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@arsen1c Different openings are sound up to certain levels. The Budapest is probably sound up to ~ 2000 FIDE. Some entirely sound openings e.g. the London system can be dangerous for beginning players…

If you want fun, then 1.e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nxf7!? (Cochrane Gambit) Almost sound and lots of fun to play.

Don't play it myself, but an advantage of the French is that the losses are over quickly and if you get to the endgame then you are won. ;)

Given your rating, pretty much any opening is 'sound'. If you want something you can attack with, try the Budapest gambit? Many of the ideas are reasonably direct and not too hard to learn, and there …

@SlowDown_101 what has happened since March 2020 is almost unprecedented in chess history. If juniors play 2000 rapid play games in a year, they are developing praxis at a rate which was previously en…

I don’t know whether it’s unpopular or not, but this opinion is certainly (currently) true. After over a year of covid and various lockdowns there are many players, especially juniors, who have got a …

Monkey's Bum (1. e4 g6 2. Bc4 Bg7 3. Qf3!?) - etymology is 'If that works then I'm a monkey's bum'

It means its a 2-game match (as in the World Cup), and the player is 1-0 down from the first, and so *must* win the second game (especially with Black). At elite level, its hard to win with Black anyw…

The exchange of bishop and knight on f7 for rook and pawn (even though it 'looks' good as it is formally level on material and brings the King to f7) is almost always wrong. In the early middle game t…

If you're a kid, then you have a decent chance of getting there just through natural improvement. If you're an adult who is not new to the game, it will take a lot of work. Play slow, work on endgames…