The bad thing about chess is its fixed starting position.

The beauty of chess is its fixed starting position. It allows for strength, solidity, and with accurate play, a balance of power. This is why much theory strives for an imbalance, which often gives both sides possibilities.

When I was young and not well schooled in chess, I thought opening theory would render the game dry and dull. I thought it unsporting to use someone else's ideas. I felt all games should be original from the earliest stages.

Then, at some point, I read a chess book which suggested a few openings for relative beginners, and I saw how, by NOT trying to re-invent the wheel every time, the game was somehow better. With a little knowledge, the opening principles were more comprehensible. Faced with something new, better decisions were at least possible. It was easier to win against the average player, and easier to learn more.

Now that I am older, and arguably still not well schooled in chess, I have an appreciation for theory. It is like having a wealth of great literature available. Why throw away Shakespeare just because the plays have been done before, or other great works just because somebody else wrote them?

For most players, memorization of multiple lines is difficult, and can be counterproductive. Understanding of those lines, even an incomplete understanding, can often aid strategy and tactics. Why discard them?

Thinking chess can be improved by change is the height of hubris. I suggest that, before you look for improved variants of chess, you first become world champion for a couple of decades, beating all comers. Then, something more challenging may be called for. Lesser mortals seeking change are perhaps looking for the easy way (and, I submit, the less satisfying way) out.

Sure? I know a kid in my chess club who talks about the Sicilian Najdorf and the Accelerated Dragon and he can't win with K+P vs K (it was a won position, but he didn't know how to win and he didn't know about the opposition). Opening study is abused today.