Chess Openings
 

I started to get into chess a couple years ago but haven't played much since. Just lately have I regained a little interest in the subject. As white, I usually open with the queen's pawn, though eventually, I'd like to get better at a king's pawn opening. One of the main reasons I don't play E4 is because I don't like to see black use the Sicilian Defense, which is my main defense against E4. I like to play Indian defenses against E5.

I'm sure some of you play chess. What openings do you use?

Re: Chess Openings
 

I played 1.e4 almost exclusively, and took great pleasure in facing the sicilian. Its such a showdown opening that if you enter it, you know you'll probably have an exciting game. With black I dabbled in various sicilians as well, and against 1.d4 I often played the SemiSlav.

Basically, my goal in all openings was to obtain an unbalanced position that would give both players a chance to play and try to win.

Re: Chess Openings
 

I changed my openings as black every year while I was playing actively. As white, I always played 1 e4.

For somebody just starting the game, I reccomend Petroff's defense as black. 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6. It creates a structure for black in which he's able to actively develop both his knights and both his bishops. The ability to use all four of you minor pieces is good for learning the game.

However, most masters who teach would reccomend you defend via 1 e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6. Against 1 d4, they would reccomend 1...d5.

Re: Chess Openings
 

I always played E4 because I prefer a less open game, which is what you usually get with D4. I always liked the Roy Lopez if black pushes to E5.

Dang French defense always game me fits though as I hated defending the backwards pawn you often get on D4.

Re: Chess Openings
 

Just one thing... I said I like to play Indian defenses against E5... that makes no sense. I meant against 1. D4 which some of you probably realized.

Re: Chess Openings
 

Like as White: open lines, Vienna, Ruy Lopez

Like as Black: French, Petroff, Dutch Stonewall

Dislike: the tedium of fianchetto openings, either side.


One opening I really enjoy against some Sicilians is based on an idea of the late Jacob Yuchtman:

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.b4 cb 4.d4 d5 5.ed Qxd5 6.c4 bc 7.Nxc3 Qa5 8.d5 QxN 9.Bd2 Qf3 10.dxN Qxc6 11. Rc1 Q moves 12. Bc4

White then castles, plays Re1, and if he wishes to be especially daring, may try to prevent Black's castling with Ng5 followed by Nxf7. If Black appears determined to castle ASAP, White may elect this sac before even playing Re1. This sac is not mandatory in order for White to have attacking lines.

There are many variations in this gambit and like all gambits it is probably unsound, but with this one you can get a lot of bang for your buck, especially as it is relatively uncommon. If Black slips up earlier he can get hurt rather quickly, although Black does have some options earlier as well. It seems to me that White gets more of a lead in development and better open lines in this gambit as compared to many other gambits.

Re: Chess Openings
 

no one likes king indians?

benko defense is where it's at.

Re: Chess Openings
 

"no one likes king indians?"

Don't play girlie chess.

Re: Chess Openings
 

flipped between english and e4, I pretty much play 34 solely for the evans gambit anymore. As far as fun sicilian lines to try, go for 3 Bd3 or c3 and see if you like those positions. As far as black vs d4, something in the QID system is my general play, often with f5 thrown in for good measure.

Re: Chess Openings
 

Picking opening systems should depend on the style you like to play. If you like tactics, open games -- e4 with white and various Sicilians against e4 and Gruenfeld against d4 as black. If you like closed positions c4 or d4 (which gives you more of a semi-open position)with white and Ruy Lopez, Pirc or Petrov against e4 and King's Indian (which can get highly tactical), Dutch or Slav (Botvinik variation can get very tactical too).

Picking a favorite player and going with his openings isn't too bad either. I started with Fischer's openings (e4 as white, Najdorf and King's Indian and Gruenfeld as black). Then I realized that these openings require a lot of memorization and time studying. I liked studying other aspects of the game (middle game and ending) and time constraints convinced me to switch to openings that didn't require as much work -- English as white and a Pirc-King's Indian system as black. So, a second consideration is how much time you want to spend studying the opening. Generally, the sharper the opening, the more time you have to spend on it -- e4 requires more study than d4, c4 or other irregular openings.

Finally, you want an opening that you can force your opponent into. It does no good spending all your time studying the King's Gambit if your opponent plays c5 in response to e4. Openings that early on in the game force play into those particular systems include as white the Trompowsky (sp?), English, b3 systems, and as black against e4 the Sicilian, Pirc, Alekhine's Opening, Petrov, Center-Counter and against d4 the Gruenfeld, King's Indian, Benko, Benoni and Slav.

There are also chess books that give you opening systems to cover most of what you can expect to play against as white and black. To find the better opening systems books look at the reviews on Chess Cafe's website (the twoplustwo website of chess). Also stay away from any chess books written by Raymond Keene. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]