Not very important.
I'd say studing openings gets more relevant when the time comes when you decide a pretty much fixed repertoire and aim to play mostly the same setup for comfort. If you are going to play similar setups for 70% of the time it would make sense to delve a bit deeper into it.
Good players will tell you openings are not important for beginners and that you can play only from openings principles (develop your pieces, protect your king, control the centre, dont move your queen too early...). But to be honnest, if you dont want to lose to dubious but tricky openings (hi Stafford), or if you just want to avoid playing from inferior positions, you may want to learn a bit of theory.
Openings are absolutely not important. What does it help you if you are slightly better after the opening and than blunder a piece?
Of course you should not be totally lost after the opening, but IMHO tactics are far more important.
I was wondering how important openings are for beginners. I don't really understand the importance behind them. My basic knowledge about openings is how to utlize pawns and make space to develop you pieces and get them to a position where they can perform the maximum effort. This is Pretty much all I find important in openings?
The basic knowledge of opening principles are important for the development of the game, but that's about how far you should go.
You could sneak in one or two openings a little deeper, but your main priority should be to focus on three areas: endgame skills, tactical awareness and ability to spot hanging pieces.
Once these are established and you get more experienced, heavy positional understanding comes next.
The last one should be openings, but only when all the earlier objectives have been met.
Just get a basic repertoire with solid openings that work best for you. As you advance, you can build up a deeper understanding of them.
this ^^
Not very your time is better spent on tactics and endgame study in the beginning
Just get a basic repertoire with solid openings that work best for you. As you advance, you can build up a deeper understanding of them.
That's my advice! Are you agreeing with me?!?
Openings aren't important as a beginner. Generate a number between 1 and 8. Push the pawn that corresponds with that number (1= a, 2= b etc.) keep pushing that pawn until something happens to it or it can't move. Then push another pawn. Or make a knight jump out. Or start with a pawn that begins with the same letter as your name, to personalise it. That's an option. Just be creative with it, and remember, it has no bearing on the outcome of the game.
For me it was very important as a beginner. Knowing openings that is when I learned basic middle game strategies; and realized the importance of studying endgames. And I improved very fast for doing it. Now I am on tilt trying to improve further from this invisible hard wall.
But in your case you studied it along with tactics and endgames.
Openings on their own are not a great idea all the time, because many players memorise openings only to fumble in the middlegame when they start to hang pieces.
Beginnings are not as important as other stages of the game, but they are still important for you to learn. If you know the openings, you will be able to parry unorthodox attacks of your opponents because you will be familiar with them.
I’m no expert, but oh; the smell of baking bread is divine!
You could do a lot worse than Fudamental Chess Openings by Paul Van Der Sterren. I like it because it teaches opening principles. Principles, in my humble view, are the most essential building blocks in all aspects of life.
I hope that helps.
All my love, the gnome x
this is a good question! Much better than the normal: "which opening I should learn first as a beginner". You are open to the answer. that´s good. And the tenor of all answers above is the same like mine:
Learn openings last! Start with the endgame, learn a lot about the middle game and for the first part of the game just follow the so called "golden rules":
Start with a center pawn e4/d4
move the knights bevor the bishops
castle early (and most of the time to the kingside)
don´t move a piece twice in the opening
connect your rooks and go on into the middle game.
If you have a look at the lessons here in chess.com you sill notice, that most of them (think 95%) are about things who happens in the middlegame or endgame. Taktiks like pins and forks, pawn structures like chains and ilands or rules in the endgame like rooks must be behind passed pawns, the active king and so on. But there are only very view lessons about special openings. don´t forget: Openings teach you openings, endgames teach you chess (Gerzadowicz)
I was wondering how important openings are for beginners. I don't really understand the importance behind them. My basic knowledge about openings is how to utlize pawns and make space to develop you pieces and get them to a position where they can perform the maximum effort. This is Pretty much all I find important in openings?