, at that level there's always a blunder before move 10 that makes the game go crazy. And if you play the London, you're guaranteed that 90% of the time the first one to blunder will be the other guy.

If that's the case, it doesn't matter what opening they play then if they will blunder and make a mistake anyway. Even if they play Sicilian and Ruy Lopez at 650 ELO, the opponents will also be about 650 ELO so they will be just as likely to make a mistake or not know the theory which makes it even and still good to play.

The difference is if they work on a good opening like the Sicilian or Ruy Lopez then they will actually improve.

You and I think alike from what I have seen so far. Don't understand what this guy means by "oh OP is 650 so it will be an exciting game". Okay, but what if he becomes 1000, 1300, 1800? Does London still hold in that level? Of course, it holds in GM level even. Is it fun? Damn no.

SamuelAjedrez95

Mar 15, 2023

0

#23

LordVandheer wrote:

You and I think alike from what I have seen so far. Don't understand what this guy means by "oh OP is 650 so it will be an exciting game". Okay, but what if he becomes 1000, 1300, 1800? Does London still hold in that level? Of course, it holds in GM level even. Is it fun? Damn no.

Totally.

It holds at GM level but it's extremely drawish. The opening is very simple and safe and so therefore results in very few complications or positional trumps.

You will see master level games where the players play like 30 natural looking moves to reach a totally drawn endgame.

SamuelAjedrez95

Mar 15, 2023

0

#24

Chill_Vibes_Incoming wrote:

yeh i guess your correct theres only like 5 crucial lines to remember and it's easy to play. Yeh I don't know anything. Next time I'm not gonna rant on a subject I don't know about. I literally don't know anything about the sicilian other then my friends telling me it's complicated. Sorry.

After I started learning openings beyond just symmetrical italian, I almost immediately picked up the Najdorf. I was looking at various defences and some other Sicilian variations but really loved the Najdorf and just went for it. There was no point messing around with an opening like the Caro Kann or another Sicilian like the Dragon which I didn't really want to play. I wanted to play the opening that I actually liked.

When people talk about the Najdorf being complicated it's mostly about the fact that there are a lot of variations. White has 7 major variations against it. However, each one provides a unique character to the game and is fun to play against in their own way.

This isn't just to tell people to play the Najdorf. There are other great Sicilians like the Kan, Taimanov, Dragon, Sveshnikov, etc. If someone really wants something simpler to play then I would say the Sveshnikov is good. If someone does like the Najdorf though, then they should just go for it. It doesn't matter if it's hard because you get better by playing it.

Of course it's also important to learn how to play against anti-Sicilians like the Alapin as well. I'm used to facing stuff like this as a lot of people shy away from the Open Sicilian, unfortunately.

SamuelAjedrez95

Mar 15, 2023

0

#25

Chill_Vibes_Incoming wrote:

You said your friend plays the Sveshnikov. Have you ever tried to play an Open Sicilian Sveshnikov?

aryski21

Mar 15, 2023

0

#26

What I've learned recently is that there's no point in learning tons of theory as a beginner. I asked this same exact question on chessable (A chess site with thousands of free courses to help you), and got absolutely destroyed by everyone on there (all ppl rated 2000+). Learn opening principles, not specific openings/theory. There's an amazing FREE course by SmithyQ on chessable that goes over this. I'm taking it now and I've already learned so much, such as the importance of "time"/tempo over material gain. I no longer feel overwhelmed when going against untraditional openings. Once I reach at least 1000 elo I'll start to look into openings as I'll actually be able to understand the logic behind them and how to continue from that point forward.

actual_knight_gaming

Mar 15, 2023

0

#27

wooper_army wrote:

italian game on top!!1!111!

I raise you my Blackburne Shilling Gambit!

SamuelAjedrez95

Mar 15, 2023

0

#28

AL0NSH0W wrote:

What this guy meant is that a player who is 650 NOW needs advice that works for him NOW. You want to give him advice that will work when he's 1000, 1300 or 1800? OK, but at least be clear and tell him first that that advice won't work until he reaches that level. And, honestly, why would you want to do that anyway? If you want to give 1800 Elo advice, great, but give it to 1800 Elo players.

And, as I said, he's not even really 650. His "real" Elo is more like 300.

It's still relevant advice because it's best to play an ambitious opening which will help you improve so that you will reach those levels. Instead of just playing an opening which is simple to play at a lower level, it's better to play an opening which will teach you more in the long run.

That's unless you're only talking about someone who doesn't want to improve and just wants a simple but unambitious opening to beat other amateurs.

If you want to be a good player, you have to play like one.

actual_knight_gaming

Mar 15, 2023

0

#29

wooper_army wrote:

knight_gaming592 wrote:

wooper_army wrote:

italian game on top!!1!111!

I raise you my Blackburne Shilling Gambit!

Then I don't fall for your scumbag trick and take your knight!

AAAAAAAAAAA NO MY ONLY WEAKNESS

SamuelAjedrez95

Mar 15, 2023

0

#30

wooper_army wrote:

knight_gaming592 wrote:

wooper_army wrote:

italian game on top!!1!111!

I raise you my Blackburne Shilling Gambit!

Then I don't fall for your scumbag trick and take your knight!

Aw man, you didn't have to go and refute his opening like that. Now I just feel bad.

actual_knight_gaming

Mar 15, 2023

0

#31

SamuelAjedrez95 wrote:

wooper_army wrote:

knight_gaming592 wrote:

wooper_army wrote:

italian game on top!!1!111!

I raise you my Blackburne Shilling Gambit!

Then I don't fall for your scumbag trick and take your knight!

Aw man, you didn't have to go and refute his opening like that. Now I just feel bad.

There go my rating points…

Nobody103i

Mar 15, 2023

0

#32

Carl Kann, Vienna and kings Indian is my favourites

Ziryab

Mar 15, 2023

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#33

Emanuil7 wrote:

Which are the best openings to learn as a beginner?

Italian

SamuelAjedrez95

Mar 15, 2023

0

#34

AL0NSH0W wrote:

Do you know that grandmaster who was 300 Elo until he learned a great opening and then he skyrocketed beyond 2000? No? Me neither. There's a reason why all good chess coaches say that beginners shouldn't learn openings and instead focus on principles. You can't learn calculus before you learn arithmetic. You can't learn to run before you learn to walk.

Really? You just gonna take my words out of context like that? I never said it would skyrocket you to 2000.

The point is that you will gradually make improvements. Each game you learn something new about the opening. You learn a new trap, a new tactic, a new variation. You learn to adapt. You improve your opening play and your ability improves with it.

Saying beginners shouldn't learn openings is the most bs advice I've ever heard. Opening principles are important and that's directly linked to playing an opening. It's not a good idea to go into deep theory but you should learn how to play a proper opening so it will carry you through into the middlegame, instead of playing random bs moves because you were told you shouldn't play an opening. Chess coaches DO NOT say beginners shouldn't play openings. That's actually stupid.

SamuelAjedrez95

Mar 15, 2023

0

#35

wooper_army wrote:

Cmon he's just saying that you shouldn't overly rely on openings don't take it personally like that

That's true as well. It's important to learn other aspects of the game as well. However, saying someone shouldn't play openings is really stupid.

Ziryab

Mar 15, 2023

0

#36

AL0NSH0W wrote:

harmjava wrote:

Italian, Ruy Lopez, Sicilian, French, Queen's gambit, and King's Indian defense are good open and closed options to play with both Black and White.

Why would you recommend complicated openings like the Ruy Lopez and the Sicilian to a beginner?

The Spanish is an excellent choice for a beginner. The moves are good and rooted in the tactics everyone needs to learn. It is an opening you can begin with and grow with.

SamuelAjedrez95

Mar 15, 2023

0

#37

wooper_army wrote:

well, duh. everyone needs to make a move to start the game

Exactly, and if you make good moves then you will do better.

SamuelAjedrez95

Mar 15, 2023

0

#38

wooper_army wrote:

Only barely better. Most likely, any book moves you play will not have a detrimental effect on the rest of the game.

It's true that at lower levels a lot of games are just going to be decided by blunders rather than openings. That doesn't change the fact that you have to learn how to play the game properly in the opening.

This is how you get good. Get a good position out of the opening, learn tactics, reduce blunders.

It's all important.

SamuelAjedrez95

Mar 15, 2023

0

#39

Ziryab wrote:

The Spanish is an excellent choice for a beginner. The moves are good and rooted in the tactics everyone needs to learn. It is an opening you can begin with and grow with.

Saw a good video on this recently.

SamuelAjedrez95

Mar 15, 2023

0

#40

I'll give a perfect example of this. You can say you just need to follow principles like "put a pawn in the centre, get the knights out, get the bishops out" and then you end up with something like this:

Sure, this is still a game but if they want to improve, this will eventually be detrimental. It loses the advantage and gives an uncomfortable position. So what have we learned? Developing in a seemingly natural way falls for a common tactic. So playing this instead is better:

This is now an opening, the Italian. Learning openings IS important.