Hi to all. To start out. I am bad at Chess. I am trying to improve as we all are and I have kind of hamstrung/tripped myself up over the last year by allowing myself to fall down an "openings" Rabbit hole. I am sure I will not be the first or the last to do this.
Lets face it though, Openings all sound cool, the books sell be it in print or via Youtube views and because of this, any time studying chess online will bring us face to face with a "check out this" suggestion.
At my level and possibly until I die I need to be focused on Tactics/Strategy and Endgames. I am 44, a late returner to Chess, ie aspirations for titles would be wasted, I just play for leisure but playing better at my local club (when all this covid nonsense does one) would be awesome. I had only started going to it about 3 months before all this kicked off.
I am basically asking advice on how to just play without giving three figs about openings. Somebody I know suggested just playing the Colle/London as White and Hippo as black but I am sure that the collective here can come up with something better.
Thanks for any thoughts.
@TheEighthRank Wait.. you don't want to "give three figs" about openings but you are asking expand your opening repertoire? 😄 What's wrong with the Colle and London systems? If you are looking for more variety without "falling down an openings rabbit hole", you might consider focusing on opening principles instead of opening lines. Maybe check out "My System" by Aron Nimzowitsch. He emphasizes principles over repertoire so you can be more flexible when playing a wider variety of opponents.
Actually, Colle and London fit what I am after pretty well. Nothing wrong with them at all. What would you advise for Black? And many thanks for the book link.
@TheEighthRank The Hippo is a fine opening but it might limit you over time. Nimzowitsch's book covers principles for both black and white so no need to learn a specific black opening. If you're asking me personally, just keep in mind that I'm in a similar boat as you.. so take my words with a grain of salt. I think the Caro Kann is an interesting choice for black because it doesn't require too much time investment to get started and it's possible to play at higher levels as well.
@clutchnutz Caro/Slav has been my thought too. Think you are right. Silman suggested it as a combo in my strategy book.
There are some great youtube videos on the Caro Kann.
Just look at classic games. Try to figure out if the played moves look logical to you - if you rhink, in a half year or so you could be able to find the moves and plans by yourself - or if you see some kind of magic in action, thatz you think you will never unterstand. Then look at the openings you think that is more likely that you understand them. Try to play this opnings and see what happens.
Playing the hippo as black is a bad idea for sure if you are a beginner. Really no serious prob for stronger players to beat you.
Study some games, some plans and look which openings are easier to understand for you. Play the openings that suits you best. And change them if you feel that with your growing strength your taste has changed.
There is no general advice, finding your opening is something that you have to do yourself. If you play "other people openings" then you waste a bit of your potential and more important - you spoil your fun. Never spoil your fun. Do what suits you best when choosing your openings an give a damn what other people think about your choice - as long as you have fun with your opening. If you are in doubt if your openings are still the best for you then listen closely what other people think.
Colle, London, Hippo are fine.
Main principles on how to play openings are in
"My System" - Aaron Nimzovich
"Chess Fundamentals" - Capablanca
"Common Sense in Chess" - Lasker
The latter proposes 4 easy rules to play openings
1) Play only your e- and d-pawns
2) Develop knights before bishops
3) Do not move the same piece twice
4) Do not pin knights with bishops
www.chessable.com/chess-openings/all/all/free/t/@TheEighthRank Please consider joining up to chessable and buy some free courses there.They are helpful. I have an acc- attackingdude there.It helped me a lot.
I second the advice of royalblue04 in #7. Study games and try to figure out why they played what they did. Then, play long time controls and just make sure to spend some time in the opening actually considering your moves. After the games - especially after your losses - figure out what you did wrong and what you did right, perhaps by using the opening book function here on lichess. Having trouble remembering it all? Write it down, or keep key games in a lichess study and type up your thoughts. Pretty quickly, you'll start to see progress.