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Best way to learn openings. . suggestions please

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ananthhh

Apr 28, 2012#1

Hi all greatest chess players,

I am quite confused when i try to learn openings.
I have lot of books, lot of videos, lot of Fritz trainer. In any of the book or videos i didn't find
"how to learn openings".
They are only having contents\ not the "Way to learn those content"
I take a chess coach online. He again started giving me content not the way how i can learn those
by myself.
At first when i started learning opening, i will open any book with fancy title and i will open a
chessbase software. Then i will start loading all those moves in the database, thinking that i am
learning all those moves and openings.
But i cannot go further because i will lose patience soon and i will leave that at that stage and
will start doing other works.
After somedays i will again start the same process and i will lose patience again.
If someone around here can give me some suggestion of how to learn openings, i will be very
greatful to you.
I am not expecting any fast track way. I want a method which i should do daily and also i should
know that am improving daily. Its should not be just walk over through the book, i have to
remember what i am doing. Atleast give some advice on what i am doing wrong.
Please help this poor guy who has lot of will to learn and improve chess.
 stripathy

Apr 28, 2012#2

if u want to know about chess opening and chess skill plz download a free lucas chess game from
fischer free chess software.it will teach u chess skill very frindly manner and show u the
difference between your move and best move.again you can learn opening by watching chess
game of gm from website chessgame.com,thank u

transpo

Apr 28, 2012#3

First you have to choose an opening repertoire. Preferably 3 openings as White and 3 openings
as Black. There are several opening training software programs on the internet. Probably the 2
best are Chess Wizard(Bookup) and Chessbase. It will take you 2-3 years to build your opening
tree with the help of the computer and the software suggested above.
Also you will have to purchase books or cds that explain in words what the particular opening is
about. In other words, the ideas, plans, strategies of the particular opening.
You will have to analyze your games in order to determine your progress in knowing the correct
book moves of the opening that the game followed. And, of course where you went wrong in the
game, the book moves you commited to memory from having played the same moves in practice
with your Bookup software, but forgot during the game.
There is more, but I think the above is enough to get you started.
Good luck on your new chess adventure and have fun.

Bayraba

Apr 28, 2012#4

You can also use the openings explorer on this site to do the same thing. Yes, it takes years...

ananthhh
 Apr 28, 2012#5

Thanks for your reply transpo and tondeaf.

1 main thing i got from your replies is that, it will take years to build good opening reportoire for
myself.
So i need more patience.
My doubt is how to learn openings. For example,
1.Select this book or software.
2.Choose particular opening from the selected software or book.
3.Go through the moves carefully.
Thats it you are done for the day. Repeat this process, so that you will be good in opening by the
end of some years.

Am expecting some advice like this.

Thanks

transpo

Apr 28, 2012#6

ananthhh wrote:

Thanks for your reply transpo and tondeaf.

1 main thing i got from your replies is that, it will take years to build good opening reportoire for
myself.
So i need more patience.
My doubt is how to learn openings. For example,
1.Select this book or software.
2.Choose particular opening from the selected software or book.
3.Go through the moves carefully.
Thats it you are done for the day. Repeat this process, so that you will be good in opening by the
end of some years.

Am expecting some advice like this.

Thanks
Select these books- 1. "My System", by Aaron Nimzowitch
2. "Pawn Power In Chess", by Hans Kmoch
Both above books can be purchased at Amazon.com
Choose particular opening from the selected book- I can tell you that depends on your playing
style, positional or tactical. My opening repertoire consists of the following:
1.As White 3 openings - The English Opening(1.c4), The King's Indian Attack, and The Reti
Opening
2. As Black 3 openings - In response to 1.e4 from White the Sicilian Defense (1...c5), In
response to 1.d4 from White the King's Indian Defense, In response to any move from
White The Caro-Kann (1...c6) if I am looking for a draw as Black in a tournament when I need
it.
Once you have selected the openings for your opening repertoire you will have to buy books that
explain in words the plans, ideas and strategies in those openings. Let me know which openings
you select and I will post what I believe are the best books to select.
Select this software- Chess Openings Wizard(Bookup) and Chessbase games database. The
instructions on how to use Bookup and Chessbase will guide you on how to learn the openings
you select.
In summary, you will find that the stronger players will sometimes use transpositions to take you
out of the opening you know into another opening where because they know that other opening
they also know that by transposing in a certain position will put the color you are playing at a
disadvantage. So you will find as you develop that you will have to know both transposition
junctures in your selected openings and the opening(s) they transpose to as well as the openings
of your repertoire.

fredm73

Apr 28, 2012#7

I made a YouTube video on this subject; perhaps it will help:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_ZPltcSyjo

mnag

Apr 28, 2012#8

You need to play games with the openings you choose. Over the board games, not online where
you can follow a book or software. Then go over the games you play to find the correct sequence
for the lines you choose. You can get better in the openings, middlegame, endgame and tactics.

Michael-G

Apr 28, 2012#9

I understand your frustration but you are looking the wrong way.
To understand the opening you have to understand it's result , the middle game.If you don't know
the number "2" you are not going to understand why "1+1 equals 2".And to understand middle
game you have to understand it's result , the endgame.That is why endgame is so damn important
and that is why opening is so damn unimportant for beginners.When you will be able to evaluate a
position correctly ,when you will be able to plan correctly , when you will be able to play
accurately at least the simple endgames then you will be ready to understand the meaning behind
3.Bb5 in Ruy Lopez and you will be ready to understand why a position is equal , slightly better or
slightly worst.Until then Ruy Lopez or Sicilian are completely useless for you.
Right now what you need is simple openings that will improve your understanding in chess and
will make learning complicated openings easier.You can't learn openings because you see
uncomprehensible lines leading to uncomprehensible positions.Even if you do learn them nothing
will happen , no improvement at all.
You need openings that you can play with almost no theory knowledge and will help you
understand some fundamental opening ideas and plans.Once you know well these you can move on
to more complicated openings.
You learn an opening by understanding it and you can understand it by understanding the
positions it produce.
p.s. Message me if you need more information.

ananthhh

Apr 28, 2012#10

Thanks to everyone for your wonderful comments.

Am expecting more from the chess gurus around here.
This topic will be helpfull for lot of beginners like me lurking around this forum.

nomorechesscom
 Aug 21, 2012#11

[COMMENT DELETED]

Andre_Harding

Aug 21, 2012#12

Here's my two cents:

Choosing an Opening (if you must do it for yourself)
Figure out what type of middlegame you CAN play well or can LEARN how to play well...NOT
what kind you WANT to play well. We would all like to play like Morphy, Tal, or
Nezhmetdinov, but this is unrealistic.
I would break it down into these categories:

1. Slow/Fast [The most important category!]

2. Kingside/Queenside/Neutral [Attack the king? Win material? Play across the whole board?]
3. Degree of Risk [Is "kill or be killed" acceptable to you or no?]
4. Statics vs. Dynamics [Do you want things to hinge on piece play or on structural considerations?]
5. What openings/defenses are you willing to allow or are determined to avoid?
6. Depth vs. Breadth [One main opening or more than one?]

These questions should help you choose something suitable.

Andre_Harding

Aug 21, 2012#13

Studying the Chosen Opening

First, ChessBase is a must.
Second, make one database for each opening or line. Find high level games in that line and add
them to your database. If the games are not annotated, annotate them yourself, checking with
Houdini afterwards.
Third, practice your openings on ICC in blitz or rapid games. Continue to study.
Fourth, use the openings in tournaments.
 2200ismygoal

Aug 21, 2012#14

Your 1400, I doubt your major weakness is openings.

Estragon

Aug 22, 2012#15

I use Chessbase too but I presume any database program has openings keys for sorting games, as
well as other filters. Let me add to Andre_Harding's comments.
It is useful when forming a database for learning an opening to ensure the quality of the
games. The easiest way to do this is to also filter for rating by setting a minimum for both
players. You will want to start with 50-100 games per opening (don't worry, you go over them
over a period of time) and so for a popular opening like the Nadjorf Sicilian you may have to set
the rating high, like 2500 or higher depending on the time span you are looking at (last ten years
recommended), to get to the desired number. For the Budapest or Albin, you might only have to
specify over 2200, say.

Then go over the games slow enough to see what is happening - no blitz speed - but not trying
any deep analysis. You just want to notice the similar features, the recurring ideas and patterns
and tactics which will happen. Maybe 15 minutes a game, so four in an hour, make it part of
your regimen. Then use what you have seen in your own games, review and compare.
This is not a crash course, it requires an effort over a period of time, but as you progress through
it you will have learned something you won't forget, as opposed to cramming memorized
variations you will forget easily.

Estragon

Aug 22, 2012#16

And you want to play over the games you've filtered as they come - don't skip the losses for the
side you want to play, or the draws. That way you see what works and what fails for both sides.
Also, play out each to the end. In this way, you are also seeing all the middlegame strategies and
even the typical endgames that arise, so you won't be left wondering what to do when the
opening ends.

Andre_Harding

Aug 22, 2012#17

Agree with Estragon's comments.

transpo

Aug 22, 2012#18

Michael-G wrote:

I understand your frustration but you are looking the wrong way.
To understand the opening you have to understand it's result , the middle game.If you don't
know the number "2" you are not going to understand why "1+1 equals 2".And to understand
middle game you have to understand it's result , the endgame.That is why endgame is so damn
important and that is why opening is so damn unimportant for beginners.When you will be
able to evaluate a position correctly ,when you will be able to plan correctly , when you will
be able to play accurately at least the simple endgames then you will be ready to understand
the meaning behind 3.Bb5 in Ruy Lopez and you will be ready to understand why a position is
equal , slightly better or slightly worst.Until then Ruy Lopez or Sicilian are completely useless
for you.
Right now what you need is simple openings that will improve your understanding in chess and
will make learning complicated openings easier.You can't learn openings because you see
uncomprehensible lines leading to uncomprehensible positions.Even if you do learn them nothing
will happen , no improvement at all.
You need openings that you can play with almost no theory knowledge and will help you
understand some fundamental opening ideas and plans.Once you know well these you can move on
to more complicated openings.
You learn an opening by understanding it and you can understand it by understanding the
positions it produce.
p.s. Message me if you need more information.

Michael-G is correct with regards to what he wrote highlighted in red.

What he did not add and probably knows is the gist of it and the most important part. You need
to build 5 visualization pattern memory banks, and they need to built in roughly the following
order:
1. Basic Checkmate (K+Q v K, K+R v K, K+2Bs v K, K+B+N v K) endgame visualization
pattern memory bank
2. Tactics visualization pattern memory bank
3. Endgame Technique visualization pattern memory bank
4. Openings visualization pattern memory bank
5. Middle Game visualization pattern memory bank
In the actual learning process there will be alot of overlap regarding the build up of these 5
memory banks in your mind.
In addition you will have to learn alot more about theory. Not opening theory. More basic than
opening theory are the following concepts:
What is Chess? Answer: Chess is Siege Warfare in the form of a board game.
1. Siege Warfare (Expertly explained by "My System" and "Pawn Power In Chess) in any form
involves 3 strategies (restrain, blockade, execute the enemy) Michael-G writes: "...then you
will be ready to understand the meaning behind 3.Bb5 in RuyLopez..." Almost all books I
have ever read, explain that the move is designed to win Black's pawn at e5. The truth is that
3.Bb5 is really designed to very temporarily restrainBlack's queenside pawns, especially Black's
pawn at d7 (this is a pawn that is critical to Black's ability to fight for control of the center) The
reason he cannot play 3...d6 or 3...d5 is because White can then play 4.BxN(c6) to which Black
would have to respond with 4...bxB(c6), saddling Black with a loose double pawn complex
(pawns at c7,c6, d6 or d5) which is definitely a weakness that White can exploit. A general
guideline for exploiting Black's loose doubled pawn complex is described as follows: A limp in
a sitting man is undetectable. But, when that man begins to walk the limp is patently
obvious. White must make moves that force or strongly encourage Black to advance the pawns
that comprise his loose doubled pawn complex. That is just the beginning of the process in
White's exploitation of Black's lose doubled pawn complex weakness. The rest of the process is
very clearly explained in the book, "My System", and of course the process involves restrain,
blockade and execute, the enemy.
2. Two Chess Opening Theories (Classical and Hypermodern)
a. Classical - Control the center (d4,e4,d5,e5) by occupying it with your pawns and pieces.
b. Hypermodern - Control the center with the power of your pawns and pieces. With this
method you do not create targets in the center for your opponent to attack. (The book, "My
System" is all about Hypermodern Chess Opening Theory and its application in practice in actual
games.)
3. Pawn Structure - is the terrain (hills, mountains, and valleys ) of the battlefield on the chess
board. All plans of attack against the enemy position must conform to the pawn
structure. "Pawn Power In Chess", is an encyclopaedia of pawn structures and how to handle
them from the White and Black side. In addition there is detailed a breakdown of concepts,
principles and ideas that comprise the pawn structure and how to use them.
If you would like to know more, please let me know.
 Andre_Harding

Aug 22, 2012#19

Openings are not unimportant for beginners. Memorizing lists of moves without understanding
those moves is the problem.
If a beginner studies the opening PROPERLY (which implies studying the middlegames and
possibly endgames that arise from their openings, and improves positional evaluation) it will be a
huge help. Not to mention it will also improve tactics.
The problem, as I see it, is that most openings books do not teach the opening properly and the
reader gets more confused and doesn't know what they are doing (believe me, I have been
there!). That is why opening study gets a bad rap.

ibastrikov

Aug 22, 2012#20

Although you can't get around memorizing moves, it is always better to first familiarize yourself
with the general themes of the opening: the usual pawn structures, piece placements, and
plans. Then once you know the basic ideas, you should learn the correct lines and hopefully,
then, know why they are played.

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