@Ikonoclast said in #18:
> This can only be played if the opponent plays the Ruy Lopez and black follows the Morphy defence. There are too many other ways white can open in and out of king pawn games. It still presupposes a very large opening repertoire. This is fine for people who are willing to learn a lot of openings.
>
> Online, we (lower and intermediate players) face far more openings than was ever the case in OTB classical time limit days. Thus, each lower and intermediate player has to make a decision: specialise in a few sound and unusual openings or be (un)prepared to face everything under the sun. In my case, as an old adult near beginner again, I have finally chosen to play the Accelerated London as white, almost exclusively, and maybe the Pirc and/or Modern Scandinavian as black. The point is I am then maybe half a chance of knowing as much opening theory as my opponent. Such openings get many people out of book quickly.
>
> Is it tedious? Yes, it can be but not half so tedious to me as being trapped by the 1,000 cheap opening traps out there which a beginner cannot spot nor refute in 15 minutes or less. I found myself being totally confused and dispirited by the endless torrent and variety of openings and opening traps.
>
> I think there is time to slowly expand the opening repertoire as one improves. And if one simply can't improve for some reason, like me so far, then learning endless openings certainly won't help. At some point, if one plateaus early and remains stuck for a very long time, the day must come for a new pastime. It will be a blessing to not have wasted too much time on just memorising openings. I am not sure what "a very long time" is but if a plateau persists for a year despite all honest best efforts including at least 20 hrs serious chess study a week but not including games (also analysed), then further improvement is just not going to happen, ever. For me that would mean it was time to move on. In that case, learning a wide opening repertoire would not have changed the essential equation.
I have never been a fan of playing e5 against e4. I understand the history here and that it is undeniably rich, but I think it is completely impractical. Way too many dangerous little gambits white can play and too much to know.
As for you Ikonoclast, the rating gains slow drastically as you move up the ladder. People can go for years and not see any real gains... and often times when we are studying, we may not see that study turn into something tangible.
> This can only be played if the opponent plays the Ruy Lopez and black follows the Morphy defence. There are too many other ways white can open in and out of king pawn games. It still presupposes a very large opening repertoire. This is fine for people who are willing to learn a lot of openings.
>
> Online, we (lower and intermediate players) face far more openings than was ever the case in OTB classical time limit days. Thus, each lower and intermediate player has to make a decision: specialise in a few sound and unusual openings or be (un)prepared to face everything under the sun. In my case, as an old adult near beginner again, I have finally chosen to play the Accelerated London as white, almost exclusively, and maybe the Pirc and/or Modern Scandinavian as black. The point is I am then maybe half a chance of knowing as much opening theory as my opponent. Such openings get many people out of book quickly.
>
> Is it tedious? Yes, it can be but not half so tedious to me as being trapped by the 1,000 cheap opening traps out there which a beginner cannot spot nor refute in 15 minutes or less. I found myself being totally confused and dispirited by the endless torrent and variety of openings and opening traps.
>
> I think there is time to slowly expand the opening repertoire as one improves. And if one simply can't improve for some reason, like me so far, then learning endless openings certainly won't help. At some point, if one plateaus early and remains stuck for a very long time, the day must come for a new pastime. It will be a blessing to not have wasted too much time on just memorising openings. I am not sure what "a very long time" is but if a plateau persists for a year despite all honest best efforts including at least 20 hrs serious chess study a week but not including games (also analysed), then further improvement is just not going to happen, ever. For me that would mean it was time to move on. In that case, learning a wide opening repertoire would not have changed the essential equation.
I have never been a fan of playing e5 against e4. I understand the history here and that it is undeniably rich, but I think it is completely impractical. Way too many dangerous little gambits white can play and too much to know.
As for you Ikonoclast, the rating gains slow drastically as you move up the ladder. People can go for years and not see any real gains... and often times when we are studying, we may not see that study turn into something tangible.
