Hey guys, I was just wondering where someone like me who has very little experience with openings should start? I know some basic ideas like controlling the center, developing pieces quickly, ect.- but nothing formal. What are some basic openings I should work on and/or books I should read?
Thanks for any help.

When first starting out, I'd recommend sticking to the common classical openings - Giuoco Piano/Two Knights Defense as white, and as black, meet d4 with d5 and e4 with e5. Everyone should play the basics for a little while when they first start out.

Don't bother with opening books. If you're asking these types of questions, I'm assuming you're a beginner or low level intermediate, and that means your primary focus in improving should be tactics first, endgames second, and everything else can wait until you're good at those. Just learn the first 2 or 3 moves that define the openings and start playing.

The key is that you want to study your games afterwards to see how you could have played better, especially the losses. One aspect of that should be looking up the opening online to find out how a grandmaster would play it. Find out what the first move was that you or your opponent played differently from the main line, and the reason for the grandmaster move. This way, you'll learn the openings gradually, one move at a time, and they'll stick with you a lot better than trying to memorize a bunch of variations 10 moves deep from a book.

--Fromper

WOW! Thanks so much. That was exactly the answer I was hoping for. Tactics is what interests me the most so it's good to know I should be learning that first. Do you know if "Learning Chess Tactics" by John Nunn is a good place to start?

I don't know that particular book by Nunn. He's a well known writer with a pretty good reputation, but I don't know specifically what level that book is for. Some tactics books are intended for beginners, while others are better practice for higher level players.

Your best bet is probably to look it up on amazon.com and see what the user reviews there have to say.

--Fromper

Chandler's books on tactics "How to Beat Your Dad at Chess" and "Chess Tactics for Kids" are fantastic first books on tactics.

You know, I actually have to disagree with you on this one, Ronaldinho. I love "How to Beat Your Dad at Chess", despite the silly title, but I wouldn't call it a beginner's book. You need to learn the easy stuff like pins, forks, skewers, discovered attacks, etc first. Complex mating patterns like these come later.

--Fromper

Hrm. I think "Chess Tactics for Kids" covers that other material.

You may be right, though. I used to recommend Chernev and Reinfeld's "Winning Chess: How to See Three Moves Ahead" as a basic first-tactics book, but it's now out of print and hard to find, alas.

I would recommend, "Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess". It's an older book and uses the old style notation ...ie P-K4 instead of e4. It starts from the very basics and explains things in a way that are easy to understand. Amazon.com has it for about $6-$7.00

The John Nunn book is good, it explains each tactic from the basics, and then goes into complicated examples. Yes, chess tactics for kids is also great, I'd say a must-have even though it might look embarassing if someone sees you reading it.

Get any book that explains the Opening old or new.
Nunn books are new so you can start there.
Older revised books were by Fine (How to Play the Openings).
Znosko-Borovsky's book on the Opening.
Edward Lasker's "Chess Strategy".
There was a newer Batsford book How to Play the Openings but it is out of print.
You can go online
ChessOps - A Basic Chess Openings Guide
Chess Openings
Very good is
A Beginner's Garden of Chess Openings
More advanced is
Chess Openings / Chess Opening Analysis & Theory [Chessopolis > Chess Links]
Note that some of the old books are still available.
They may be dated but they explain everything you need to know.