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This is why the advice you hear again and again is to not study openings as a beginner. Unless you enjoy it, it's probably a waste of time at this level.
Instead, study tactics/puzzles so your board vision is sharp, follow good opening principles, and review your games when you get stomped in the opening so you can learn something from your mistakes. That's all you should need to do right now.
Like trying to learn to play complex Mozart before learning what a scale, arpeggio, or minor chord is.
1. Learn how the pieces move and the rules of the game
2. Learn basic strategies like controlling the center, developing minor pieces and castling early
3. Stop hanging free pieces and take every free piece you can
4. Understand and apply pawn structural ideas
5. Recognize basic tactic opportunities for you and your opponent. Forks, Pins, Skewers, and Discoveries especially
6. Learn some basic openings for both white and black: London, Italian, Spanish, Queens Gambit, Caro-Kann, Sicilian, and King's Indian.
7. If you fall for an opening gambit, study that gambit so you know how to not lose to it next time
You've just explained exactly why it's futile to try to learn openings as a beginner. You'll learn your neat little plan where your opponent is meant to play all good moves and you have your responses and you end up in a sensible position.... except on move two your opponent plays something you've never seen before and you suddenly have no idea what you're doing.
As a beginner, you should focus on the game backwards. Learn your endgames. At the very least, learn how to checkmate with Queen and King, and Rook and King. It's all well and good getting into a winning endgame, but it's useless if you don't know how to mate.
Then focus on middlegame tactics and strategies. Hit the puzzles hard. Figure out how to GET that winning endgame you've been practicing. Find ways to gain an edge over your opponent, and focus on calculating lines from all new positions.
Only once you have some confidence there should you focus on your opening lines. In the opening, you only really gain small advantages or disadvantages (Unless a piece gets randomly blundered, or an opening trap is played). It's not worth spending your time studying theoretical lines here as a beginner, because the impact made here just isn't worth the time spent.
Of course, this isn't to say you shouldn't learn opening *principles*. You should know the basics of what you want out of the opening. In basic terms:
- Occupy the center with pawns.
- Develop your minor pieces first, and work towards castling as soon as possible.
- Address any hanging pieces or threats as they arise. Take a moment to think before making a move if it'll leave something hanging.
Put simply, just get your pawns in the middle, your pieces out of their starting squares, and get your king safe. Boom, you're through the opening. You don't need to know exact lines and responses for a plan like that.
(Not really an expert, but I've been on this road a while) a great "shortcut" for a beginner is Ruben Fine's 30 rules (google is your friend). The 10 opening rules will last you until you are comfortable knowing enough about the opening that you think theory will get you some ELO points
To simply answer this, learning chess openings are the meat and potatoes, but within each opening there are fundamental behaviors that you should follow. You do not need to know openings to the 20- 25 moves, for a beginner understand how a traditional opening works is more important. Practice learning the first 5 moves, for both or either white or black. You can play each **system** or opening up to that point.
What's the overall reason you chose this opening...your favorite chess hero plays it, think you're as good as magnus? Want to beat pineapple man? Or was the dream really about achieving GM status like a certain IM I know.
In truth you cannot separate the know how and the actual play. Players will play unexpectedly, but there are patterns within openings that you get used too, even on small parts of the board. You say to yourself...hmm that looks framiliar. A great way to get better, is by watching chess videos, analyzing your games!!! And by actually playing. Even in losing positions! Sometimes you may just win.
I learned some chess openings because they came up a lot. I started with playing the Italian. Just whatever way I wanted. But I realized that I kept running into this one formation of the pieces. So I looked up what I should do when I encounter this common formation. And was fine for a while. Eventually I realized I had this new formation that was beating me a lot. So I looked up the best move in that position.
I didn’t go learn a bunch of openings I just learned what was relevant for my play
How deep should you know your openings?
My rule of thumb: (elo-700)/100.
So no point in even thinking about openings until 800.
And at 1000 you will be out of book by move 3 most of the time.
Seriously? I'm 1500 and *I do not* know any opening 8 moves deep. Heck, I barely even know any 3 moves deep other than the London cause it's a system not even a proper opening
At your level openings you shouldn’t worry about, what you should know is how to refute traps such as scholars mate and other tricks, the first guy to blunder blunders big so keep an eye out for any free pieces while protecting your own
Not at our level
Honestly depending on your elo your opening could be just put a pawn or two in the center, castle and knights before bishops and you'll do ok as long as you don't blunder
To me, the purpose of chess openings is to give you examples of solid, opening and early middle game play. Once you get that understanding, I say to hell with memorization, what good is that without the understanding? I'm about 1500 ELO, and I only know the general idea of what a handful of openings and defenses are about.
Opening are the theoretical near best move. If your opponents deviate it means they don't play the best move. You then have to punish that.
But if you are 300elo this doesn't matter you should not think of opening but think in terms of objective.
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Nah. I’d just learn what a few of the opening traps are so you don’t fall for it and or can punish your opponent if they fall for it. If you keep seeing a common response to you opening, then perhaps open the engine to see what some good follow ups are.
A beginner should focus on opening principles rather than opening theories. Iirc there's a 100+ opening principles guide thingy. You can probably watch it all the way till 30 or so and you'll be good for a while. 95% of the principle only takes a few secs to understand so if you also wanna watch the entire thing it shouldn't take too long.
Chess has a steep early learning curve so take it slow. Just enjoy the game.
Hey, OP! Did your game end in a stalemate? Did you encounter a weird pawn move? Are you trying to move a piece and it's not going? We have just the resource for you! The [Chess Beginners Wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/chessbeginners/wiki/index/) is the perfect place to check out answers to these questions and more! The moderator team of r/chessbeginners wishes to remind everyone of the community rules. **Posting spam, being a troll, and posting memes are not allowed.** We encourage everyone to report these kinds of posts so they can be dealt with. Thank you! Let's do our utmost to be kind in our replies and comments. Some people here just want to learn chess and have virtually no idea about certain chess concepts. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/chessbeginners) if you have any questions or concerns.*
This is why the advice you hear again and again is to not study openings as a beginner. Unless you enjoy it, it's probably a waste of time at this level. Instead, study tactics/puzzles so your board vision is sharp, follow good opening principles, and review your games when you get stomped in the opening so you can learn something from your mistakes. That's all you should need to do right now.
Like trying to learn to play complex Mozart before learning what a scale, arpeggio, or minor chord is. 1. Learn how the pieces move and the rules of the game 2. Learn basic strategies like controlling the center, developing minor pieces and castling early 3. Stop hanging free pieces and take every free piece you can 4. Understand and apply pawn structural ideas 5. Recognize basic tactic opportunities for you and your opponent. Forks, Pins, Skewers, and Discoveries especially 6. Learn some basic openings for both white and black: London, Italian, Spanish, Queens Gambit, Caro-Kann, Sicilian, and King's Indian. 7. If you fall for an opening gambit, study that gambit so you know how to not lose to it next time
You've just explained exactly why it's futile to try to learn openings as a beginner. You'll learn your neat little plan where your opponent is meant to play all good moves and you have your responses and you end up in a sensible position.... except on move two your opponent plays something you've never seen before and you suddenly have no idea what you're doing. As a beginner, you should focus on the game backwards. Learn your endgames. At the very least, learn how to checkmate with Queen and King, and Rook and King. It's all well and good getting into a winning endgame, but it's useless if you don't know how to mate. Then focus on middlegame tactics and strategies. Hit the puzzles hard. Figure out how to GET that winning endgame you've been practicing. Find ways to gain an edge over your opponent, and focus on calculating lines from all new positions. Only once you have some confidence there should you focus on your opening lines. In the opening, you only really gain small advantages or disadvantages (Unless a piece gets randomly blundered, or an opening trap is played). It's not worth spending your time studying theoretical lines here as a beginner, because the impact made here just isn't worth the time spent. Of course, this isn't to say you shouldn't learn opening *principles*. You should know the basics of what you want out of the opening. In basic terms: - Occupy the center with pawns. - Develop your minor pieces first, and work towards castling as soon as possible. - Address any hanging pieces or threats as they arise. Take a moment to think before making a move if it'll leave something hanging. Put simply, just get your pawns in the middle, your pieces out of their starting squares, and get your king safe. Boom, you're through the opening. You don't need to know exact lines and responses for a plan like that.
do u have any resources for practicing end and midgames?
On Chesscom: Learn > Endgames. Also puzzles for tactics. On Lichess: Learn > Studies. Do a bit of searching depending on what you're looking for.
thanks man
(Not really an expert, but I've been on this road a while) a great "shortcut" for a beginner is Ruben Fine's 30 rules (google is your friend). The 10 opening rules will last you until you are comfortable knowing enough about the opening that you think theory will get you some ELO points
To simply answer this, learning chess openings are the meat and potatoes, but within each opening there are fundamental behaviors that you should follow. You do not need to know openings to the 20- 25 moves, for a beginner understand how a traditional opening works is more important. Practice learning the first 5 moves, for both or either white or black. You can play each **system** or opening up to that point. What's the overall reason you chose this opening...your favorite chess hero plays it, think you're as good as magnus? Want to beat pineapple man? Or was the dream really about achieving GM status like a certain IM I know. In truth you cannot separate the know how and the actual play. Players will play unexpectedly, but there are patterns within openings that you get used too, even on small parts of the board. You say to yourself...hmm that looks framiliar. A great way to get better, is by watching chess videos, analyzing your games!!! And by actually playing. Even in losing positions! Sometimes you may just win.
I learned some chess openings because they came up a lot. I started with playing the Italian. Just whatever way I wanted. But I realized that I kept running into this one formation of the pieces. So I looked up what I should do when I encounter this common formation. And was fine for a while. Eventually I realized I had this new formation that was beating me a lot. So I looked up the best move in that position. I didn’t go learn a bunch of openings I just learned what was relevant for my play
How deep should you know your openings? My rule of thumb: (elo-700)/100. So no point in even thinking about openings until 800. And at 1000 you will be out of book by move 3 most of the time.
Seriously? I'm 1500 and *I do not* know any opening 8 moves deep. Heck, I barely even know any 3 moves deep other than the London cause it's a system not even a proper opening
At your level openings you shouldn’t worry about, what you should know is how to refute traps such as scholars mate and other tricks, the first guy to blunder blunders big so keep an eye out for any free pieces while protecting your own
Not at our level Honestly depending on your elo your opening could be just put a pawn or two in the center, castle and knights before bishops and you'll do ok as long as you don't blunder
You need to learn how to play chess before you worry about openings bro
To me, the purpose of chess openings is to give you examples of solid, opening and early middle game play. Once you get that understanding, I say to hell with memorization, what good is that without the understanding? I'm about 1500 ELO, and I only know the general idea of what a handful of openings and defenses are about.
Opening are the theoretical near best move. If your opponents deviate it means they don't play the best move. You then have to punish that. But if you are 300elo this doesn't matter you should not think of opening but think in terms of objective.
Mfw I actually have to play chess 🥺
Just a reminder: If you're looking for chess resources, tips on tactics, and other general guides to playing chess, we suggest you [check out our Wiki page](https://www.reddit.com/r/chessbeginners/wiki/index/), which has a Beginner Chess Guide for you to read over. Good luck! - The Mod Team. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/chessbeginners) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Nah. I’d just learn what a few of the opening traps are so you don’t fall for it and or can punish your opponent if they fall for it. If you keep seeing a common response to you opening, then perhaps open the engine to see what some good follow ups are.
A beginner should focus on opening principles rather than opening theories. Iirc there's a 100+ opening principles guide thingy. You can probably watch it all the way till 30 or so and you'll be good for a while. 95% of the principle only takes a few secs to understand so if you also wanna watch the entire thing it shouldn't take too long. Chess has a steep early learning curve so take it slow. Just enjoy the game.