Memorizing Lines

Try chessable

Players who are roughly 400 points or more higher than you (or maybe know-it-all amateurs) will tell you not to memorize. Meanwhile they will have their entire repertoire memorized through move 15.

In my opinion, all chess players, regardless of skill level, should endeavor to have an opening repertoire for serious play. So that they are not just randomly making moves, but instead, have the ability to play solidly when they choose to. This means when they choose a chess player should be able to play solid opening choices in any opening. Of course, we all like to experiment with the grob or Orangutan from time to time, but such games are just for fun. I am currently learning how to play the Sicilian as black, however, I would also like to revisit Petrov's Defense when the time comes. I also like the Kings Gambit. I have a lot of different openings I would one day like to know, but right now, I have a set procedure for almost all openings, and do not deviate, in serious chess.

Harry Lorraine (I do not know if that is how to spell it) writes a good book on mnemonic's, one of the best. You'd have to adapt his rudimentary techniques to chess yourself though, as I have not bothered to master anything taught in that book, and I had it for years. Memorization, using mnemonic's, is a skill.

Chess position trainer is probably the better route... I do not know for sure though... good luck figuring out how either of these things work, as it will take some smarts to really get started with either, or, dedication, that word probably fits better. You'd need a lot of dedication to learn mnemonic's, much less so for chess position trainer. If you have the money to burn I would get chess opening wizard. You pick.

"Another common yet annoying saying is “focus on learning the ideas of an opening, not exact variations.” That’s complete nonsense. Yes you should know the ideas in all openings you play, and in some openings the ideas may be more important than precise moves. The Carlsbad Structure of the Queen’s Gambit Declined, the Closed Sicilian or the Giuoco Pianissimo all come to mind. However in the majority of openings you should know exactly what to do in quite a few critical positions. You shouldn’t find yourself in a key position thinking “well I know these three ideas in the position, I wonder which one is best”. 

The ideas over concrete lines is a stupid saying that is misinterpreted by coaches everywhere who constantly repeat it back to me without having any idea what it means, which basically gives kids to be lazy and not memorize anything. If you play the Dragon you better know the ideas, but you definitely ought to know exactly what moves to play against many of white’s sharp replies."

 

--International Master Greg Shahade

from

http://www.uschess.org/content/view/11692/665

 

In connection with the above (April 2012) IM Greg Shahade quote, it is perhaps worth mentioning that it was part of a series on matters related to openings. In February, he had written:

"... I want to talk about how to build an opening repertoire that matches your rating goals in chess. ... If your goals in chess are relatively modest, (i.e- no higher than 2200), you can play many less conventional openings and get away with it. ... [If your goals are to get up to 1800, pick] openings based on enjoyment. ... You can play stuff that’s completely unsound because the large majority of sub 2000 players won’t be able to take advantage of your dubious opening choices. ..."

http://www.uschess.org/content/view/11634/658

It might also be worthwhile to mention that the Dragon is a demanding opening choice. In the Yugoslav Attack section of Starting Out: Sicilian Dragon, the author (Andrew Martin) wrote, "... one cannot condense the most heavily analysed of chess opening variations into a few pages."

Reviewing the book, FM Carsten Hansen added, "... the same can be said for much of the Dragon Variation as a whole because the theory is so extensive no matter which variation you choose. ..."

https://web.archive.org/web/20140626201436/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen80.pdf

There are so many lines, if you take just the 3 most common responses to your book moves, you will have more than 240 lines for first 5 moves. Good luck memorizing then all.

I think there are many roads that lead to Rome.

For example you could memorize 1.e4 or 1d4 are great moves.

You could also control the centre without memorizing moves and get the same result 1.e4 or 1.d4

 

I've also managed to memorize 1. c4  and 1. Nf3.

haha ive managed to memorise 1.c4 2.g3 and 3.Bg2! after that anything could happen and usually does.

I went to chessable and learned the first five moves of the Fried liver attack, The Italian and The Philador.  I am not allowed to learn any more for another four hours.

Oops. Sorry.

i just always avoided mainstream openings, but that's impossible now because it seems like there is theory on everything. memorizing openings strikes me as the least enjoyable way to spend your chess time.

It states that its as a result of the spaced repetition element.

Id think using the computer password would be effective. So if you dont know and ask for help, then it says what is the 11th move in the Philidor defense in response to the d5 attack on the 7th move? And the penalty of being locked out should be effective. Usually there arent enough strangers to ask who will know the answer.

 

Perhaps buy an audio CD with all opening moves, computer evals, and win/loss %?

Actually I find IM David Pruess method for learning chess openings to be vastly superior because we are personally involved rather than simply parroting lines of openings that we are never likely to play.  

 

Sometimes i think the 2000s purposely tell us things that will prevent us from being formidable competition... 

the only line I memorise is the defence against Danish because I don't really understand the theory behind it too well but I know almost every move becomes a blunder once the two bishops are activated, but there are moves that mean white keeps his advantage

Yep danes are from vikings, gotta know how to deal with them for sure