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Written by Yury Markushin
Thursday, 18 February 2010 21:07

This article is a continuation of Rapid Chess Improvement: Evaluation of Positions, which

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covered the main things a chess player needs to work on in order to improve the game.
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Opening repertoire is a very tricky thing to work on. You do not want to spend too much
time studying opening lines which you may never play in actual game. At the same time
you do need to know main lines because someone may decide to play them against you.

How do you know if you need to work on you opening preparation?

There are basically three cases which basically merge at some point when youre really
should start working on your openings.

1. If after 10-15 moves of the game you start thinking about resignation, definitely something is wrong with your openings.
The same applies to a scenario when youre a couple of pawns down in the early stage of the game, with no activity in
exchange.
2. Your opening preparation leads you to the positions which are absolutely terrible for you to play. This are usually a fast
lose type of game also.
3. When you are not very familiar or not at all familiar with the lines youre playing. It basically means that you need to build an
opening repertoire from scratch.

Okay, we know when we need to work on the openings; the next question is obviously how to study the openings. Do we just get an
Opening Encyclopedia which covers 100,000 openings and start reading it or do we just start playing the games with the new
openings assuming we know the first 3 moves? If you have voted for the first option youre obviously wrong but dont get upset,
because if you wouldve picked the second option you wouldnt be right either ;)

So how do you study the openings?

I was always against these ECO Opening Bibles which cover all the openings in the world in just 600 pages. In fact it isnt enough
pages to cover just one opening thoroughly. A lot better approach is to get an opening book dedicated specifically to the opening
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of interest. For example if you want to study Slav/Semi Slav Defense and play on the Black side you should be looking for a book Become a Dramatically Better Chess Player
which is called something like Complete Slav/ Semi-Slav or Slav/Semi-Slav for Black but not Complete opening repertoire for
Black or anything of this very broad sort (by the way these are fictitious names, not real books). Remember if you really want to
learn the opening the book must be focused on the specific opening, not on openings or chess in general. Many people miss this
simple point and get surprised when they lose in their favorite opening, which they study well from the Openings Bible.

How to read an opening book?

Assuming you got a good opening book, dedicated to the opening you want to master, but whats next? Most opening books, like
most chess books, cannot be read as magazines. It means you cant read only the instructions and skip that boring algebraic
notations with the diagrams. The best approach is to have a chess board handy, so you can shuffle pieces around while reading
the book.

Important: If you want to learn the opening well you should setup and play over the games described in a book on real chess board
or a Fritz chess board.

When learning any chess opening from Sicilian Dragon to Nimzo-Indian Defense try to understand basic ideas, piece placement,
attacking/defensive themes and pawn breaks instead of just memorizing the moves. This way, even if your opponent deviates
from the book (which most likely will happen pretty shortly if youre not playing a Grandmaster) you will be able to play well and will
not get confused.
COMING SOON!
Memorization of lines is also important, but understanding of the moves is a must.

How to study those annotated games?

Any chess opening book has some sort of annotated games. The best approach to study the games is to replay them on a chess
board (or on a computer) with no annotation and try to understand whats going on yourself. After analyzing 4-5 such games you
will have some idea whats going on in this opening. Next you will replay these games with annotation and fill out the blanks which
you missed the first time. You can find some annotated chess games here.

How long my opening lines should be?

There is no need to memorize 20+ moves opening lines if youre playing below a Masters level. However, this 10-13 moves that
you need to remember and understand should include possible deviations. For example if you are playing 1.d4 you need to know
what to do against 1d5 and 1Nf6. In perfect case you should have a line against each possible scenario, so if youre playing 1.d4
you need to know how to respond on Slav/Semi-Slav, Queens Gambit Declined/Accepted, Nimzo/Kings-Indian, Benoni, Central
Counter Gambit, and Dutch. It is a good idea to write you opening preparation on paper or by using ChessBase Database with
multiple lines and a short annotation. After you do that youll have pretty good idea of the openings youre playing.

Practice playing the openings! GRAB THIS FREE BOOK NOW!

You need to practice playing the openings against a partner, online or against a computer in order to safely apply them in real
games. Playing against a stronger partner is the best option. You can agree what lines you want to practice and what color you
play. If you dont have a partner which is familiar with the opening you want to train you can try to set the main position on a
computer and continue from there. Computer is a great training partner is used right! Online is also a good place to try your novel TheChessWorld.
opening s, but unfortunately you may spend a lot of time waiting when your opponent will finally decide play the right moves. So it 34K likes
is best to use online training as the last alternative if no other is available to you. You may want to check out the quick opening
guide for basic opening traps and checkmates.

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Last Updated on Saturday, 20 February 2010 00:41

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Comments
endgames checkmate problems opening

#9 Aaron 2015-03-22 01:41 +1
thechessworld match rules position player
Very good.
Love how the articles are written in depth. anand squares rating knights playing
However I would like some pictures to show what the formations look like.
Quote | Report to administrator rossolimo theory improvement botvinniks

problem reasons great carlsen total online

#8 mariozevich 2014-10-01 09:53 0 study vishy strategy thinking studies defense
in the article you mentioned two recurrent issues wich appears in most of chess opnening books:
1-there are blanks to fill out endgame learn solve yearbook
2.you have to work hard to grasp a pretty good idea of the opening...
but....shoud not the authors work harder to teach de ideas and help to fill the blanks,instead including variations with
no explanation???...most of chess opening books become compilations of move....that is my opinion...
chess openings tactics mistakes
magnus world people guide players sicilian
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quotes

#7 Yury 2012-06-07 19:51 +3
Good point! Yes studying the GM game is definitely a must. However, it is difficult to understand why certain moves
are made sometimes, so the explanation is required. If you have an access to commented GM games on a particular Chess Players Online:
opening its even a better bet.
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We have193 guestsonline

#6 Kodanshi Helcarver 2012-06-07 17:25 +2
I would say study some GM games, and then pick an opening that you like and feel an affinity for. When you have
found that, then collect as many games as you can in that particular opening, and play through them all.
Then and only then, once you start understanding why textbook moves are made, should you crack open a specific
book containing theory on your opening.
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#5 Yury 2012-02-29 11:38 +2

Quoting TAIWO O:

Thanks i really enjoyed your write up and i gain a lot, the site is amazing and very educative, cheers.

Thank you, my friend! We will make every effort to make the site even more useful and educational!
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#4 TAIWO O 2012-02-28 16:48 +3
Thanks i really enjoyed your write up and i gain a lot, the site is amazing and very educative, cheers.
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#3 Yury 2011-06-15 21:14 -1
Thank you
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#2 Thomas 2011-06-14 17:49 +5
This site is amazing. Thank you so much.
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#1 kapil ambre 2010-06-20 03:06 -2
I LIKE THE HINT U GAVE
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