From 1200 to 1500

Skibidi toilet GGGYYYYYAAATTTTT

What openings do you play?

I didn’t see them in your intro

I play the ruy lopez and the Sicilian defence (and caro can defence sometimes)

The Ruy Lopez & Sicilian are very high level openings.

I wouldn’t recommend them.

Are you sure you want to use them?

I think your rating would improve faster if you played more beginner friendly openings.

Than when you get higher rating - You could change back to these higher level openings.

———————————

Have you consider the Italian Game for white?

Or playing the Caro Kan more regularly vs. Sicilian?

Or playing the French or Philidor as Black?

——————————

You are going to need 3 openings to start

1 White Opening

1 Black Opening vs. 1.e4

1 Black Opening vs. 1.d4

I I disagree with your suggestion of not playing the ruy Lopez. I’ve played it basically since I play chess and am very very secure with it but I might consider moving away from the Sicilian.

Good luck

If you want to avoid learning a huge amount of theory, at least with white, I recommend the English. Nobody knows how to play against it, so it's fairly easy to follow a standardized setup that leads to good results. Depends on how you want to play though, the English is way more positional than most people tend to like.

When approaching chess openings, players generally have two main goals in mind. The first objective is to master a select number of openings and play them consistently. This strategy can lead to quicker results over time, as players will spend less time studying openings and are less prone to errors in the opening and middle games. With a solid understanding of the general ideas behind their chosen openings, players are also less likely to be caught off guard by their opponents. However, a potential downside to this approach is that over time, the games may become repetitive, and players might miss out on learning new concepts and practicing various strategies.

The second approach involves using openings as a means to explore and learn different chess concepts and ideas. Players adopting this strategy will invest more time studying a wider variety of openings, which may result in encountering unfamiliar positions and making more mistakes. Nevertheless, this approach keeps the games fresh and engaging, as players cycle through different openings based on the concepts they wish to learn and practice rather than solely on opening mastery. While this method can lead to greater improvement and a stronger overall game, it typically takes more time and may lead to frustration for some players.

I never recommend the Ruy Lopez because I feel it doesn’t give Beginners a chance to grow!

The Ruy Lopez is 1 of best lines in all of Chess!

If you start playing it as beginner, what will you play when you become an advanced player?

Their is no growth because the Ruy Lopez is at the Top. Their is no other line to move too.

What do you plan to do play Ruy Lopez forever?

Do you know how many people have told me personally how much regret they have for not playing other chess lines?

You are a Beginner and you have an opportunity right now! Their are so many Chess Openings you have available to you.

When your ranking gets higher, your going to lose so many Chess lines.

Do you know that you could be playing the Whale Opening? Or The Birds Attack Opening?

Instead, you playing same stuff as me.

The difference is I have no choice.

If I tried playing Whale Opening vs. Title player, They would smoke me because they are extremely strong and inferior lines get punished so badly that they become unplayable.

Yet, if you was to play it, your opponent wouldn’t know how to beat it because they are not as skilled.

I know what I am say to you might sound crazy, but I am trying to tell you so you are aware.

I’m telling you so you don’t have to live with regret.

People have told me they wish someone told them when they was a beginner!

Because no one did and now they have regrets.

It cost you nothing to Think about what I am saying.

Thanks for the feedback and yeah I plan to play the ruy lopez forever.

What Ruy Lopez variation do you play?

1500 are really really bad players so are 1800's and even 1900's you just don't know it.

Both Ruy and Sicilian are fine, so if you like playing them, feel free to do so.

Yes, they are high level openings for those that know a ton of theory. 1200 rated people do not. Usually, 1500 rated people do not either. As long as you are prepared to review your mistakes after the game and get better, you will be fine.

I've looked and you even have more wins than losses with black while playing Sicilian in rapid games.

With Ruy, you have 28/10 W/L, which is amazing. If you like playing those, feel free to do so. These ratios are not essential, but at least show that you do not lose majority of those games.

Of course, there are other things that are perfectly fine as well.

As for comments that Ruy is not allowing people to grow... I don't agree.

This opening has been around for half of millennium. It has been growing since the beginning, along with people playing it from basically beginners and chess pioneers to super GMs and even engines, and it is still being improved upon. If that isn't growth, I don't know what is.

It can be positional, tactical, there are many ideas and pawn structures, and on top of it all, you will not play it every game because even in the case of 1.e4 e5, there will be a lot of games where you will be playing Philidor or Petrov as white, not to mention every other response to 1.e4. Basically you will get many different positions, and if you seek improvement, there is nothing wrong with that, in fact that is pretty good.

Basically the only thing that you will not be playing are other 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 openings like Italian or Scotch.

And even that is not final, because if you decide to try one of them out, you can do it, because you will not be changing your whole repertoire, only one small fraction of it (your play against French, Sicilian, Pirc, CK, Modern and even some 1. ...e5 defenses will remain the same).

It is much more difficult for someone who play system openings to change their repertoire than for someone like yourself.

@Post #33

Just to clear up any confusion.

I don’t recommend the Ruy Lopez & Sicilian to beginners.

I recommend them to Intermediate or higher.

I consider an Intermediate player to have a rating of 1,400 or higher.

The OP is below 1,400 so I don’t recommend those openings to him.

I read the OP Study Plan.

Those openings are not going to help the OP grow.

I only 250 :river

👍

Openings will usually not determine someone's growth. Some might to a point, if they play London System like there is no tomorrow (they can play it from time to time if they wish, just not every game and not automatically), because they will not be exposed to a lot of positions, and it will be harder to switch later on (but still not impossible).

Apart from that (and some meme gambits that are completely losing, or Ke2 on the second move and similar stuff), they can basically grow with anything relatively sound, provided that they invest time and effort.

Ruy is a great opening for anyone. Basically timeless classic, chess trademark opening. Amazing for gradual improvement. Those who think that they are not improving because they play Ruy Lopez are lying to themselves.

There are many reasons why we do not improve, choosing Ruy over Scotch or Italian is not one of them.

Sicilian is completely fine as well. It will provide variety of different positions, which is great for someone who wishes to improve - from not the best Bowdler or some off-beat 2. e5, viable closed Sicilian, Moscow, Rossolimo, etc to open Sicilians (which will be played the least on a beginner level, especially main lines), there is much to be improved upon, and only some positions will be sharp, which is not in itself bad to play from time to time.

For a complete beginner I would recommend playing 1.e4 e5 instead of Sicilian and 1.d4 d5 first as black, but it is not mandatory to do so.

So in short, I strongly disagree.

Nice

Your first sentence in response to me is a contradiction.

You literally said “Openings will usually not determine someone’s growth.”

Next sentence “Some might…” WHAT?

————————————

I know what’s going on here, nklristic!

Your not trying to help the OP.

Your trying to push an agenda.

All your doing is trying to be mister nice guy; meanwhile, behind his back, your pushing his chess career down the drain!

———————————————

Do you really believe your helping the OP by telling him to play Ruy López?

The Ruy López is 1 of the strongest lines in all of chess.

The Ruy López is extremely complicated, highly theoretical, unparalleled complexity, and can even be very sharp.

You want a beginner to play this?

Don’t you think the beginner should learn how to crawl and walk before you try to throw him into a situation where he is forced to run a marathon?

All the different chess openings to play in the world and you recommend he plays the most advanced and toughest one?

———————————————

Honestly, I don’t believe you care!

Your telling the OP is fine and the OP might listen to you.

Than guess what? Who’s rating is going to suffer?

Its not going to be yours because your 1,700+.

The person who is going to suffer is the OP.

——————————

No one is telling the OP to never play Ruy López or Sicilian again!

I am just telling him to take a break from them.

Play some easier stuff and see if your rating jumps up.

The OP can always go back to Ruy López & Sicilian later on

—————————

What does the OP have to lose?

--------------------

Your first sentence in response to me is a contradiction.

You literally said “Openings will usually not determine someone’s growth.”

Next sentence “Some might…” WHAT?

-------------------
It is not hard to understand. Openings have like 5% to do with one's improvement. You are putting too much stock in them. So many things have more impact:

1. Going through one's games in depth
2. Passive learning of new chess concepts
3. Drilling tactics
4. Endgames 
etc.

As long as you get a playable position out of the opening, you are completely fine.

I wouldn't play unsound things in order to not encourage hope chess too much. Along with that, I wouldn't play too much of system openings like London for instance (or at least I would play it once every several games so I would get a variety of positions and in order to not play the opening automatically like many novice players do).

Apart from that, many openings are viable. You have mentioned - CK, Philidor... those are completely possible to play, not only on a beginner level, it is viable on master level as well if someone likes those positions.
------------------

Your not trying to help the OP.

Your trying to push an agenda.

-----------------
That is exactly what I think about your suggestion for him not to play Ruy.

------------------------------

The Ruy López is extremely complicated, highly theoretical, unparalleled complexity, and can even be very sharp.

You want a beginner to play this?

-----------------------------
It might be complicated, on a high level.

On his level, not really, he will not lose because Ruy is complicated. Novice player will lose because he hangs a queen, or a rook, or a piece, or a rook and a piece.

On his level, he will do it slightly later. On some 1 500 level, people will play more of the basic ideas but will still blunder occasionally. In any case, it will be years before his opponents will be playing that opening in an impactful theoretical way. My opponents do not, and me or my opponents do not tend to lose because of the opening, so neither will he on 1 200 level.

------------------------------
All your doing is trying to be mister nice guy; meanwhile, behind his back, your pushing his chess career down the drain!------------------------------
And this:
--------------------------------

No one is telling the OP to never play Ruy López or Sicilian again!

I am just telling him to take a break from them.

Play some easier stuff and see if your rating jumps up.

The OP can always go back to Ruy López & Sicilian later on

—————————

What does the OP have to lose?

--------------------------------
His chess career is so down the drain with Ruy, that he has 28 wins and 10 losses with it at the time I have written my first message. There is no need to change things up if he is doing fine with those. And he wins more with Sicilian than he losses, with black pieces, which is pretty good as well.
If he was scoring like 30%, then he would have 2 options. Either to analyze his games and figure out what is wrong, filling the gaps in his game in the process, or to change things up opening wise, because he might not be enjoying lines he is playing, and something else might be more suitable.

That is obviously not the case with him however.
------------------------

Honestly, I don’t believe you care!

Your telling the OP is fine and the OP might listen to you.

Than guess what? Who’s rating is going to suffer?

Its not going to be yours because your 1,700+.

The person who is going to suffer is the OP.

------------------------
In 2020. I restarted playing chess after not playing for 20+ years, since I was a kid. I picked up Ruy pretty much from the start, and Sicilian as black, perhaps a few weeks later.
 
When I registered here, I was significantly below the milestone you've mentioned, that 1 400 rating.