Hello guys, I don't know how many of you have this problem but, my moves as White tends to be very predictable that my 2 of my chess buddies tend to use the same trick against me (otherwise they lose).

To be more specific, it's the fact that I'm an obsessive 1. e4 player. Furthermore, my SECOND move is also very predictable. I usually develop either my Knight to f3 or my Bishop to c4 (although the Knight is normally deployed). After that i ALWAYS castle kingside.

Knowing all this, they would develop to the kingside and castle queenside (they just castle there so i can't attack them as easily). Well i usually can win with reasonable play but it annoys me sometimes the fact that they can keep assaulting me.

And no, they don't know opening/middlegame/endgame theories whatsoever.

So is it really a big problem? Should I be less predictable by developing towards the centre and then castling queenside?

You can try different openings instead. I'd stick to 1. e4 as a low level player, and usually castling king side, but if you play something more aggressive like a gambit, they won't have time to attack you so quickly.

--Fromper

With rapid development, you should be able to punish them for castling queenside by rote. Targetting f7 and a7, you should be able to give them trouble. Not that queenside castling is bad, but, it's slower than kingside castling.

We could give you more specific advice if you posted a game. Throwing out the opening you want to play - when it's clearly NOT wrong - because of your opponent's beatable choice is reactive and weak.