Advanced players, what do you think is the best opening for intermediate players?
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In my opinion, it’s either the Italian or the scotch
You have to define intermediate. But generally I'd say the queens gambit. I think every player should play at least one positional opening and a tactical one as they're learning.
I would say intermediate is like 1200 to 1500
Maybe the hyperaccelerated dragon... or some other accessible way to start playing the sicilian. At this point they have a basic tactical ability and should probably start playing positionally. So yeah QGD remains strong too
The question is inadequate. It mainly depends on the style of the player.
I agree with the previous poster. Any opening is okay. You still have to develop, control the center, castle, and connect your rooks.
don’t fall into the trap of thinking that learning an opening means memorizing long sequences of moves. Focus on general opening principles.
Then consider how the opening leads to possible middle game plans.
I think intermediate is 1400ish - 1800
My recommendation is you don't really need to change openings between 1200 - 2000.
Dont believe those who say openings are not important at all... Yes some players reach 2100 without studying openings but they are normally trained in tournament chess as kids (so different class of calculation, mentality, focus, etc).
Just be smart about how you study openings, there's no magic trick. Invest time 80% in tactics, startegy (books, master games), endgames, and only 20% in openings.
Figure out which openings you want to study "in to the main line", and which you want to find your deviations... depending on how common they are and how you feel in the arising middle games.
Your control is actually so limited.. It's more about the responsive repertoire (aka how many opponent's openings and early middle games can you understand their plan/concept and answer confidently), than what "you play"... IMO...
Enjoy
Intermediate Level to me is 1,400 to 1,700
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The Tricky part about Intermediate players is they face what I call an Opening Crisis.
The lower end of Intermediate level often goes thru an Opening Change.
The higher end of the Intermediate level often goes thru an Opening Change.
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‘Most beginners from ranking 1,000 to 1,300 often play 1 opening.
Than they do very well with that opening and become 1,400
The problem is when they reach 1,400 - They often are very 1 dimensional type of players.
They are Tactical or They are Positional, but they don’t really do both.
For Example:
A player might play Caro Kan - They start playing it at 1,000 to 1,400.
Caro Kan is a very positional opening and so the player is a good positional player, but in order to get to the next Leep. They need to change openings and develop their Tactical ability.
This helps them so they are not 1 dimensional any more.
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Now on the other spectacular of Intermediate near 1700 ranking mark.
Those players are trying to break into 1800 (Advance Level)
Usually, they have to change openings as well.
They have to play stuff more solid.
They have to play stuff with more drawings opportunities.
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An opening you recommended to 1,700 intermediate is vastly different vs. 1,400 intermediate.
The 1,700 is multi-dimensional player very well rounded.
The 1,400 is 1 dimensional with a lot of gaps still left in his game.
Usually, you recommend the openings which are opposite to the type of lines the 1,400 player has been playing.
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A few example lines which you might recommend to a 1,400 Intermediate player which has been playing only positional lines:
- Sicilian Dragon
- Smith-Morris Gambit
- Wing Gambit
- Danish Gambit
- King’s Gambit
- Staunton Gambit
A few example lines which you might recommend to a 1,400 Intermediate player which has been playing only tactical lines:
- Caro Kan
- Queen Gambit - Quiet Variation
- Queen Gambit - Exchange Variation
- Ruy Lopez - Exchange Variation
- Vienna Game
- Colle
A few example lines which you might recommend to a 1,700 Intermediate player:
- Slav
- Nimzo-Indian
- Gruenfeld
- Queen’s Gambit Declined
- Berlin Defense
- Sicilian Nadjorf
- Sicilian Classic
- Ruy Lopez
- Queen Gambit
Again, Some of the best lines in all of chess.
Advanced level lines - Packed with theory
High Draw rates among them.
The specific opening you play is not as important as understanding basic opening principles
when I started as a 14-year-old in high school, my friends and I all picked different openings. As white, the four members of the school team played Nf3, e4, d4, and c4.
As black against 1. e4, we played c5, e6, c6, and e5. Against 1. d4, we played d5, Nimzo-Indian, Kings Indian, and Benoni/Benko.
we played lots of practice games against each other. We also analyzed all of our games against other school teams.
As a result, we all became familiar with many openings and we all made rapid progress. All reached Class A or higher in 2 to 3 years.
All mainstream openings are good. Just pick a few which appeal to you, and do not need a ton of study and expertise.
