Hello All!

Before I begin, some background

Although I never played chess seriously (i.e. competitively) I was okay

Anyhow after 8 years in the wilderness I decided to pick it up again (They have Chess on Windows Vista, bye bye solitaire!) So one thing led to another and all of a sudden I'm playing frequently on FICS

Now on topic to opennings,

Back when I was a wee lad (comparitively speaking, I'm only 17 now anyway)
I was taught, ALWAYS DO THIS NO MATTER WHAT!
(ignoring black)
e4,d4,nf3,nc3,bc4,bf4,O-O

anyhow turns out that doesnt work so well anymore

so I have adapted a bit more towards
e4,nf3,nc3,bc4,d3,bf4, O-O (or O-O-O if my opponent is being silly)

and, believe it or not, I've heard a rumour that as black 1. ... e5 isnt compulsory

so I've added a bit of a basic Sicillian to my repotoire

c5, nf6, then move pawns to get bishops out, then O-O

So, I will surmise my position, I'm not a beginner as such (my tactical play is still ok) but opennings have moved on a bit from when I played... (and even then my openning book had mildew on it - not a joke)

So in short I'm looking for a bit of an update explanation of how opennings work these days (and look I was never really that good at opennings anyway so if you could make simpler suggestions that would be helpful)

Thankyou very much!

Its good to be playing chess again!

Ah! I forgot to add, Babas chess puts the ECO codes down the bottom of the screen as you play, so when playing white it frequently shows
Kings Knight Oppening (Or Vienna Game - I think thats when i move the Queens Knight first)
then Two Knights game
then Three Knights game
and rarely Four Knights game (though all those only appear when the opponent mirrors me)

Also, as Black 1. d4 scares me!

actually even without reading much theory on opening, you can still win, just solves chess puzzles, study end games, study positional play, look at king indian defense , even if you have not play for long years, provided that your opponent is not a gm, im or nm, you can still beat your opponent, just follow the positional idea of KID , if your opponent decided to set up two center pawns, just have more piece activity at the kingside, attacking at the f and h file is a common occurences in kid

Unless you want to simply learn the basic ideas behind openings (alot of theory), I'd suggest picking up a repetoire book. I'd highly suggest one in e-book format. You should pick up an e4 opening book, as well as one for playing black. Black you'll have to learn more than one defense because you can run into just about anything. This is the quick fix.

Over time you'll need to start to learn the logic behind the moves so that you can handle people who don't play orthodox openings.

As ryan suggests, the King's Indian Defense is a solid repsonse to d4. But even the KID has its problems. I'm going to learn the Barry attack to deal with the KID. So the people who react to my d4 opening by going to the KID will have to know how to deal with the Barry! For every move, there is a counter. That's why they call it chess!

Becoming good at chess isn't going to happen over night. It will take years of growth. It takes time for things to sink in and understand the principles, then you've got a whole new layer of concepts to grapple with, understand and incorporate into what you've already learned.


So get those tactics books, get those books that will teach you proper chess strategy. You've got a ton of learning to do.

I would encourage you to experiment a little more aggresively with trying to build a big center:

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 and if ...Nf6 5.d4!

This will inject more dynamism into your play, and you'll learn a lot. Robotically playing Nc3 is a bad idea.

ryan_c, I'm not familiar with the KID perhaps you could give a little bit of a spiel on what sort of positions you're talking about. And dont worry, i wont be playing any gm,im,nm's anytime soon

Eladar, ah yes the struggle between white and black, new opennings new defences, new variations etc etc till hell freezes over, I'm working on getting a couple of ebooks of the net and any suggestions are welcome (though the students motto stays true; "cheap is good, free is better")
*Edit* just picked up a copy of John Emms "Attacking with 1e4" (Everyman Chess), is this the sort of book you had in mind?

Ronaldinho, duly noted, I see 5. d4 threatens the bishop and a pawn and controls the centre, if the opponent doesnt move his bishop (or take my pawn) I presume taking the material is a better move than to maintain the centre?

From what I've read about the book you picked up, it will definitely fit the bill. No need to go too far into the different lines, just get an idea about what direction you should go in the first few moves. The opening is just to get you into the middle game where tactics dominate.

As black I've found Nigel Davies' Play 1 e4 e5 helpful. I would say that 80% of the games that I play black my opponent opens with e4. I still don't know what to do if I get something other than 1.d4 or 1e4, but so few games open otherwise that I'm not too concerned with it right now.

If you like free, then you might want to read through this site. I found it very useful when I started playing last year, but you probably know more about chess than I did. I didn't even know what a pin, fork or skewer is.

Chess Tactics Explained in English: A Complete Tutorial.

Absolutely take the material if you get the chance, but don't expect your opponents to give you the chance. If you're asking questions like this, then you should be starting with the absolute basics in chess study - "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Chess" by Patrick Wolff. When given the opportunity to win material, always take the material unless you see a REALLY compelling reason not to.

--Fromper

Touche (I think the reference to the idiots guide to chess was a little harsh )

Thanks Fromper, this is my first foray into studying openning theory and perhaps I misinterpreted the intro to the oppening books im reading it struck me as odd how much he promoted centre control above all else, hence my question. Any other period in the game I'd take the material, Im just tenderfooting a bit whilst learning this phase

thanks for the sound advice (and the appropriate clip round the ear) are you sure youre not a teacher by profession?

I didn't mean to sound harsh. That really was a legitimate book recommendation. The Complete Idiot's Guide is the most common recommendation by serious chess coaches for students who are starting to study chess from books for the first time. Besides covering the rules of the game, it goes into the basics of strategy, tactics, some history about the game, etc. Given that you were asking if you should take a bishop for a pawn when given the chance, it sounded like you might still need that type of basic book. I really was trying to be helpful, not judgmental.

--Fromper