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Do you always play the same openings?

Against any opponent, in any time control, any day of the week...
I usually do, it feels comfortable :) but is it good for my overall chess? Or should I mix it up more?

Against any opponent, in any time control, any day of the week... I usually do, it feels comfortable :) but is it good for my overall chess? Or should I mix it up more?

#1
"Do you always play the same openings?" -- Yes
"is it good for my overall chess?" -- Yes, it allows to accumulate experience
"Or should I mix it up more?" -- No, different openings distract you from playing better chess

#1 "Do you always play the same openings?" -- Yes "is it good for my overall chess?" -- Yes, it allows to accumulate experience "Or should I mix it up more?" -- No, different openings distract you from playing better chess

It depends on how you play:
Different openings can get you out of the comfort zone, and trick opponents when its a less known opening

Or they make you nervous, which wont help soo

Though its always good to know some theory for main openings

It depends on how you play: Different openings can get you out of the comfort zone, and trick opponents when its a less known opening Or they make you nervous, which wont help soo Though its always good to know some theory for main openings

#1
"Do you always play the same openings?" -- I do not. It depends on my mood and what kind of game it is.
"is it good for my overall chess?" -- Yes and no. Yes because you discover a line deeper, no because you miss many interesting possibilities/fun games.
"Or should I mix it up more?" -- It depends what you want to do in life.

#1 "Do you always play the same openings?" -- I do not. It depends on my mood and what kind of game it is. "is it good for my overall chess?" -- Yes and no. Yes because you discover a line deeper, no because you miss many interesting possibilities/fun games. "Or should I mix it up more?" -- It depends what you want to do in life.

@EwoudUtrecht
Especially in correspondence chess games against students and friends I like to vary as much as possible.
As white 1.e4 1.d4 1.c4 1.b3 and as black Caro-Kann,French,Alekhine,Sicilian,Scandinavian
Quite a few GMs play lots of openings (e.g. GM Timman did that years ago, and nowadays all top GMs do play Berlin, among other lines, they often try to play more than one opening, e.g. MVL and Giri do not always play Sicilian Najdorf).
By playing several openings as amateur chess player you might get fresh idea, and also get an idea which pawn structure positions you are good at and which not.

@EwoudUtrecht Especially in correspondence chess games against students and friends I like to vary as much as possible. As white 1.e4 1.d4 1.c4 1.b3 and as black Caro-Kann,French,Alekhine,Sicilian,Scandinavian Quite a few GMs play lots of openings (e.g. GM Timman did that years ago, and nowadays all top GMs do play Berlin, among other lines, they often try to play more than one opening, e.g. MVL and Giri do not always play Sicilian Najdorf). By playing several openings as amateur chess player you might get fresh idea, and also get an idea which pawn structure positions you are good at and which not.

I don't want to be any longer the professional idiot who knows 35 moves of theory within his narrow repertoire, but has never played an IQP, or an opposite-sides-castling position before.
I want to have an understanding of all structures, so I try to learn more different kinds of openings nowadays.

Ultimately, this allows for an entirely new type of strategy during the opening: Rather than blindly following some long learnt-by-heart line and hoping my opponent does not deviate at point x of subvariation y because I've last looked at that 6 months ago, I can start with a flexible setup and try to lure my opponent into a bad version of some structure that I understand...
It's also much more fun to win that way. :-)

I don't want to be any longer the professional idiot who knows 35 moves of theory within his narrow repertoire, but has never played an IQP, or an opposite-sides-castling position before. I want to have an understanding of all structures, so I try to learn more different kinds of openings nowadays. Ultimately, this allows for an entirely new type of strategy during the opening: Rather than blindly following some long learnt-by-heart line and hoping my opponent does not deviate at point x of subvariation y because I've last looked at that 6 months ago, I can start with a flexible setup and try to lure my opponent into a bad version of *some* structure that I understand... It's also much more fun to win that way. :-)

For Black I do the same opening most of the time

For Black I do the same opening most of the time

I change my Opening according to the opponent

I change my Opening according to the opponent

For white I do different opening

For white I do different opening

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