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and similar ones ... (I have NOT read the book I link to above - it is just a good example of what I meant by having a broad generalized strategy).
It does look like a pretty interesting book, but I already have about 200+ such books <g>
Kaufman's New Repertoire for Black and White: A Complete, Sound and User-friendly Chess Opening Repertoire
I have seen the earlier edition. Looked like a nice book with a ready repertoire. I'm looking to purchase the new edition.
Would not hurt to read for a player without any repertoire.
I have not study openings for a long time and it was not very broad for me - had several with a deep enough knowledge. Though with age (unfortunately) that started to crack. Instead of patching them, I started to play whatever I felt at that moment. I looked through theory and some recent games. Usually I was on my own in a single digit of made moves. But it was good :) However, it is probably not to everyone as openings were on the 3rd or 4th grade type - not a mainstream.
BTW my rating returned to >2200 LOL
Thus my 2 cnts - yes look as wide as you can. It will bring joy to the game itself. It will enrich your understanding of chess. Maybe later you'll apply some ideas from one opening to other.
To Vlad: any thoughts on the above post from a few days ago? A few of us lower-rated types would love to know.
For IQP you must read Baburin's book Winning Pawn Structures. It is getting harder and harder to find however. Michalcyshin and his two chessbase pawn structure videos present similar ideas though not in as much depth.
If you insist on King's Indian structures then playing 1.... g6 against everything is a viable strategy. When I want to be cheeky, I sometimes play a double fianchetto with black. My better students always manage to draw, though.
There is a whole series of chessbase videos on different pawn structures under the name Know the Terrain. I like them a lot.
Chesspublishing.com is an excellent resource for opening study. In every opening you get about ten to twelve or more games per month that are nicely annotated. There are also pdfs of every opening which are like having a constantly evolving opening book every month or so. It is a tad expensive but the games are well annotated and entertaining and if you play the English you get IM David Cummings bringing you the latest flank openings every month. David Cummings book on the English is also quite good though its focus is on non-fianchetto lines for white.
I'm not so familiar with the chess.com lessons aside from a quick passing glance. They seem good and my students that have been using them seem to be making good progress.
Last edited by Vlad Drkulec; Monday, 21st December, 2020, 05:31 PM.
I find that you can play almost anything you want in the opening and achieve some success as long as you follow opening principles. Every twenty or thirty games, I go off the rails in a game because of a careless opening but some of my best results were achieved on the spur of the moment playing an opening that I had bought a book on but having only read what was on the cover which was the first four or five moves (Colle Zukertort). In my first game, knowing no theory, I beat a FIDE master mainly because my plans were confusing to him as I knew no theory. After I read the book and knew the theory my next three games against 2200 players all ended in frustratingly easy draws so I stopped using that opening against 2200 players.
For IQP you must read Baburin's book Winning Pawn Structures. It is getting harder and harder to find however. Michalcyshin and his two chessbase pawn structure videos present similar ideas though not in as much depth.
If you insist on King's Indian structures then playing 1.... g6 against everything is a viable strategy. When I want to be cheeky, I sometimes play a double fianchetto with black. My better students always manage to draw, though.
There is a whole series of chessbase videos on different pawn structures under the name Know the Terrain. I like them a lot.
Chesspublishing.com is an excellent resource for opening study. In every opening you get about ten to twelve or more games per month that are nicely annotated. There are also pdfs of every opening which are like having a constantly evolving opening book every month or so. It is a tad expensive but the games are well annotated and entertaining and if you play the English you get IM David Cummings bringing you the latest flank openings every month. David Cummings book on the English is also quite good though its focus is on non-fianchetto lines for white.
I'm not so familiar with the chess.com lessons aside from a quick passing glance. They seem good and my students that have been using them seem to be making good progress.
At what approx. rating do you think dedicated opening prepartion will be necessary to make progress? i.e go beyond opening principles and avoiding simple blunders. I am not asking from a "won't hurt" or "lots of fun" perspective, more from a "must-do" perspective.
At what approx. rating do you think dedicated opening prepartion will be necessary to make progress? i.e go beyond opening principles and avoiding simple blunders. I am not asking from a "won't hurt" or "lots of fun" perspective, more from a "must-do" perspective.
Once you get into the 2000s you should have an opening repertoire that you can trust. You don't need to do too much work. Ideally you want to have two openings you can play as white or black for a total of four openings. One would be for the last round when a draw would be fine and another when you need to win in the last round. If you are in the middle of the pack and can't win a prize then you play the solid opening. If you can win a prize with a win, you play the opening that gives you a good chance at the full point.
Thank you, Vlad ; it really helps to know that this can be deferred quite a bit, since the body of knowledge is so vast. I'll visit openings if/when I reach 2K, and stick to basic opening principles & avoiding blunders till then.
Once you get into the 2000s you should have an opening repertoire that you can trust. You don't need to do too much work. Ideally you want to have two openings you can play as white or black for a total of four openings. One would be for the last round when a draw would be fine and another when you need to win in the last round. If you are in the middle of the pack and can't win a prize then you play the solid opening. If you can win a prize with a win, you play the opening that gives you a good chance at the full point.
Thank you, Vlad ; it really helps to know that this can be deferred quite a bit, since the body of knowledge is so vast. I'll visit openings if/when I reach 2K, and stick to basic opening principles & avoiding blunders till then.
Thank you, Vlad ; it really helps to know that this can be deferred quite a bit, since the body of knowledge is so vast. I'll visit openings if/when I reach 2K, and stick to basic opening principles & avoiding blunders till then.
Study games annotated by masters and grandmasters and you will naturally pick up openings. Also when you do lose a game as a result of the opening make sure you look up what you should have done. Remember that the next time you play the same opening. You might lose one game and in the future win ten games because you studied what you should have done.
Thanks for this too, Vlad ; that would a great way of studying openings, since top players have a repertoire. Will remember to learn from opening mistakes as well.
Study games annotated by masters and grandmasters and you will naturally pick up openings. Also when you do lose a game as a result of the opening make sure you look up what you should have done. Remember that the next time you play the same opening. You might lose one game and in the future win ten games because you studied what you should have done.
I finally have some time to read the posts and post. I agree with what the coaches and strong players have posted but would like to add a caveat. Once you have played enough tournament chess in choosing your main openings you need to determine your style. Then select a strong grandmaster that plays in your style and use his openings. If you are having trouble determining your style of play any strong coach can help if you send him a minimum of 10 tournament games that have been decided without blunders. I also like Neil's comment about opening study being fun and an adventure. Its much better that way. All of this takes time but the fastest way is to determine your style and playing mainline openings that suit your style.
and of course what Vlad said after losing a game as a result of the opening definitely make sure you look up what you should have done, thats a given.
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