Opening Prep 101 - Preparing openings the smart way

Preparing openings is very close to my heart and something which I can shamelessly claim to be very good at. In this blog, I would like to present my way of preparing openings and offer suggestions to practical players.

Firstly, I would like to share my way of preparing openings, including the elements I watch out for.

My principles for preparing openings

1. The resulting positions should be practically simple to play for me, or difficult for my opponent to play

Modern opening preparation is not just about winning right out of the opening, but about having a comfortable position instead. In certain complex variations, say the Grunfeld or KID, sure, you can try to catch your opponent in a complicated line. However, that’s just not possible in QGD. Most of the major chess openings are equal with very few chances for an objective advantage. Your goal in such cases should be to ensure that you have a position that is very easy to play, or your opponent has a position that isn’t easy to play. Both of the outcomes are a success in terms of opening preparation. Here’s an example to prove the point.

In this position, I found out the novelty 8.Nd5!? Which is quite testing practically. After the following sequence with Bb7 a4! Nc5 Nxf6 gxf6 Qe3 bxa4 f3, we reach the following position

Even though the computer claims this position is equal, I find it very easy to play as white. White’s king is much safer, and white has more space and a better pawn structure. Mainly, white’s position is flowing and the moves are quite simple to play. For black, however, the position isn’t easy. Black faces an unpleasant choice of keeping the king in the centre or moving it to either flank where it can be attacked. Black also cannot develop the bishop on f8 comfortably. To sum it up, even though the computer claims this position to be equal, without prior knowledge, defending this position as black is very hard. Vidit went on to win the game comfortably.

2. Engine evaluations don't matter. Practicality matters.
Another principle I strongly believe in. As long as you are more comfortable than your opponent in a game, engine evaluations don’t matter. If we go by engine evaluations, openings like King’s Indian Defence can never be played. These openings are not played to satisfy the engine but for their practical purposes. Here is a great example of this concept.

Arjun in this position, played h5. The computer assesses this as +1, but he wasn’t too bothered by it. Why? He is a player who loves complications, while Gelfand is a player who absolutely hates it. The nature of positions suits him, and he went on to win a very comfortable game. There’s another instructive moment of this game which I would like to share**.**

In this position, Gelfand played g4!?, sensing the danger on the h-file. The sources which cover this position for white suggested Qe2 and left the position with an evaluation of +/- . I went deeper here, and the funny thing is that this is the exact moment for which the line was played! Black can play Be7 here, and after e5 black has the stunning 0-0!! sacrificing material. White remains objectively better, but all the natural moves are hard for white. You are free to explore this position for yourself.

3. Don't rely on engines to find moves, use your brain instead.
This is a point I can’t emphasise enough about. A lot of players (yours truly included) tend to shut their brains while checking out openings with engines. The role of engines in opening prep is not to suggest the best continuation, but rather to offer you moves and evaluate them. You need to use your brain to find natural moves and evaluate them using your computer. Your opponent does not use an engine to make moves OTB (at least we hope so!), but their mind. Use it to your advantage.

4. Cut down the file as much as you can, and annotate it
You don’t get any extra points for going super deep (unless you absolutely know the direction that is going to come on the board.) Try to cut down variations as much as you can, and keep your file annotated, so that recollecting the ideas doesn’t become a challenge after a few months.

Here's a small 'clean file'.

As a bonus, I am offering you a novelty which is quite potent, and an example of a clean file! Use it to crush your opponents!

These were some of the key principles I kept in mind while preparing openings. Here’s something extra for practical players who would like to analyse stuff for themselves.

Suggestions for a practical player

1. Understand the strategic details of the position

Evaluate the pawn structure, comprehend the best place for your pieces, find out the common plans, and compare it with a line with a similar pawn structure. You shouldn’t just look at moves, but gain strategic knowledge about the position.
2. Don’t spend too much time on openings!
3. Use your brain!
Play lines which can work in a practical game. These don't need to work in a correspondence game. Here's an outrageous idea I prepared for a player in a must-win game.

You can find all the games in the following study. Have a blast preparing!