Opening Choices

Sort:
Avatar of Castle_Fast
Lately I have been looking through some openings. I’ve been considering trying to learn a few openings for a while. It has been recommended that I learn a white opening, and a black response to d4 and a black response for e4.

So far I have been looking at either the Italian or the Scotch for white, and for black the French or Caro-Kann for e4 and the King’s Indian for d4.

What do you think of these choices? Are these good openings for a beginner to learn or not? (If not, I would appreciate any recommendation for some good openings)

Thanks
Avatar of Toldsted

Italian or Scotch are fine for White (but concentrate on one).

As Black you should (as a beginner) answer 1.e4 with 1...e5 - and not try to learn the Caro-Kann or the French (wait till you have a better uderstanding of the game).

As Black you should (as a beginner) answer 1.d4 with 1...d5 - and not try to learn the King's Indian (wait till you have a better uderstanding of the game).

Try to understand sound opening principles and not memorize moves.

Avatar of orlock20

Some moves are one or two move openings and you might play a 60 move game.  There are systems that utilize those openings to get you further into the middle game.

Avatar of RussBell

@Castle_Fast -

There is nothing inherently good or bad about the particular openings you mention.  They are all perfectly playable.

Understand that there is no "best" opening.  There are many good, very playable openings, albeit with lots of inconclusive debate over which are better than others.  However, for less experienced players some openings may be more or less appropriate - i.e., easier or more difficult to learn and play, depending on the amount of "theory" to absorb - than others.  The following present many interesting possibilities...

Chess Openings Tier Lists – GMHikaru (complete, beginner thru GM)…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9CwH47r6og&list=PL4KCWZ5Ti2H43-gcoByRnZs5fVR_Lg133&index=4

In the tier lists, chess openings are classified in terms of their appropriateness vis-a-vis player skill level -  i.e., beginner vs intermediate vs GM, etc.  For a given player level, the openings are rated and categorized into six "tiers", from "legendary" to "garbage" (the latter being an unfortunate choice of terms, IMO).  These qualifiers are used in the context of not only the general effectiveness of the particular opening, but also how much so-called "theory" (i.e., documented variations) it encompasses, or how much emphasis is placed on positional versus tactical skill in order to play it well.  So an opening they refer to as "garbage" for a beginner may in fact be appropriate and playable for higher rated players who are assumed to possess a more highly developed requisite knowledge base and skills set.  For each of the openings discussed note also whether the evaluation is from White's or Black’s perspective.

For beginner-intermediate players check out ‘GothamChess’ (IM Levy Rozman) on YouTube for recommendations and quick tutorials on various openings....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFod-ozimmM&t=103s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qdyik5UwBtM
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=gothamchess+openings
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmbU97iftC8&list=PLBRObSmbZluTpMdP-rUL3bQ5GA8v4dMbT

‘Hanging Pawns’ openings videos on YouTube…
https://www.youtube.com/c/HangingPawns

Chess Openings - Ultimate Guide to the Openings of Chess
https://chesspathways.com/chess-openings/

Openings Guides – SimplifyChess.com...
https://simplifychess.com/homepage/openings.html

Chess Openings Resources for Beginners and Beyond...
https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell/openings-resources-for-beginners-and-beyond

more helpful chess resources, including openings and book recommendations, in my blog...
https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell