How useful is it to study more than one opening? • page 1/3 • General Chess Discussion • lichess.org

I often see people knowing a lot of openings and knowing their theory and stuff like that.
is it really useful?
I mean all I know is exactly one opening for white and some responses to black (mostly g6, as it does not require a lot of theory).

How often do you actually use all your opening knowledge?

The reason why I do not exactly know most of the opening part was because I had no time to learn these. I just sticked with e4 for white and mostly d5 as black.

But now that I am trying to be good, I realized there are a lot of variations in e4 games, many of whom I never learnt.
I think learning the theory of an opening is a lot of work and time. Thus, I want to ask how necessary it is to learn a lot of openings. I can think of a couple of benefits such as knowing what plans may work for a certain situation I have, but did you experience a lot of change through learning an opening?

I often see people knowing a lot of openings and knowing their theory and stuff like that. is it really useful? I mean all I know is exactly one opening for white and some responses to black (mostly g6, as it does not require a lot of theory). How often do you actually use all your opening knowledge? The reason why I do not exactly know most of the opening part was because I had no time to learn these. I just sticked with e4 for white and mostly d5 as black. But now that I am trying to be good, I realized there are a lot of variations in e4 games, many of whom I never learnt. I think learning the theory of an opening is a lot of work and time. Thus, I want to ask how necessary it is to learn a lot of openings. I can think of a couple of benefits such as knowing what plans may work for a certain situation I have, but did you experience a lot of change through learning an opening?

ryan121

#2

Playing many openings add Variety which makes chess more Fun. At U2100 lichess, it's not important to learn opening theory after 10 moves. If you learn the first 10 moves, that saves Time... leaving plenty of time to think during the middle game.

Chesswinnerhopefully

#3

As a 2150 player, I think that extensively studying theory in the openings you play most (for example, I play the English as white) is pretty important. Perhaps not 25 moves in 30 different lines, but at least, say, 15 moves in the top 5 most common lines. I hope this helps!

ryan121

#4

If you have no time to spare to study openings and other aspects of chess, study it during school breaks. You can study an Openingss Manual like Fundamental Chess Opening for the opening of your choice.

absicht_MAUERzuBAUEN edited

#5

@ryan121 said in #2:

Playing many openings add Variety which makes chess more Fun. At U2100 lichess, it's not important to learn opening theory after 10 moves. If you learn the first 10 moves, that saves Time... leaving plenty of time to think during the middle game.

Yes, in lichess with all the bullet stuff. But I mean in actual life with more than just 5 minutes of time.
Does it really help your playingstrengh to study many different openings?

@Chesswinnerhopefully said in #3:

As a 2150 player, I think that extensively studying theory in the openings you play most (for example, I play the English as white) is pretty important. Perhaps not 25 moves in 30 different lines, but at least, say, 15 moves in the top 5 most common lines. I hope this helps!
Oh. Then I need to learn a lot more. I often have to think about what to play in the 3th or 4th move already.
But is it really a problem for playing games if you have to think about what to play in the second move?
Btw, that is probably the reason why my rating is the way it is. I especially suffer from everything below 10+5.
@ryan121 said in #4:
If you have no time to spare to study openings and other aspects of chess, study it during school breaks. You can study an Openingss Manual like Fundamental Chess Opening for the opening of your choice.
Thanks, but that is not what I meant. I actually only attempted it to be a side note, but a pretty summarized way to say what I mean and why I have this problem is I leant the whole stuff usually learnt in about seven years within two. So I skipped a few details.
I have enough time to focus on them now, which is why I wrote this post about openings.

@ryan121 said in #2: > Playing many openings add Variety which makes chess more Fun. At U2100 lichess, it's not important to learn opening theory after 10 moves. If you learn the first 10 moves, that saves Time... leaving plenty of time to think during the middle game. Yes, in lichess with all the bullet stuff. But I mean in actual life with more than just 5 minutes of time. Does it really help your playingstrengh to study many different openings? @Chesswinnerhopefully said in #3: > As a 2150 player, I think that extensively studying theory in the openings you play most (for example, I play the English as white) is pretty important. Perhaps not 25 moves in 30 different lines, but at least, say, 15 moves in the top 5 most common lines. I hope this helps! Oh. Then I need to learn a lot more. I often have to think about what to play in the 3th or 4th move already. But is it really a problem for playing games if you have to think about what to play in the second move? Btw, that is probably the reason why my rating is the way it is. I especially suffer from everything below 10+5. @ryan121 said in #4: > If you have no time to spare to study openings and other aspects of chess, study it during school breaks. You can study an Openingss Manual like Fundamental Chess Opening for the opening of your choice. Thanks, but that is not what I meant. I actually only attempted it to be a side note, but a pretty summarized way to say what I mean and why I have this problem is I leant the whole stuff usually learnt in about seven years within two. So I skipped a few details. I have enough time to focus on them now, which is why I wrote this post about openings.

CaroKatze

#6

I find that playing different openings and studying them somewhat deeply gives you a lot of insight into how different middle games imbalances play out! At least it has been my experience that "breakthroughs" in skill came from purposefully playing new openings that forced me to understand chess from a different perspective.

The objective advantage on move 12 is not really important for online chess, but the knowledge and experience from engaging with different positions just makes you a more well rounded player in the long run. It all depends on what your goals are though, no reason to change if you are just playing for fun and your openings provide that :)

I find that playing different openings and studying them somewhat deeply gives you a lot of insight into how different middle games imbalances play out! At least it has been my experience that "breakthroughs" in skill came from purposefully playing new openings that forced me to understand chess from a different perspective. The objective advantage on move 12 is not really important for online chess, but the knowledge and experience from engaging with different positions just makes you a more well rounded player in the long run. It all depends on what your goals are though, no reason to change if you are just playing for fun and your openings provide that :)

#7

Puredication

#8

Instead of studying openings specifically, I look for general principles to follow. This way, people can play anything against me and I can come up with moves. In openings, for example, developing a piece is almost always good.

If someone plays e4 b6 d4 Bb7 then instead of trying to study and remember the response, I'd think "I need to defend e4, so I'll play Nc3 to also develop a knight or Bd3 to also develop a bishop." This way of thinking comes naturally with practice and doesn't require much preparation to use.

Granted, opening enthusiasts may dislike my way of doing things so it comes down to what you enjoy (some people enjoy intensively studying lines but I prefer the thinking part of chess). Hope this helps!

Instead of studying openings specifically, I look for general principles to follow. This way, people can play anything against me and I can come up with moves. In openings, for example, developing a piece is almost always good. If someone plays e4 b6 d4 Bb7 then instead of trying to study and remember the response, I'd think "I need to defend e4, so I'll play Nc3 to also develop a knight or Bd3 to also develop a bishop." This way of thinking comes naturally with practice and doesn't require much preparation to use. Granted, opening enthusiasts may dislike my way of doing things so it comes down to what you enjoy (some people enjoy intensively studying lines but I prefer the thinking part of chess). Hope this helps!

SupremePatzer edited

#9

At your current level, have a basic repertoire as white and as black. Key word being BASIC. Learn some common lines of these openings and more importantly the IDEAS and common plans for the middlegame. When approaching the study of openings, remember that ideas > moves.
This will give you a solid repertoire without the need to spend endless time memorizing meaningless lines like a lot of people do.
Other than this, focus on core chess principles which will allow you to play strong moves in any given position, regardless of opening preparation, simply due to your deep rooted understanding of the game.

At your current level, have a basic repertoire as white and as black. Key word being BASIC. Learn some common lines of these openings and more importantly the IDEAS and common plans for the middlegame. When approaching the study of openings, remember that ideas > moves. This will give you a solid repertoire without the need to spend endless time memorizing meaningless lines like a lot of people do. Other than this, focus on core chess principles which will allow you to play strong moves in any given position, regardless of opening preparation, simply due to your deep rooted understanding of the game.

ryan121

#10

@absicht_MAUERzuBAUEN
If you open with e4, black can reply with e5, e6, c5, c6, etc. You can apply Basic Opening Principles but after move 3, you start thinking like it's already middle game. As intermediate players, stick to e4 or d4 as white.

@absicht_MAUERzuBAUEN If you open with e4, black can reply with e5, e6, c5, c6, etc. You can apply Basic Opening Principles but after move 3, you start thinking like it's already middle game. As intermediate players, stick to e4 or d4 as white.