Hi guys,

Where openings are concerned, would you agree that these are the three basics to follow...

- Effective and rapid development
- Adequate control of the center/centre
- Permananent validity regardless of fluctuations in theory

I have picked these three up from 2 different books I am reading, just wondered what your thoughts are- are there set parameters that an opening can be put against?

I'm a firm believer in proper Pawn developement. It's so underestimated; the value of Pawn moves. So, for me, c4(white) or c5(black) before Knight to C3(White) or Knight to C6 (black) is MUCH preferred.

It depends at which level and which type of events one plays.
At GM level, reliability is a must, and lately there was a resurgence of supremacy of the side with space advantage, sometimes even sacrificing development to ensure long term advantage, even in endgames.

At 2500+, opening does matter. Without proper knowledge, it is impossible to play aggressive positions that are also reliable: if you do not want to study thorough opening theory, but still you want to play sharp, then you are forced to look for sharp sidelines, but much less reliable. And after a couple of games the surprise effect is gone, people will prepare specially for your sideline, and you'll have wasted time in preparing some funny line only for a game or two.

at <2300, one can play virtually any opening that is not trash.
E.g., even if the Albin Countergambit is a huge gamble at 2600+, at 2200 is just about as effective as any other opening.

Also, solidity is a big virtue in Round robin events with small number of players (4-8) and in individual matches.
In an Open tourney, you gotta win a lot of games if you aim to a good placement, hence the need to play unbalancing positions.

What do I look for in an opening ?
I like to put pressure on my opponent, and especially I like when I can grab a long term advantage (structural or material) so that he has to demonstrate very quickly that he has something, otherwise he'll be struggling.
Psychologically it's a huge pressure to put on opponents

From the theoretical perspective, I prefer to have at least one option rather stable, so that I do not have to keep updated every week or so.

I think this is a great point Chamaco, if you are able to put your opponent on the back foot from your opening I think it can have a profound psychological effect for the rest of the game. For a relatively inexperienced player like myself I have to be very conscious of not falling into a negative vibe if I am put out by my opponents opening in anyway.