Can one get by with concentrated knowlege of just a few opening for Black & White? I fully understand control of the center squares and rapid development. I do satisfactory once I am into the late middle game and ending, but getting there is my major weekness. I have a fair amount of books on opening , but never really can get into setting up and resetting up positions, makes me fall asleep. Now that we have computers, can anyone recommend some very good openings DVDs? I find the learning experience so much more enjoyable and would appreciate any suggestions! Bob
The short answer is “sorry, no.”
There is a wonderful book, however, that is capable of doing wonders for those who don’t have time to study openings: Larry Kaufman’s The Chess Advantage in Black & White. It’s dated (about seven years old), but most of the lines are still relevant. Kaufman’s philosophy: if the best move is only microscopically better than the second-best move, and one can master the theory behind the second-best move quickly, then the second-best move may be the best move for amateurs! He does not shy away from critical theory, but doesn’t seek it out, either.
I used this book to prepare the Berlin Defense for the HB Global. My round 1 pairing: Black against Larry Kaufman. (He played a line not in the book: here we draw the curtain.)
I have to respectfully disagree with the first reply. There are tons of videos on openings these days, and many of them are good enough to prepare an amateur player to begin playing an opening. You’ll still want the latest and greatest book on the same opening to look up details as they come up in your games (you do study your games after playing them, right?), but the DVD’s are a great way to get you started with a new opening.
My favorite DVD is “Killer Dutch” by GM Simon Williams. If you want to start playing the Classical variation of the Dutch, this is a great way to get started. Besides giving you a good introduction to the opening, this DVD also has the latest and greatest theoretical details, as there aren’t that many books on the opening, and Williams used the DVD to update some of the theory from his own 7 year old book on it.
I also have a couple of the Foxy Openings DVD’s, and they’re all pretty good, but maybe a little superficial in their analysis of some of the most critical lines. Again, you’ll want to back them up with a book on the same opening, to look up details.
But I also tend to learn easier from videos than books, and I think below master level, these videos are a great starting point for learning a new opening.
Why do you think your opening knowledge is your problem? Unless you’re rated about 1800 and are wanting to break 2000, I seriously doubt that the lack of opening knowledge is your major problem. As a chess coach, I spend many hours analyzing my students games. Their problems rarely stem from lack of opening knowledge, their most serious problem is overlooking tactical ideas in the early phase of the game. I often show my students an inverted pyramid with four sections, which are: (1) Play tournament (or simulated tournament) chess (at least G/60 or longer, clock and keeping score); (2) Study tactics;
(3) Analyze your games with someone stronger; (4) Study openings & endings. You should then spend most of your time with 1 (the base of the pyramid, inverted so to be at the top); and the least of your time with 4 (the tip of the pyramid, inverted so to be at the bottom).
Steven Craig Miller
Thank you everyone that replyed. Some very good points I learned, just maybe it is not the openings, but I do have a hard time remembering how an opening line goes once pass the 6th or 7th move, especially if my opponent plays should I say a goofy response, not a bad move but one that is off line.
Now that I am retired, I do have time to enjoy this fascinating game, but then my dogs are also buying for my time! lol I am not sure what level I am, have not played in a sanctioned tournament in 35 years. I think I had a 1500+ rating?? I did join “chess magnet school”, I am almost at 1300, I have sloved 370 problems and missed 20. Especially when I am having a cold beer at the end of the day, it is very enjoyable, entertaining, that why I am seeking out computer programs.
I see where USCF has computer programs I am very interested in wondering, any suggestions, any thoughts on rybka 4 Extreme, deep fritz or Chess Tactics Art 4.0? I still have a Chess voice challenger which I had upgraded to champion/elite. I beat it at the three level the other day and was shocked, I think chess magnet school had alot to do with that win.
I played black and I treated each move like it was a puzzle, I played the opening blow for blow quite well, and was able to get into the late middle game and felt better. But I took me way too much time on the earlly moves that in a real game I wasted much time on the best earlly moves, for sure!
Any help and suggestions is greatly appreciated, I know there are a lot of by far smarter chess players here and I am honored to be here!!! I almost pooped my pants when I had the privilege to play Walter Browne Oct 1975, he played multiple boards, I lasted 20 moves. I think my goal is to play a higher level of chess
I would highly recommend CT ART 4.0, it is based on the book “Combinational Motifs” by Maxim Blokh (Moscow 2000). You could use CT ART 4.0 without the book, but I personally like using both. The software has the advantage that you can move the pieces, the book has the advantage of being easy to carry around.
Steven Craig Miller
I wouldn’t get bogged down in trying to memorize lines twenty moves deep. Just find openings that generally reach early positions you are comfortable playing (maybe something quiet and positional, or something open and freewheeling, whichever floats your boat).
I haven’t really studied openings for almost two decades, so I don’t currently have the opening lines memorized. For that reason I may be the type of player that plays one of those goofy responses (and it may also be why my rating has fallen from 2137 down to 1976). However, even when I was 2137 I wasn’t spending that much time on openings and other people would say that mine seemed a bit shaky as I wasn’t actually up on the then-current theory.
In addition, I didn’t start really trying to memorize lines until after crossing 1700 and I didn’t buy an ECO until I crossed 2000. My rise at that time was due much more to playing regularly and getting into interesting middle games and endgames (fighting tooth and nail got me into a LOT more endgames than the average player - I’m a player who doesn’t see anything wrong with somebody playing out a definitely inferior position instead of resigning, because until it’s played out you can’t really tell if the opponent can actually do what many people say is the hardest task, winning a won game).
A lot of other players try to win out of the opening and have difficulty converting a merely slight opening edge to the full point (or even to a half point - I’ve won a lot of games from an initially inferior position). Those players are not as solid in endings and thus allow the game to be steered in disadvantageous directions. Many players use simple rules of thumb for endgames and will miss things like one US Open game I had where I mouse-trapped an opponent (who desired a draw) by trading rooks and going into a K+B+6P vs K+B+6P ending with bishops on opposite colored squares, where the opposite colors actually led to an eventual win (yes, the rule of thumb that it would be a draw is overwhelming likely to be right, but it is still only a rule of thumb that sometimes fails).
So I’d agree with other people that say you need to primarily learn tactics so that you don’t drop material, secondarily learn endgames so you have an idea of how to finish the game instead of flailing around, and only tertiarily learn openings (enough so that you aren’t lost on move five - slightly inferior on move five will still beat a lot of players who concentrated primarily on openings). Even more important than any of those is playing against challenging competition (you can learn more from 10 losses to somebody a class higher than from 50 wins against somebody a class lower).
All good advice. As one previous commenter noted, my original suggestion is not appropriate to Beatific B’s current playing level.
There is a way to combine opening study with tactics study: I know of two masters who have recommended studying Chernev’s 1000 Best Short Games of Chess.
Evans’s What’s the Best Move? is excellent for learning opening principles in a quiz format.
Again thanks for some very enlightening input. Brings back memories playing against a much stronger player then myself, with the help of God, I some how got a whloe rook ahead in the middle game, but still was not very comfort because once in the end game and he started pushing pawns at the right time and before I knew it he got a Q and I lost!
Soon as I get off here will call and get the CT Art 4.0, also look into Killer Dutch, See what USCF have for end game DVDs. Thanks again!!