Forums

How to identify my opening.

Sort:
account99999

Strange question, probably. The feature that tells you which opening you're playing is fine. The problem is it's not very detailed. The French defence can look completely different after the first two moves. So it's not always helpful. I'd love a way to identify what I'm doing so I can look it up and study it further. 

Example this opening I'd never played before. https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/119857961952?tab=review

(yes I blundered my queen early but it was fun)

lostpawn247

Look into the Hippopotamus Defense. That was what the opening looked like. As far as your first question is concerned, get a chess database and add a massive game collection to it.

Strayaningen

Not every sequence of opening moves has a name. This is definitely not a French. It is basically a Hippopotamus Defence from Black, it would be more typical to play d6 and Nd7 as well, but it's very similar. When Black plays systemically and non-confrontationally, it doesn't really matter what you do; the opening will be named for this system Black is adopting.

account99999
Strayaningen wrote:

Not every sequence of opening moves has a name. This is definitely not a French. It is basically a Hippopotamus Defence from Black, it would be more typical to play d6 and Nd7 as well, but it's very similar. When Black plays systemically and non-confrontationally, it doesn't really matter what you do; the opening will be named for this system Black is adopting.

I was white. Because I went e4, d4 the computer called it the french but the f4 move was very unusual for me. I've seen other people do similar things so I thought I'd try it out. Because I'm very much learning I only study and use 3-4 openings. Stepping outside of my comfort zone in this game I found something I liked. I wanted to study it further but had no idea what to look up! This posed the question to me how to I identify something I have stumbled on to. That I haven't pre-planned. Although I now see the limitations of the question and fear that the answer is get gud.

Strayaningen

I think you have a common beginner misconception about openings, which is that they're not some sequence of moves that one side plays. There are a handful of openings like that (like the London System for White or the Hippopotamus) but generally speaking openings result from both sides trying to play good moves. If your opponent plays 1...Nh6 2...Ng8 3....Nh6 4...Ng8 as Black then unless you play a setup opening (like the London System) nothing you play will be a named opening. The vast majority of openings involve characteristic setups from both sides, not just one side.

Like the most normal possible developing moves are e4, d4, Nf3, Nc3, Bc4, O-O, but this setup does not have a name, because it will be named after whatever unusual thing Black has done that allows this. If it's some kind-of-sensible passive setup like the Hippo or the Modern Defence then it will be named that. If it's just stupid moves, then there's no point giving it a name because it will never happen in serious play. Your game falls into that category, Black's setup is close to a Hippo but the best name for it is simply "bad".