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Main
Date: 26 Feb 2008 12:53:13
From: Aftermath Fan
Subject: The question you hate: opening repertoire for beginner
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I'm a sub-1400 player and am not spending much time studying openings
(I'm working on tactics, as per near-universal advice).
However, I need to have *some* opening repertoire, even if it's only a
few plys deep. It's all well and good to say "play 1. e4!" and I do,
but of course, about 50% of the time I have the black pieces and my
opponent doesn't always cooperate :-)
My overall time to devote to chess is somewhat limited by other things
in life and it seems to me that at my level, trying to work through
"The Ideas Behind the Chess Openings" or something would not be the
best use of my time.
So at the moment, if we play a symmetrical King's pawn game, I feel
I'm OK. I go for the Scotch Game or the Ruy Lopez and have played
with the King's Gambit. I don't really care much about the up-to-date
theoretical status of each subvariation at move thirteen because the
odds are that either I or my opponent will lose material to a tactical
trap before then. I know my way around the Scandanavian and Petroff
at a basic level. I hate people who play the Giuco Piano "old
stodge" ;-) I'm not as good at these openings as Black though it
probably doesn't matter. I run into the Philidor a lot for some
reason.
But what to play against...
...the Sicilian as white? Or perhaps to play as black?
...the Caro-Kann as white?
...1. d4 as black?
...1. c4 as black? (yes, I run into people who play this at my
level...dumb, perhaps, but people do)
...the French as white?
I don't run into the Pirc or Alekhine's very much, though there are
certain players who alway set up with various Indian defenses...I
don't worry about those at this point.
Just looking for a basic first few moves to cover the various
situations. I felt like a retard on ICC the other day when I was
black and the game went 1.d4 d5 2. c4 and I had to sit there and burn
clock trying to figure out what to do next ;-)
If there is a list of "here's a basic opening repertoire for the class
D or E player", I would love to see it.
Thanks.
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Date: 08 Mar 2008 18:49:33
From: Terry Terry
Subject: Re: The question you hate: opening repertoire for beginner
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You sound like one king size prick
>
> -- help bot
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Date: 08 Mar 2008 12:48:58
From:
Subject: Re: The question you hate: opening repertoire for beginner
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On Feb 26, 3:53=A0pm, Aftermath Fan <[email protected] > wrote:
> I run into the Philidor a lot for some
> reason.
Philidor is a common opening for people who haven't studied openings,
but are at least starting to know what chess is about. It's the
tendency to attempt to defend the e-pawn without putting a piece at
risk from a miscalculation of the exchange. Obviously, f6 opens a
castled position to a diagonal attack, so that leaves the d-pawn to
carry out the mission, despite leaving the king's bishop on one side
of the board. But Philidor is a valid defense, and people don't change
any more than they have to, so in order to break from that Philidor,
black has to finally become dissatisfied with closing his KB off from
all that dark square action.
If you know the player is going to go that route anyway, and as white
you're bored with it-- well, don't open with 1. e4 --, because you're
dealing with cause and effect, as is clearly seen by the older
notation of pawn to king four, P-K4. If you're solid on tactics AND
development (a combination of the help bot's and chess one's advice),
you'll be sticking close to some type of opening, but maybe just less
familiar with the position. If someone above your rating is still
willing to play Philidor, punish them with what you know. Win or lose,
somebody gets a lesson in school. If the winner is you, then you're
not gonna stay at sub-1400 for long.
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Date: 04 Mar 2008 23:54:43
From: roadkill
Subject: Re: The question you hate: opening repertoire for beginner
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On Feb 27, 9:53 am, Aftermath Fan <[email protected] > wrote:
> I'm a sub-1400 player and am not spending much time studying openings
> (I'm working on tactics, as per near-universal advice).
>
> However, I need to have *some* opening repertoire, even if it's only a
> few plys deep. It's all well and good to say "play 1. e4!" and I do,
> but of course, about 50% of the time I have the black pieces and my
> opponent doesn't always cooperate :-)
>
> My overall time to devote to chess is somewhat limited by other things
> in life and it seems to me that at my level, trying to work through
> "The Ideas Behind the Chess Openings" or something would not be the
> best use of my time.
>
> So at the moment, if we play a symmetrical King's pawn game, I feel
> I'm OK. I go for the Scotch Game or the Ruy Lopez and have played
> with the King's Gambit. I don't really care much about the up-to-date
> theoretical status of each subvariation at move thirteen because the
> odds are that either I or my opponent will lose material to a tactical
> trap before then. I know my way around the Scandanavian and Petroff
> at a basic level. I hate people who play the Giuco Piano "old
> stodge" ;-) I'm not as good at these openings as Black though it
> probably doesn't matter. I run into the Philidor a lot for some
> reason.
>
> But what to play against...
>
> ...the Sicilian as white? Or perhaps to play as black?
> ...the Caro-Kann as white?
> ...1. d4 as black?
> ...1. c4 as black? (yes, I run into people who play this at my
> level...dumb, perhaps, but people do)
> ...the French as white?
>
> I don't run into the Pirc or Alekhine's very much, though there are
> certain players who alway set up with various Indian defenses...I
> don't worry about those at this point.
>
> Just looking for a basic first few moves to cover the various
> situations. I felt like a retard on ICC the other day when I was
> black and the game went 1.d4 d5 2. c4 and I had to sit there and burn
> clock trying to figure out what to do next ;-)
>
> If there is a list of "here's a basic opening repertoire for the class
> D or E player", I would love to see it.
>
> Thanks.
As white -
1. c4
As black, just copy what your opponent does.
:)
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Date: 27 Feb 2008 16:05:06
From: David Kane
Subject: Re: The question you hate: opening repertoire for beginner
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"Aftermath Fan" <[email protected] > wrote in message
news:ca29648a-9b29-4fed-8c18-8eb0d0cf492d@f47g2000hsd.googlegroups.com...
> I'm a sub-1400 player and am not spending much time studying openings
> (I'm working on tactics, as per near-universal advice).
>
> However, I need to have *some* opening repertoire, even if it's only a
> few plys deep. It's all well and good to say "play 1. e4!" and I do,
> but of course, about 50% of the time I have the black pieces and my
> opponent doesn't always cooperate :-)
>
> My overall time to devote to chess is somewhat limited by other things
> in life and it seems to me that at my level, trying to work through
> "The Ideas Behind the Chess Openings" or something would not be the
> best use of my time.
>
> So at the moment, if we play a symmetrical King's pawn game, I feel
> I'm OK. I go for the Scotch Game or the Ruy Lopez and have played
> with the King's Gambit. I don't really care much about the up-to-date
> theoretical status of each subvariation at move thirteen because the
> odds are that either I or my opponent will lose material to a tactical
> trap before then. I know my way around the Scandanavian and Petroff
> at a basic level. I hate people who play the Giuco Piano "old
> stodge" ;-) I'm not as good at these openings as Black though it
> probably doesn't matter. I run into the Philidor a lot for some
> reason.
>
> But what to play against...
>
> ...the Sicilian as white? Or perhaps to play as black?
> ...the Caro-Kann as white?
> ...1. d4 as black?
> ...1. c4 as black? (yes, I run into people who play this at my
> level...dumb, perhaps, but people do)
> ...the French as white?
>
> I don't run into the Pirc or Alekhine's very much, though there are
> certain players who alway set up with various Indian defenses...I
> don't worry about those at this point.
>
> Just looking for a basic first few moves to cover the various
> situations. I felt like a retard on ICC the other day when I was
> black and the game went 1.d4 d5 2. c4 and I had to sit there and burn
> clock trying to figure out what to do next ;-)
>
> If there is a list of "here's a basic opening repertoire for the class
> D or E player", I would love to see it.
Your approach seems sound to me. There are a number of
repertoire books, including those advocating the open games
when possible, which give systems against various
defenses/openings. Many of these are written for players
wary of learning theory, etc. I'd suggest gettting a hold of
a few and then adopting the lines that are to your taste.
I also think that you are not premature in devoting some
time to the openings. I don't see any downside in having
a prepared response to the Queen's Gambit, or a plan
for how to play vs. the French etc.
>
> Thanks.
>
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Date: 27 Feb 2008 17:02:08
From: Ed Gaillard
Subject: Re: The question you hate: opening repertoire for beginner
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You're doing things basically right: working on tactics, not worrying
about "opening theory", and playing 1.e4 with White and answering 1.e4
with 1...e5 as Black. The Open Games are the basis of everything
else.
So:
>But what to play against...
>
>...the Sicilian as white? Or perhaps to play as black?
As White, play the open Sicilians with 2. Nf3 and 3. d4. To start
with, play the fairly quiet lines with Be2, intending to follow up
with O-O, Be3, f4, and attacking on the Kingside. Playing that way
for a while will give you a basic grounding in Sicilian positions,
which is important.
If Black plays a Sicilian line with ...e5, like the Sveshnikov, for
now just retreat the Knight on d4 to b3. This isn't the best move in
the Sveshnikov, but you should get out of the opening OK. Continue
with Be2 and O-O as before, but think about building up on the d-file
instead of playing f4.
I advise that you keep playing 1...e5 as Black instead of switching to
the Sicilian.
>...the Caro-Kann as white?
Anything will do. Playing the Panov (1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5
4. c4) might be easiest--it's an open position, and if you play the
Queen's Gambit Declined (see next), there are a lot of ideas in
common. Usually you'll follow up with Nc3, Nf3, Bd3, and O-O, then
decide where to put the QB. It's very much like the Tarrasch Defence
to the Queen's Gambit with colors reversed.
>...1. d4 as black?
>...1. c4 as black? (yes, I run into people who play this at my
>level...dumb, perhaps, but people do)
Play some form of Queen's Gambit Declined starting 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6
or 1. c4 e6 2. d4 d5. The Tarrasch (early ...c5, like 3. Nc3 c5), as
someone else recommended, is a good choice; you follow with ...Nc6,
...Nf6, ...Be7, and ...O-O; if White playes cxd5--he usually will--
you answer ...exd5. You'll get a lot of practice in isolated Queen's
Pawn positions, which is a good thing to learn about.
You could also consider the Lasker Defence--there's a nice article
about it at
http://www.kenilworthchessclub.org/games/java/2007/lasker-kenilworth-repertoire.htm
and also some other material at the Kenilworth site.
An advantage of the Tarrasch is that you can set up that same kind of
formation against almost anything White does (except 1.e4)--just play
...d5 and ...e6, followed by ...c5, bring the Knights out, ...Be7, and
castle. Practically universal. With other QGD formations like the
Lasker, you have to think more about what to do if White plays the
Catalan or something.
>...the French as white?
Simplest to start with is the Exchange Variation with a quick c4
(1. e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.c4). Develop as in the Panov. Later
you can think about the main lines after 3.Nc3 or 3.Nd2 instead.
>My overall time to devote to chess is somewhat limited by other things
>in life and it seems to me that at my level, trying to work through
>"The Ideas Behind the Chess Openings" or something would not be the
>best use of my time.
Actually, if you're going to read one opening book, that's a decent
choice. Also, it can be instructive to look up your openings in a
chess database (like http://www.chesslive.de/). You can play
"guess-the-next-move" with master games, which will give you an idea
of where the pieces go in your openings. Don't take too much time
away from your tactics study, though.
Once last thing, going back to the Sicilian--If it bothers you to play
the theoretically inferior Nb3 against the Sveshnikov, consider a move
order trick--play 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4.Be2. Black can play
4...d5 or 4...e5, which are OK for him, but not bad for White; after
others, just go ahead and play d4.
-ed g.
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Date: 27 Feb 2008 08:46:14
From: Sanny
Subject: Re: The question you hate: opening repertoire for beginner
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> 10 minutes of instruction? Sure. I can't argue with what's below since the
> writer seems to be talking about something he himself has not achieved. Of
> course TACTICS are important, but they are the RESULTS of insight. And you
> cannot calculate insight - tactics are to do with processing your insights
> into sequences of moves. I'll leave it there, anything else is very hard
> work to limited reward.
Nothing gives success other than Hard work. So play 10 games at
GetClub with Beginner Level.[5-10 sec/ Move]
Beginner is 1800 Rated So you will be out of the game in just 30-40
Moves. Try playing till 50 Moves.
Play Chess at: http://www.GetClub.com/Chess.html
Then Try reaching till 60 Moves.
And once you are able to play till 60 Moves Try winning the game. If
you win you are 1800+ Rated player. So a lot of hard work is needed to
win the Beginner Level.
Beginner Level will always play Opening Moves So you will learn all
the Openings Slowly by practise. And Make Help Bot your Teacher pay
him $35/ hour and you will learn a lot of things from him. He is one
of the best player over here.
Bye
Sanny
Play Chess at: http://www.GetClub.com/Chess.html
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Date: 27 Feb 2008 07:37:18
From: help bot
Subject: Re: The question you hate: opening repertoire for beginner
|
On Feb 27, 9:49 am, "[email protected]" <[email protected] > wrote:
> As a certified Bad Player (with rating to support my assertion) I have
> ditched almost all of my opening books. I don't have a lot of spare
> time to study, and something like 95% of that time is spent on the
> Chess Tactics Server or with the CT-ART tactics training program.
> This does me far more good than any other study plan I can think of.
>
> The other 5% of my time? Chernev's "Logical Chess Move by Move" is
> probably 3% of my total time, and opening study is maybe 2%. I just
> want to have a few ideas and know a couple of short and simple
> sequences. At my level that is more than enough.
>
> Against 1. e4 I play 1. ... d5 and please don't tell me about it being
> inferior in theory. It gets into a wide-open game that is sound
> enough.
>
> Against 1. d4 I go for the Tarrasch and take my chances. I know it
> to a depth of maybe 4 moves; that's enough for now.
>
> Against other stuff I try to transpose, for instance 1. c4 e6 as often
> as not will get me back to the Tarrasch, and if not, I just play the
> best I can.
>
> With White, 1. e4 and again I know maybe 3 moves in each sequence;
> play for an open game (French and Caro-Kann exchange, for instance).
>
> I do try to be consistent so that position patterns often repeat.
>
> One exception to all of this: if I feel I do really poorly in some
> opening variant in a particular game, I'll likely look it up
> afterwards to try to see where it went wrong.
>
> But again, when I have time, it almost always goes into tactical
> practice, because I have no illusions about my losses --- they are due
> most of the time to the type of mistake which tactical practice can
> help eliminate. And my wins, such as they are, are due to taking
> advantage of the opponent's similar mistakes.
In one of my recent tournaments, two of my
opponents each hung a piece due to simple
oversights. In a somewhat more rare display
of stupidity, I hung a Rook in a long exchange
of pieces which I miscalculated. All these
games were lost by the player who erred
tactically-- not the ones who misplayed the
openings.
Having long forgotten much of what I once
knew of the openings, I have taken to looking
at things from the perspective of a book-less
newbie. Where my opponents might make a
rote move without even knowing why, I seem
to get things in their proper order, for a valid
purpose, and this results in decent positions
in the middle game.
But the fact is, most of my recent opponents
know precious little themselves, and so there
has been no battle of the book-monkeys, no
theoretical duels in which one side gets hit by
an unexpected TN and crumples. Indeed, in
one game against a relatively high-rated
opponent, I found myself blundering in allowing
a combination which I had anticipated -- and
carefully avoided -- on just the previous move;
even so, my response shocked the fellow on
the other side of the board and he froze, not
knowing if he had trapped me, or been trapped
himself!
He got my Queen and I got just enough
compensation, but a hard-to-play position
which I later bungled; still, his technique was
sorely lacking, and the fight went on to a bit
of a time scramble where I fought to a near-
draw on the board. Incredibly, his flag fell
despite the newfangled clock, with its five
second delay; this is the second time I've
had a game which was decided this way, in
spite of claims that the delay soothes away
all t.p. pains... .
-- help bot
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Date: 27 Feb 2008 06:49:30
From: [email protected]
Subject: Re: The question you hate: opening repertoire for beginner
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As a certified Bad Player (with rating to support my assertion) I have
ditched almost all of my opening books. I don't have a lot of spare
time to study, and something like 95% of that time is spent on the
Chess Tactics Server or with the CT-ART tactics training program.
This does me far more good than any other study plan I can think of.
The other 5% of my time? Chernev's "Logical Chess Move by Move" is
probably 3% of my total time, and opening study is maybe 2%. I just
want to have a few ideas and know a couple of short and simple
sequences. At my level that is more than enough.
Against 1. e4 I play 1. ... d5 and please don't tell me about it being
inferior in theory. It gets into a wide-open game that is sound
enough.
Against 1. d4 I go for the Tarrasch and take my chances. I know it
to a depth of maybe 4 moves; that's enough for now.
Against other stuff I try to transpose, for instance 1. c4 e6 as often
as not will get me back to the Tarrasch, and if not, I just play the
best I can.
With White, 1. e4 and again I know maybe 3 moves in each sequence;
play for an open game (French and Caro-Kann exchange, for instance).
I do try to be consistent so that position patterns often repeat.
One exception to all of this: if I feel I do really poorly in some
opening variant in a particular game, I'll likely look it up
afterwards to try to see where it went wrong.
But again, when I have time, it almost always goes into tactical
practice, because I have no illusions about my losses --- they are due
most of the time to the type of mistake which tactical practice can
help eliminate. And my wins, such as they are, are due to taking
advantage of the opponent's similar mistakes.
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Date: 27 Feb 2008 10:30:25
From: Chess One
Subject: Re: The question you hate: opening repertoire for beginner
|
<[email protected] > wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> As a certified Bad Player (with rating to support my assertion) I have
> ditched almost all of my opening books. I don't have a lot of spare
> time to study, and something like 95% of that time is spent on the
> Chess Tactics Server or with the CT-ART tactics training program.
> This does me far more good than any other study plan I can think of.
Yep! CT-Art is 'Russian Method', and starting titles are drawn from a couple
of priy authors, M. Blokh and Sergei Ivashchenko. I have book formats of
each, the Ivashchenko material is formed in to volumes, "Chess School 1a &
1b and 2", Chess School 3 is by IM Alexander Mazja, and Chess School 4
[endings] by GM Sarhan Guliev.
I see that there is another book offering by Convekta, a pocket edition of
Brilliant Chess Studies [4 languages] containing 150 games 1837-1997,
copyrights Murad Amannazarov and "Retorika-A" 1998, and written by Anatoly
Kuznetsov.
What is particularly good about this little title is that the original game
is offered with the puzzle position, but then, two similar positions on the
same theme are offered.
And, bless them!~ Publisher has provided an index of players/games, and each
game cites a source, as well as providing annotation ks per Informant
format.
Phil Innes
> The other 5% of my time? Chernev's "Logical Chess Move by Move" is
> probably 3% of my total time, and opening study is maybe 2%. I just
> want to have a few ideas and know a couple of short and simple
> sequences. At my level that is more than enough.
>
> Against 1. e4 I play 1. ... d5 and please don't tell me about it being
> inferior in theory. It gets into a wide-open game that is sound
> enough.
>
> Against 1. d4 I go for the Tarrasch and take my chances. I know it
> to a depth of maybe 4 moves; that's enough for now.
>
> Against other stuff I try to transpose, for instance 1. c4 e6 as often
> as not will get me back to the Tarrasch, and if not, I just play the
> best I can.
>
> With White, 1. e4 and again I know maybe 3 moves in each sequence;
> play for an open game (French and Caro-Kann exchange, for instance).
>
> I do try to be consistent so that position patterns often repeat.
>
> One exception to all of this: if I feel I do really poorly in some
> opening variant in a particular game, I'll likely look it up
> afterwards to try to see where it went wrong.
>
> But again, when I have time, it almost always goes into tactical
> practice, because I have no illusions about my losses --- they are due
> most of the time to the type of mistake which tactical practice can
> help eliminate. And my wins, such as they are, are due to taking
> advantage of the opponent's similar mistakes.
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Date: 27 Feb 2008 14:21:48
From: David Richerby
Subject: Re: The question you hate: opening repertoire for beginner
|
Aftermath Fan <[email protected] > wrote:
> I'm a sub-1400 player and am not spending much time studying openings
> (I'm working on tactics, as per near-universal advice).
>
> However, I need to have *some* opening repertoire, even if it's only a
> few plys deep. It's all well and good to say "play 1. e4!" and I do,
> but of course, about 50% of the time I have the black pieces and my
> opponent doesn't always cooperate :-)
The answer you hate: play whatever you're comfortable with. At the
sub-1400 level, your games are being decided by tactical mistakes that
drop pieces, not slightly inferior positions coming out studied
opening variations.
Develop your pieces quickly, with threats if possible. Centralize.
Avoid playing things like Alekhine's defence, the Pirc/modern, the
King's Indian and so on, where Black gives White a significant space
advantage. I'd advise against the black side of the Sicilian as it
seems to be quite a fragile defence -- Black seems to have to play
more accurately than White.
Does this contradict my assertion that slightly inferior positions out
of the opening won't make much difference? Well, to some extent,
yes. But you're more likely to find the tactical opportunities going
against you if your opponent has a space or development advantage.
> So at the moment, if we play a symmetrical King's pawn game, I feel
> I'm OK. I go for the Scotch Game or the Ruy Lopez and have played
> with the King's Gambit. I don't really care much about the
> up-to-date theoretical status of each subvariation at move thirteen
> because the odds are that either I or my opponent will lose material
> to a tactical trap before then.
Sir, you are wise beyond your rating. :-)
> But what to play against...
>
> ...the Sicilian as white? Or perhaps to play as black?
Anything that develops sensibly. The setups with 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3
d6/e6/Nc6/whatever 3.Bb5(+) are sound and sensible and let you get
your pieces out early and castle while Black's king is still stuck in
the centre. I wouldn't recommend you play the Sicilian as black but
by all means give it a go if you want to. If it goes well for you,
stick with it; if it doesn't, try something else.
> ...the Caro-Kann as white?
*shrug* Anything, really -- the Caro-Kann isn't the sort of opening
where Black's aiming to kill you if you make a slight mistake.
There's no reason not to play 2.d4, since Black isn't immediately
contesting the centre. Black will probably play 2... d5 and then you
can go for whichever of 3.e5, 3.exd5 and 3.Nc3 seems most to your
liking.
> ...1. d4 as black?
1... d5 is probably the simplest.
> ...1. c4 as black? (yes, I run into people who play this at my
> level...dumb, perhaps, but people do)
*shrug* Anything, really. Play symmetrically with ...c5, aim for a
reversed Sicilian-type setup with ...e5 or aim for an Indian-type
defence with ...Nf6.
> ...the French as white?
As the with the Caro-Kann, it doesn't make much difference and there's
no reason not to play 2.d4.
> Just looking for a basic first few moves to cover the various
> situations. I felt like a retard on ICC the other day when I was
> black and the game went 1.d4 d5 2. c4 and I had to sit there and burn
> clock trying to figure out what to do next ;-)
Hehe. You have three options: take the pawn, defend it with ...e6 or
defend it with ...c6. Don't play 2... Nf6 because of 3.cxd5 and
either 3... Nxd5 4.e4 kicking the knight or 3... Qxd5 4.Nc3 kicking
the queen. If you take the pawn, don't try too hard to hang on to
your material advantage -- it's only temporary, really.
Hope that helps.
Dave.
--
David Richerby Disgusting Dish (TM): it's like a
www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~davidr/ fine ceramic dish but it'll turn
your stomach!
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Date: 26 Feb 2008 23:24:36
From: help bot
Subject: Re: The question you hate: opening repertoire for beginner
|
On Feb 26, 7:16 pm, "Chess One" <[email protected] > wrote:
> dear aftermath
>
> Switch to 1. d4
>
> any exchange black offers, take it. othewise develop each of your pieces by
> just moving them once each until all are developed. you do this you are no
> longer 1400, but 1600
Egads! What rubbish. The thing to do is look
at the position, and make useful moves, not play
like a mindless automaton. Playing mindlessly
will likely cause your rating to *drop* well below
1400.
> don't get fancy with tactics until you play enough to do so confidently,
> which is 1700 level... any other advice is likely not from 1700+ level
> opposition
Moron. Mindless by-rote "one-movement" of the
pieces will get you nowhere. You simply cannot
avoid *thinking* about the position, and yes,
calculating tactics, no matter what your level.
> forget openings, do opening principals - very hard to confuse yourself
> thereby - and what I describe is a general Torre set-up, and it hardly
> matters what the other guy does
Let this moron, nearly-IMnes, serve as your
guide in what *not* to do. How *not* to play
chess. His advice is a classic case of the
beginner's mistakes to *avoid* making.
> - try to win the middle-game and don't study
> endings either
At the lower levels, a deep study of the
endgame is almost useless, because so many
of your games will be decided earlier by tactics.
However, you still need to know how to force
checkmate with K & Q vs. K, with K & R vs. K,
and so forth. And it is helpful if you know the
basics like "opposition" in simple King and
pawn endings. If you already know all that,
then gradually add more; remember that many
games are won by a player transposing into
what they know to be a winnable ending, by
making exchanges in the middle game. If you
don't know a win from a loss from a draw, you
are playing with a serious handicap.
One more piece of advice: suppose that you
knew absolutely nothing in terms of by-rote
opening moves; I mean *nothing*. You could
still get decent results if you were a strong
tactician. Take a chess program like Fritz,
and turn off the openings book: it will still win
most of the time, on tactics alone. And while
a human cannot be that good (and fast) at
tactics, it is very possible to be better than
most other humans (which is all it takes).
If you are limited, and cannot devote much
time to study, then study *tactics*. (But if
you do, please don't enter any tournaments
in which I'm playing! I only want to play
mindless dregs who aimlessly shift wood.)
Generally speaking, you will learn tactics
more rapidly if you play open games, and
thus you will improve more quickly-- even if
you do so by losing. Do you wonder why
your opponent sacrificed a pawn-- left it
where you could simply capture it? then
take it and find the answer. Next time, you
won't *still* be in the dark (like you would
be if you just chickened out).
Until you reach the 2000 level, your first
name is Tactics, your middle name is
Tactics, and your last name is Tactics.
You don't need to have a memorized
openings repertoire unless you are trying
to save time on the clock; just pretend
that you are already in mid-game, and
use your noggin!
-- help bot
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| | |
Date: 27 Feb 2008 09:38:58
From: Chess One
Subject: Re: The question you hate: opening repertoire for beginner
|
"help bot" <[email protected] > wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Feb 26, 7:16 pm, "Chess One" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> dear aftermath
>>
>> Switch to 1. d4
>>
>> any exchange black offers, take it. othewise develop each of your pieces
>> by
>> just moving them once each until all are developed. you do this you are
>> no
>> longer 1400, but 1600
>
> Egads! What rubbish. The thing to do is look
> at the position, and make useful moves, not play
> like a mindless automaton. Playing mindlessly
> will likely cause your rating to *drop* well below
> 1400.
The "I cudda bin a B player!" offers advice to ensure that the questioner
will also never be a B player. ROFL!
A serious point is that the "Russian Method" of chess training [Blokh, eg],
which is largely to do with combinative motifs, is to simply go through
progressively deeper ply-levels on a certain theme. There is no great
emphasis on opening play at all. Not only does Kasparov think it is a great
and distracting waste of time, but the simple instruction to develop all
your pieces to useful squares, not leaving any behind or undeveloped is the
MASSIVELY well received sense of what to do from STRONG players.
>> don't get fancy with tactics until you play enough to do so confidently,
>> which is 1700 level... any other advice is likely not from 1700+ level
>> opposition
>
> Moron. Mindless by-rote "one-movement" of the
> pieces will get you nowhere. You simply cannot
> avoid *thinking* about the position, and yes,
> calculating tactics, no matter what your level.
And here is the evidence of why this person is not, and never will be a 1700
player. He prefers thinking as if he were a computer, rather than to develop
his pattern perception and insight, which at minimum, would give him
something to 'think' about, or to sequence.
This attitude is IMO the greatest culprit in why players do /not/ progress
in chess. :))
>> forget openings, do opening principals - very hard to confuse yourself
>> thereby - and what I describe is a general Torre set-up, and it hardly
>> matters what the other guy does
>
> Let this moron, nearly-IMnes, serve as your
> guide in what *not* to do. How *not* to play
> chess. His advice is a classic case of the
> beginner's mistakes to *avoid* making.
Laugh - well, when you make up the 700 point gap between us, then maybe
shout your mouth off? You see, there is a connection between your attitude
to playing and your rating.
>> - try to win the middle-game and don't study
>> endings either
>
> At the lower levels, a deep study of the
> endgame is almost useless, because so many
> of your games will be decided earlier by tactics.
>
> However, you still need to know how to force
> checkmate with K & Q vs. K, with K & R vs. K,
> and so forth. And it is helpful if you know the
> basics like "opposition" in simple King and
> pawn endings.
10 minutes of instruction? Sure. I can't argue with what's below since the
writer seems to be talking about something he himself has not achieved. Of
course TACTICS are important, but they are the RESULTS of insight. And you
cannot calculate insight - tactics are to do with processing your insights
into sequences of moves. I'll leave it there, anything else is very hard
work to limited reward.
Phil Innes
> If you already know all that,
> then gradually add more; remember that many
> games are won by a player transposing into
> what they know to be a winnable ending, by
> making exchanges in the middle game. If you
> don't know a win from a loss from a draw, you
> are playing with a serious handicap.
>
> One more piece of advice: suppose that you
> knew absolutely nothing in terms of by-rote
> opening moves; I mean *nothing*. You could
> still get decent results if you were a strong
> tactician. Take a chess program like Fritz,
> and turn off the openings book: it will still win
> most of the time, on tactics alone. And while
> a human cannot be that good (and fast) at
> tactics, it is very possible to be better than
> most other humans (which is all it takes).
>
> If you are limited, and cannot devote much
> time to study, then study *tactics*. (But if
> you do, please don't enter any tournaments
> in which I'm playing! I only want to play
> mindless dregs who aimlessly shift wood.)
>
> Generally speaking, you will learn tactics
> more rapidly if you play open games, and
> thus you will improve more quickly-- even if
> you do so by losing. Do you wonder why
> your opponent sacrificed a pawn-- left it
> where you could simply capture it? then
> take it and find the answer. Next time, you
> won't *still* be in the dark (like you would
> be if you just chickened out).
>
> Until you reach the 2000 level, your first
> name is Tactics, your middle name is
> Tactics, and your last name is Tactics.
> You don't need to have a memorized
> openings repertoire unless you are trying
> to save time on the clock; just pretend
> that you are already in mid-game, and
> use your noggin!
>
>
> -- help bot
|
| |
Date: 26 Feb 2008 19:16:54
From: Chess One
Subject: Re: The question you hate: opening repertoire for beginner
|
dear aftermath
Switch to 1. d4
any exchange black offers, take it. othewise develop each of your pieces by
just moving them once each until all are developed. you do this you are no
longer 1400, but 1600
this seems like it doesn't need saying, but against your fellow 1400s it
does, no?
don't get fancy with tactics until you play enough to do so confidently,
which is 1700 level... any other advice is likely not from 1700+ level
opposition
forget openings, do opening principals - very hard to confuse yourself
thereby - and what I describe is a general Torre set-up, and it hardly
matters what the other guy does - try to win the middle-game and don't study
endings either
try it, and tell us how it goes
Phil
"Aftermath Fan" <[email protected] > wrote in message
news:ca29648a-9b29-4fed-8c18-8eb0d0cf492d@f47g2000hsd.googlegroups.com...
> I'm a sub-1400 player and am not spending much time studying openings
> (I'm working on tactics, as per near-universal advice).
>
> However, I need to have *some* opening repertoire, even if it's only a
> few plys deep. It's all well and good to say "play 1. e4!" and I do,
> but of course, about 50% of the time I have the black pieces and my
> opponent doesn't always cooperate :-)
>
> My overall time to devote to chess is somewhat limited by other things
> in life and it seems to me that at my level, trying to work through
> "The Ideas Behind the Chess Openings" or something would not be the
> best use of my time.
>
> So at the moment, if we play a symmetrical King's pawn game, I feel
> I'm OK. I go for the Scotch Game or the Ruy Lopez and have played
> with the King's Gambit. I don't really care much about the up-to-date
> theoretical status of each subvariation at move thirteen because the
> odds are that either I or my opponent will lose material to a tactical
> trap before then. I know my way around the Scandanavian and Petroff
> at a basic level. I hate people who play the Giuco Piano "old
> stodge" ;-) I'm not as good at these openings as Black though it
> probably doesn't matter. I run into the Philidor a lot for some
> reason.
>
> But what to play against...
>
> ...the Sicilian as white? Or perhaps to play as black?
> ...the Caro-Kann as white?
> ...1. d4 as black?
> ...1. c4 as black? (yes, I run into people who play this at my
> level...dumb, perhaps, but people do)
> ...the French as white?
>
> I don't run into the Pirc or Alekhine's very much, though there are
> certain players who alway set up with various Indian defenses...I
> don't worry about those at this point.
>
> Just looking for a basic first few moves to cover the various
> situations. I felt like a retard on ICC the other day when I was
> black and the game went 1.d4 d5 2. c4 and I had to sit there and burn
> clock trying to figure out what to do next ;-)
>
> If there is a list of "here's a basic opening repertoire for the class
> D or E player", I would love to see it.
>
> Thanks.
>
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Date: 26 Feb 2008 15:40:50
From: Offramp
Subject: Re: The question you hate: opening repertoire for beginner
|
Caro-Kann as black.
Morra Gambit v Sicilian.
Evans Gambit.
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Date: 28 Feb 2008 05:15:53
From: yearlypap08
Subject: Re: The question you hate: opening repertoire for beginner
|
Offramp;260342 Wrote:
> Caro-Kann as black.
> Morra Gambit v Sicilian.
> Evans Gambit.
Consider this
--
yearlypap08
|
| |
Date: 26 Feb 2008 15:00:07
From:
Subject: Re: The question you hate: opening repertoire for beginner
|
On Feb 26, 3:53=A0pm, Aftermath Fan <[email protected] > wrote:
> I'm a sub-1400 player and am not spending much time studying openings
> (I'm working on tactics, as per near-universal advice).
>
> However, I need to have *some* opening repertoire, even if it's only a
> few plys deep. =A0It's all well and good to say "play 1. e4!" and I do,
> but of course, about 50% of the time I have the black pieces and my
> opponent doesn't always cooperate :-)
>
> My overall time to devote to chess is somewhat limited by other things
> in life and it seems to me that at my level, trying to work through
> "The Ideas Behind the Chess Openings" or something would not be the
> best use of my time.
>
> So at the moment, if we play a symmetrical King's pawn game, I feel
> I'm OK. =A0I go for the Scotch Game or the Ruy Lopez and have played
> with the King's Gambit. =A0I don't really care much about the up-to-date
> theoretical status of each subvariation at move thirteen because the
> odds are that either I or my opponent will lose material to a tactical
> trap before then. =A0I know my way around the Scandanavian and Petroff
> at a basic level. =A0I hate people who play the Giuco Piano "old
> stodge" ;-) =A0I'm not as good at these openings as Black though it
> probably doesn't matter. =A0I run into the Philidor a lot for some
> reason.
>
> But what to play against...
>
> ...the Sicilian as white? =A0Or perhaps to play as black?
> ...the Caro-Kann as white?
> ...1. d4 as black?
> ...1. c4 as black? =A0(yes, I run into people who play this at my
> level...dumb, perhaps, but people do)
> ...the French as white?
>
> I don't run into the Pirc or Alekhine's very much, though there are
> certain players who alway set up with various Indian defenses...I
> don't worry about those at this point.
>
> Just looking for a basic first few moves to cover the various
> situations. =A0I felt like a retard on ICC the other day when I was
> black and the game went 1.d4 d5 2. c4 and I had to sit there and burn
> clock trying to figure out what to do next ;-)
>
> If there is a list of "here's a basic opening repertoire for the class
> D or E player", I would love to see it.
>
> Thanks.
When you play against me, I recommend the Irish Gambit as White.
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