Youre a 500 rapid player that is losing in 4 moves:
https://www.chess.com/game/live/26712574845?username=lexlibman
Openings are the last thing that is causing you to lose.
Youre a 500 rapid player that is losing in 4 moves:
https://www.chess.com/game/live/26712574845?username=lexlibman
Openings are the last thing that is causing you to lose.
Use opening principles. At your level openings do not decide your games, and NO ONE knows any opening theory, so instead of memorizing moves. Learn and understand the "why" behind the moves.
This is what you should be working on:
Opening Principles:
Tactics...tactics...tactics...
The objective of development is about improving the value of your pieces by increasing the importance of their roles. Well-developed pieces have more fire-power than undeveloped pieces and they do more in helping you gain control.
Now we will look at 5 practical things you can do to help you achieve your development objective.
They are:
Don’t help your opponent develop.
There are 2 common mistakes whereby you will simply be helping your opponent to develop:
Pre Move Checklist:
White: London System.
Black:
Against e4 - French Defense. - Easy for you, hard for opponent.
Against d4 - I guess Nimzo-Indian. best by top players, there's a reason to it. I don't see it though.
GM Aman Hambleton has a series on beginner principles on YouTube.
If you want openings, Colle for white and anti-fried liver attack for black. Colle is safe, but aggressive and can go from basic five moves (includes castling) to 12 move or so formations. While playing black, chances are you will face the Fried Liver Attack so knowing the anti version can get you castled quickly and at least surviving the middle and end game.
Stick with one opening and let Stockfish show your failures and proper responses.
Don't bother learning openings until you know opening principles.
It'd be highly worth investing 8 minutes of your time to check out a video like: Chess Basics: Opening Principles
Also:
10 Chess Tips Every Beginner Should Know (9-1/2 minutes, Botez)
And some nice blogs devoted to principles:
https://www.chess.com/blog/KeSetoKaiba/opening-principles-again
https://www.chess.com/blog/nklristic/surviving-the-opening-first-steps-to-chess-improvement
Nice post from llama42 about CCT
https://www.chess.com/forum/view/for-beginners/the-most-important-concept-for-all-beginners
Thanks Bacon. That's a great response.
Pardon me being short with my initial response. Its just that this question is asked all the time.
For Black 1st move would be Pawn e.5 if the opponent starts with kings pawn.
1st: Pawn e.5
2nd: Knight c.6
The rest will depend on the opponent but if white plays like I recommend then
3rd. Pawn takes d.4
There is more to these openings but I thought id keep it short. Remember that most people won't play exactly the same so you have to be careful that these moves won't always apply.
Try to use the Modern defence.
I think AiChessCoach.net is a great resource for players aiming to strengthen their chess openings. It's a free tool that can analyze your most recent 200, 500, or even 1000 games from sites like Lichess and Chess.com. It offers personalized opening recommendations and highlights recurring mistakes, helping you focus on areas where you can improve. Definitely worth a look if you want insights tailored to your own games.
Which lines would you recommend that aren’t too complex and how should I go about studying them and their variations?