Are playing lots of different opening good for long term improvement? i have had lots of mixed opinion regarding this few say fixed opening repoirtre are best and few say diversity is important for development .
<Comment deleted by user>
Playing a nearow repertoire will give you more experience in less time.
If you play healthy openings, that offer a rich variety of pawn structures, you also get enough deversity in my opinion.
If you play healthy openings, that offer a rich variety of pawn structures, you also get enough deversity in my opinion.
This is a loaded question actually... There is no good answer as again, all players are different just like all openings are different. Its not like "Do puzzles" where the answer is good for any beginner/intermediate or even advanced player (as tactics is just a massive part of the game so practicing it as much as possible is always good for anyone).
Openings however is tricky. My thoughts are if you are a total beginner then yes, stick to something super simple like Italian (e4 e5 Nf3 followed by Bc4, 0-0 and play some chess (basically same principle with black). however after about 3 to 6 months and you have learned quite a bit about tactics and some basic midddlegame stuff (like where pieces like to be etc) then I would suggest you start opening up your repertoire to include some gambits (because gambits teach you to attack and use them tactics you know now a lot more often) and just generally start experimenting in order to find what you like and dont like.
NOTE: you are going to have mixed results and you have to understand that this is just part of growing pain process. The key is to focus on experience gain and not just results! AND AGAIN, this approach is general and will not fit all people and nor should it!!!
Openings however is tricky. My thoughts are if you are a total beginner then yes, stick to something super simple like Italian (e4 e5 Nf3 followed by Bc4, 0-0 and play some chess (basically same principle with black). however after about 3 to 6 months and you have learned quite a bit about tactics and some basic midddlegame stuff (like where pieces like to be etc) then I would suggest you start opening up your repertoire to include some gambits (because gambits teach you to attack and use them tactics you know now a lot more often) and just generally start experimenting in order to find what you like and dont like.
NOTE: you are going to have mixed results and you have to understand that this is just part of growing pain process. The key is to focus on experience gain and not just results! AND AGAIN, this approach is general and will not fit all people and nor should it!!!
Just like any part of the game, you can use your openings to train yourself to be a stronger player. Be deliberate in your choices. If you choose to play the french defense for a while to get familiar with a closed center of pawns, then do that. If you then decide that you need more work with an open center and go to a Scandinavian or whatever, fine. Eventually, you'll want to settle in on some openings that you can go deep with and learn middle game and endgame ideas if you plan to progress out of the club level. Experimentation and curiosity are helpful in the learning process, so experiment and be curious. If you want more than general direction? You'll have to hire lonerdruid. He's excellent. ;)
- this is not a paid advertisement (though I am open to sponsorships @lonerdruid).
- this is not a paid advertisement (though I am open to sponsorships @lonerdruid).
lol... I'll take it :)
But yes, you have to experiment to find out what you like. And eventually you have to be well versed in many different openings :)
But yes, you have to experiment to find out what you like. And eventually you have to be well versed in many different openings :)
Bobby Fischer was famously tied to a few openings and only began to branch out later on. Presumably he did pretty well at that...
@Ben10Tenyson said in #1:
> Are playing lots of different opening good for long term improvement? i have had lots of mixed opinion regarding this few say fixed opening repoirtre are best and few say diversity is important for development .
I have no idea but I would say my own experience is probably typical.
I started out playing certain openings and realized they just didn't feel right for me...then experimented with others and finally found a repertoire that suits my talents.
It just takes time to learn what your talents are.
I am very comfortable with my current repertoire...but it is customized to me. It isn't for everyone. And that is fine.
But I am also a creature of habit and now that I have found my niche I just always play the exact same thing.
But you have to be a lot better than a beginner to even know what sort of stuff you are good at.
Like I have always been a very accurate and deep calculator...and I am quite good at endgames. I think those things go together, really.
But closed positions were always a bit mysterious to me. I simply have never developed an instinct on how to play a closed position unlike most of the other strong players that I see. I just see far too many candidate moves.
So ok I have a repertoire now where I almost always get an open or semi open game and the ONLY possible closed game I get is the white side of a saemish kid which I can approach in a very concrete way.
> Are playing lots of different opening good for long term improvement? i have had lots of mixed opinion regarding this few say fixed opening repoirtre are best and few say diversity is important for development .
I have no idea but I would say my own experience is probably typical.
I started out playing certain openings and realized they just didn't feel right for me...then experimented with others and finally found a repertoire that suits my talents.
It just takes time to learn what your talents are.
I am very comfortable with my current repertoire...but it is customized to me. It isn't for everyone. And that is fine.
But I am also a creature of habit and now that I have found my niche I just always play the exact same thing.
But you have to be a lot better than a beginner to even know what sort of stuff you are good at.
Like I have always been a very accurate and deep calculator...and I am quite good at endgames. I think those things go together, really.
But closed positions were always a bit mysterious to me. I simply have never developed an instinct on how to play a closed position unlike most of the other strong players that I see. I just see far too many candidate moves.
So ok I have a repertoire now where I almost always get an open or semi open game and the ONLY possible closed game I get is the white side of a saemish kid which I can approach in a very concrete way.
@Ben10Tenyson said in #1:
> Are playing lots of different opening good for long term improvement? i have had lots of mixed opinion regarding this few say fixed opening repoirtre are best and few say diversity is important for development .
I've also heard mixed opinions about this and don't know what the right answer is - in practice I doubt that anyone's got more than anecdotal evidence either way.
One thing that I would say is that when I hear people who seem to know what they're talking about saying that it's good for you to learn and play a wide range of openings, they generally seem to mean "learn" in the sense of "study some master games and then play and analyze a bunch of practice games" rather than "get the Chessable Lifetime Repertoire and spend the next three months memorizing it".
> Are playing lots of different opening good for long term improvement? i have had lots of mixed opinion regarding this few say fixed opening repoirtre are best and few say diversity is important for development .
I've also heard mixed opinions about this and don't know what the right answer is - in practice I doubt that anyone's got more than anecdotal evidence either way.
One thing that I would say is that when I hear people who seem to know what they're talking about saying that it's good for you to learn and play a wide range of openings, they generally seem to mean "learn" in the sense of "study some master games and then play and analyze a bunch of practice games" rather than "get the Chessable Lifetime Repertoire and spend the next three months memorizing it".
This topic has been archived and can no longer be replied to.