Must-know: Openings

The opening defines the course of the game. There are lots of opening
lines, so the first problem each player faces is “which ones should I
choose”?

Opening choice

1. Let’s consider two options: a) for beginners b) for more advanced players

For those who are new to chess: you will need an opening book or, more
modern and convenient, a chess database. I am using both Chess
Assistant and ChessBase (they are the best ones available). Chess.com
also has its own online database which could prove to be quite
helpful.

You had better start with one of the main moves, either 1.e4 or 1.d4.
Check out the opening tree, review some top players’ games and see
what type of positions you like. If you are a complete newcomer, it
could prove to be tricky since you won’t be able to tell the
difference between them. In this case you might have to resort to your
friends’ or coach’s help.

For stronger players: some people are quite proficient in chess, but
somehow they never paid attention to their opening, or decided to
switch from one system to another. While a novice may not be aware of
his style, an experienced player knows it. Choose an opening according
to your playing manner. For example, a positional player would be in
his element in a Slav Defense, while a tactical player might prefer
the King’s Indian.

2. The next step after choosing an opening is reviewing the
variations. Study the main lines using a computer opening tree on
opening book, then pay attention to the popular deviations. Make notes
of your choices (using a pgn file). The key to mastering an opening is
knowing the main plans for both sides and main set-ups. You can find
those either in books, or by looking at some typical games. It is very
useful to pick a role model – a strong master who is loyal to a
certain opening and whose games provide insight on how to play it. For
example, Alexei Shirov often plays the Ruy Lopez with Bc5, so I have
looked through many of his games to improve my understanding of this
opening and the main plans.

Create your opening tree which will consist of the main variation and
the subvariations. Some people prefer to have a file for each opening
(Black against 1.e4, Black against 1.d4, etc.). Others like to keep
all the info together (so as not to lose anything or have trouble
searching for it). As long as your trees are small enough, one file is
probably the best option.

3. After studying the main lines and learning the plans you have to
memorize the ideas and play some training games. Of course, you may
skip this part and head straight to a tournament. However, playing
some training games beforehand will help you get a touch of the
opening and avoid losing in a silly way (thus saving your rating and
self-esteem). You may either challenge an anonymous player over the
Internet, or train with a sparring partner (e.g. a friend of similar
strength). The latter option is better since it allows you to agree in
advance what you will be working on. A player on the Internet won’t be
aware of your plans and may play something totally different. Playing
otb is much better than online since it imitates the conditions you
will be facing at a real tournament. Time control – standard or 1 hour
per game. In the Internet forget about bullet or blitz, instead play
some rapid games (15-25 min per game). 1 hour per game online is dull,
bad for one’s eyes and also increases the risk of confronting a
cheater (who will spoil all your pleasure). Btw, that’s another reason
for playing “live”.

These 3 stages are pretty much all for the prevailing majority of
chess players, but pros will need to go over 2 more.

4. Your proprietary analysis of the opening, searching for new plans
and novelties

Chess has a myriad of variations, so even the extensive modern theory
has spots where one can come up with something new. Nowadays chess
engines offer a chance to players of any strength to find something
worthy. Analyze your opening, widen and deepen the opening tree, watch
out for interesting continuations. This will take your opening
preparation to a new level and improve tournament results. Having a
strong human partner next to you during the process can also be useful
since chess engines are sometimes suggesting very inhuman lines, while
a man can spot something completely different and promising.

5. Studying a back-up opening

To make opening preparation tougher for your opponents and to have
some other line to fall back upon (when your main one needs to be
fixed, when you need to play for a draw/win, choose something your
opponent doesn’t like, etc.), you could study a back-up opening. Of
course, this comes after becoming proficient in the first one,
otherwise you will simply have two half-baked openings. A reminder:
these final two stages are for master-level players. Others will
benefit more from becoming well-rounded in chess and learning key
middlegame and endgame principles.