Change My View: mastering one opening is better than learning a dozen.

o7,beetle.

the cow is op opening

Are you guys talking about this opening? Solomon Ruddell really loves this opening for some reason.

When I first started playing seriously I was determined to play the French as Black and D4 as White.....always. It gave me confidence knowing I was prepared in the opening.......until one day I got bored.

Now I play a few main line openings.

what about the helicopter?

Okay so this question raises a common error in developing chess. I've been caught up in learning openings to get an edge out of the opening. As has already been mentioned, learning one opening very well sets you up to be successful for a low percentage of games. Putting all you eggs in one basket so to speak. So it would be better to have some knowledge of a lot of openings. But this is not the fastest path to improvement. It is much better to follow general opening principles and focus all your energy on learning other things.

Play around and find some openings that you enjoy playing the middle game. Pick one main opening as white and stick to it. As black, I typically have 2 general plans now a days. I used to get caught up in learning all kinds of openings. I have one for 1. e4 and my play against d4 is often extended to other openings including the English. As I mentioned, I really just try and follow opening principles when I'm out of book. As white I have a similar approach, I have some lines memorized but I am typically going for a specific structure that I enjoy playing in the middle game. I used to play 1. e4 forever, then I transitioned to 1. d4. Then, I decided to play the super flexible Reti. Why, because I can go into e4 or d4 lines if I want in many cases.

And since I played both, this seemed like a nice non-committal opening and I can see how the other player wants to steer the game but I haven't committed to any pawn moves yet so I can still steer the game into a position I want to play.

There is one error that I found in my annotations. 1. Nf3 e6 2. d4 does allow the queens gambit. I am okay with this for my game. It denies the French defense.

I enjoyed learning multiple openings because I found it fun. Each opening presented new ideas and similar structures result in similar ideas; sometimes I would find myself in positions I didn't know, but I did know a little bit about another opening, where it looked similar, so I would be able to orient myself and find a plan. You don't really get this from playing a single opening. And you can't always have the same opening, not even when playing the hippo.

chess gets boring of all you do is repeat one opening, and if you dont know any other opening at least somewhat then you will feel like chess is not for you and is boring

'I do not fear the man who has practiced a thousand kicks;
I fear the man who has practiced one kick a thousand times' - Bruce Lee

Sadly, Im not bruce lee, when I practice one kick a thousand times I fall asleep.

Some players enjoy clinging religiously to specific openings. For others, though, having a more diverse repertoire is the key. Especially when it comes to enjoyment.

Arguably, sticking to one specific opening is the most efficient way to learn it. But for others, it could also be the most efficient way of making them want to quit ...

A very valid point that must be considered first above all else.

For me, mastering various openings makes your opponent unable to predict how your game will start... Maybe this is a weapon that gives you an advantage... Chess for me is an art of art ... Art is diverse and vibrant... Maybe the openings as well should be diverse and lively.... This is my humble point of view .

It’s an interesting post Olivia. I don’t play much anymore after playing here since 2011. Just for fun now if a friend asked me to play. What I found in my early days is that as a very average intermediate chess player in the high 1800’s elo I faced much stronger players who of course know the openings C4,D4 and E4 much better than I ever did so I hit a roadblock. They knew those openings Back to front , inside out.

So I decided to do exactly what you did.

Focus only on one opening. Which gave me a draw against a chess coach which I would never have been able to do in the standard openings….proving my theory because they rarely face this opening.

The theory has been modified into a powerful modern opening now.

The Modified Sokolsky opening.

I wrote a forum here on it and was surprised at those that used it’s power of surprise to advantage as an opening.

True