I've noticed a trend where I enjoy exploring random opening lines, even if they're not necessarily the best ones. Recently I've even come to realize that I enjoy studying only openings more than actually playing full games.
Is there a term for a subcategory of "players" who focus purely on the opening? Do any of you guys experience something similar, possibly with other stages of the game?
(P.S. What are some openings that you think would be interesting for someone around 1400 to study extensively?)
Even if such a term "exists" somewhere to some capacity, I would do a double take if it were ever used. The first two sentences of your post are enough of a "term".
Plenty of openings can be of interest to study, but keep in mind that engines are less helpful for opening study. In particular, an engine will not tell you how easy or how difficult a position is to play. You may have to guess at an evaluation and then check your guess by playing a game.
Besides main line openings, which should be essentially a given in terms of being useful to study, you may also look at things like 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d5?! or 1. d4 e5?! or 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 d5?!, which are some of the more brazenly direct ways for Black to question the notion of White's opening advantage.
Openings like these you will probably not see in tournament games or even really online, but of course that's not the purpose of studying those openings. The purpose of studying these "subpar" openings is that they can be interesting to look at, as you already know.
From a technical point of view the complexity of the sicilian or the spanish is interesting to work. But when we are 1400-rated (and i am) every classical opening is good to study
Do you realize how BS your initial question is itself????
Just the words 'expert' and '1400 player' itself is a contradition. You may be better in openings then otehr players of your strenght, but calling yourself any close to an expert is an insult to anyone who is somekind of a real expert.
How long do you spent time for chess? 2h/day? No?! since this is the time real experts do. And if you spent 2h/day only for openings, well then you might be.
In your case I see it as like you are a beginner. That means you can improve openings, engames, technique, positional understanding, time management,.... And well, while all of beginners naturally suck in everything, you suck less in openings than in other of your chess skills. E.g.
-Endgames: bad
-Positional play: bad
-... :bad
-openings: mediocre
You can improve in the openings, since if you would be an opening expert you would have way more then 1400. 2000 at least. Just to pinpoint: Imagine calling yourself an expert when 50% of the players on this site have the same opening knowledge (e.g. all the guys who have mediocre skills overall)! Don't you realize how ridicoulus that is? Therefore your question is the biggest insult, sicne the attitude behind it is pure disrespect for the guys who are such.
And this is the answer for your 2nd question. Since you probably lack EVERYTHING it does not matter which opening you study. Since without knowing your potential you will suck/succeed with all of them equally. And if you happen to find an opening you dont understand (since it requires more than jsut memorization to be able to play it), then you don't lack opening skills but general chess understanding. In short, learn middle and endgames to succeed in openings kid
You can use the opening study as a main trunk to guide your chess study. Pick a opening repertoire and based in it your chess study:
(I cited element without order)
a) Various sequences of first moves - opening knowledge
b) The main idea of the opening - strategy and opening
c) The main pawn structures of the openings and related plans (strategy)
d) The typical traps in the openings of the repertoire - tactics, opening
e) The typical tactical themes in this opening (tactics)
f) The typical sacrifice in this openings (tactics)
g) Typical positions of the pieces in this openings – positional, strategy
h) Typical middlegames plans in this openings – Strategy
I) Typical endgames in this openings – endgames
etc
@Strategymaster Where exactly did
@Hatterix claim to be an opening expert? I don't believe he used the term "technician" with the intent to claim to be an expert, only to ask if there is a term for players who "focus only on the opening."
@Strategymaster Sorry if I offended you somehow by not really enjoying full games in favor of only the openings. Never did I claim to be an "expert," and the term Opening Technician is mostly just a play on the phrase Card Technician. Of course (most) mainlines are interesting, I was not asking how to become an expert only by playing the opening, I was only asking if anyone else felt the same way.
@nopunchman Thanks for the suggestions! As said above I wasn't trying to coin any terms or anything, I just thought it sounded about right.
@JM3000 Neat list. I hadn't thought to look at how the opening evolves into later stages of the game, I'll try that a bit.
Take a look at the chess career of Ernst Franz Grunfeld... He may be your kindred spirit... I believe that he was considered to be an openings expert. / Cool openings: The Bird; the Ritcher-Veresov attack; the Leningrad Dutch; Kan sicilian; Franco-Nimzowich defense.... the Gruenfeld.
Have you noticed how the Lichess atmosphere has deteriorated to the point where we see an IM being rude to a non-threatening player ?
"Have you noticed how the Lichess atmosphere has deteriorated to the point where we see an IM being rude to a non-threatening player ?"
@A-Cielbleu Noted. But I don't know if its the atmosphere itself. People are people, regardless of what interface or platform. Lichess is an excellent platform/community. Let's just hope people are less harsh at others when exerting their opinions (regardless of what playing strength) :)