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Openings for beginners

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ItzDevastater
I have 1000 Rapid elo and always face the same 1.e4 2.e5 3.nf3 4.nc6 every single same. Can anyone suggest me a unique opening at my level with white and black?
afiqqhkimii

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RussBell

Very playable, dynamic openings for the improving chess amateur….

Introduction to the Bishop's Opening....a flexible opening...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAAYOFAwfTE

https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell/introduction-to-the-bishops-opening

You might also also check out these...

The Vienna Game and Gambit.....custom made for Kingside attacking...

https://www.365chess.com/chess-openings/Vienna-Game

https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell/introduction-to-the-vienna-game-gambit

The Scotch Game & Gambit.....very tactical.....never a dull moment...

https://www.365chess.com/chess-openings/Scotch-Game

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=scotch+Game+%26+Gambit

The Ponziani Opening.....solid, aggressive, relatively easy to learn...

https://www.365chess.com/chess-openings/Ponziani-Opening

IM Levy Rozman (GothamChess) gushes over the Ponziani Opening....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TemLSMDKSMw

GM Eric Rosen and GM Daniel Naroditsky recommend the Ponziani...

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=ponziani+opening+eric+rosen

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=ponziani+opening+daniel+naroditsky

A defense for Black against 1. e4...

Against 1. e4 I recommend either of the Scandinavian Defense or the Caro-Kann Classical - Tartakower Variation (aka, Korchnoi Variation).....note that the Scandinavian is the simpler of the two defenses to learn and play (less 'theory' and fewer variations to deal with). As such I recommend to begin playing it and becoming very familiar with its ideas prior to devoting a lot of time and energy to the Caro-Kann (which you may choose to incorporate into your repertoire at a later time, once you have developed your positional chess skills to a point where you feel comfortable with the positional complexities of the Caro-Kann). Note also that the Scandinavian would be an instructive training ground, if you will, for the Caro-Kann as there are similarities in the initial pawn structures and initial piece deployments in some variations of these openings...

The Scandinavian Defense (1. e4 d5)...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scandinavian_Defense

https://www.365chess.com/chess-openings/Scandinavian-Defense

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=scandinavian+defense+gotham

https://www.365chess.com/chess-openings/Caro-Kann-Defense

Caro-Kann Classical - Tartakower Variation (aka, Korchnoi Variation).....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsnITf68J5w&t=14s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_6qOZIlbE0 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPVp5TWZR0w

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MrEYqiMU4w

https://www.365chess.com/chess-openings/Caro-Kann-Defense

You might want to check the following out, particularly as preparation for the positional ideas of the Caro-Kann...

Good Positional Chess, Planning & Strategy Books for Beginners and Beyond...

https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell/introduction-to-positional-chess-planning-strategy

As White against the Sicilian Defense (1.e4 c5) .....the following openings are designed to take your opponent out of his/her preparation from the very start. That is, to prevent your opponents from playing the Sicilian variations that they want to play, that they have studied and probably know better than you do. Instead, force them to play a variation that you have studied and know well, but that they very likely have not and do not….

Fighting the Sicilian With The Grand Prix Attack...

https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell/fighting-the-sicilian-with-the-grand-prix-attack

The Alapin Sicilian...(aka, 'The c3 Sicilian')...

https://www.365chess.com/opening.php?m=4&n=37&ms=e4.c5.c3&ns=3.3.37#search_block_opening_explorer

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=alapin+sicilian

The (Smith) - Morra Gambit...

https://www.365chess.com/opening.php?m=4&n=52&ms=e4.c5.d4&ns=3.3.52#search_block_opening_explorer

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=morra+gambit

Himanshu911001

Reti opening

ItzDevastater

@RussBell Thank you for the advice. The Bishop's Opening and the Scandinavian Defence seems to be the perfect for me!

RussBell

@ -ItzDevastater -

At this point in your chess journey I believe those would be good choices, places to start!

There are three major openings (as well as many other minor openings) that are frequently played using the Bishop's Opening (BO) move order: The Kings Gambit Declined, The Vienna Game & Gambit and the Italian Game…

1) The Kings Gambit Declined (KGD) - 1. e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d3 Nc6 4.Nc3 Bc5 5.f4 - this is the recommended variant/setup of the KGD employing the BO move order. The actual move order is not set in stone. It is the placement of the White pieces, i.e., the resulting position, that is more important. This position is the subject of Chapter 1 of the (now out of print) book "Winning With 1 e4" by Andrew Soltis, 1988. I have uploaded a pdf of that chapter to Scribd.com where it can be accessed & downloaded under the title Winning With 1 E4 - Chapt 1 - Andrew Soltis - Chess Digest 1988 by Jack Sprat (a pseudonym I used). It is a succinct but instructive introduction to the BO-KGD variation. You can download the document using Scribd's 30-day free trial if you wish. You'll have to trust me on this - the site is safe and easy to use. I've used it many times over the years to download dozens of books without any problems.

The Bishop's Opening featuring the KGD variation is also the subject of Chapter 2 of "Attacking With 1 e4" by John Emms, 2001 (see p.45). There is also a pdf download of that book available on Scribd.com titled John Emms - Attacking With 1.e4. The book is also available as a pdf download on PDFdrive.com (also safe). It's an excellent book - a complete repertoire for 1 e4 - which I recommend especially for it's treatment of the KGD via the Bishop's Opening.

2) The Vienna Game & Gambit...

The Vienna Game can be reached via the Bishop's Opening move order, i.e., 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6

https://www.365chess.com/opening.php?m=7&n=1094&ms=e4.e5.Bc4.Nc6.Nc3.Nf6#search_block_opening_explorer

- or - by transposing Black's second and third moves....1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nc6

https://www.365chess.com/opening.php?m=6&n=778&ms=e4.e5.Bc4.Nf6.Nc3#search_block_opening_explorer

From either of these BO-Vienna move orders we could eventually arrive at the KGD position discussed earlier, above if play reached the position: 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. d3 Bc5 5. f4 d6 - which is the reference/standard BO–KGD setup/position.

https://www.365chess.com/opening.php?m=11&n=9623&ms=e4.e5.Bc4.Nf6.Nc3.Nc6.d3.Bc5.f4.d6

The Vienna Gambit position can be reached via the BO move order, for example ...1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.f4

https://www.365chess.com/opening.php?m=8&n=3956&ms=e4.e5.Bc4.Nf6.Nc3.Nc6.f4&ns=3.5.30.114.778.1094.3956#search_block_opening_explorer

Note that the opening piece placement of the White pieces is similar for the Bishop's Opening KGD and the Vienna Gambit.

An excellent (in my view the best) book to learn the Vienna Gambit is "The Vienna Gambit for the Club Player" by Colin Payne & Mike Read, 2021.

See also my blog article on the Vienna Game & Gambit...

https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell/introduction-to-the-vienna-game-gambit

3) The Italian Game position 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nc6 3.Nf3 can be reached via the Bishop's Opening move order... 

https://www.365chess.com/opening.php?m=6&n=80&ms=e4.e5.Bc4.Nc6.Nf3&ns=3.5.30.54.80#search_block_opening_explorer

The excellent book "Modern Chess Opening Repertoire for White" by James Rizzitano, 2021, features the Bishop's Opening as White's response to 1.e4 e5. In particular it treats the following two variants of the Italian Game...

Two Knights Pianissimo - 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d3 Nc6 4.Nf3

Giuoco Pianissimo - 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d6 Nc6 4.Nf3 Bc5

Though it's not treated in Rizzitano's book, the interesting Evans Gambit can also be reached via the BO move order as: 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nc6 3.Nf3 Bc5 4.Bb4...

https://www.365chess.com/opening.php?m=8&n=302&ms=e4.e5.Bc4.Nc6.Nf3.Bc5.b4&ns=3.5.30.54.80.161.302#search_block_opening_explorer

The BO-Evans Gambit is treated in the book by Gary Lane (immediately below).

If you are interested in the Italian Game, be sure to check out my blog article...

Introduction to The Italian Game, Evans Gambit & Two Knights Defense...

https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell/introduction-to-the-italian-game

Finally, a very useful book for Bishop's Opening players - "The Bishop's Opening Explained" by Gary Lane, 2004 (currently out of print) is available for free PDF download on PDFdrive.com. The presentation is that of instructive, annotated example games featuring a variety of openings that can be arrived at via the Bishop's Opening - i.e., Urusoff Gambit, Boden-Kieseritzky Gambit, Two Knights Defence, Giuoco Pianissimo, Evans Gambit, Vienna Game, King’s Gambit Declined (p. 93), and unusual replies by Black. Be sure to check out the two chapters on the Vienna. It's the only book I am aware of that is devoted entirely to the Bishop's Opening. It is well worth acquiring.

Good luck !

ItzDevastater

@RussBell Thank you! Will definitely read the books in my free time.

gogo_12

I white position it's playable E4 then G4 ?

neverbeast12

Sigma wink.png

astropikachu

You can go for Italian game it's good

astropikachu

You can too try reti, Sicilian ( I think closed would be better) and Caro kann, they are just better than others...

Benji_ks
Vienna Game
Stoutpeak

London for white,

Stoutpeak

London for white and king's indian for black, is it correct?

RussBell
Stoutpeak wrote:

London for white and king's indian for black, is it correct?

That's oK...

The London System and King's Indian Defense are perfectly fine...

Introduction To The London System & Jobava London System

https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell/the-london-system

Here Magnus Carlsen plays an aggressive kingside attack - pawn storm - in the London...

Magnus Carlsen gives a London System lesson! - Bronto Chess...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNEVfwmRczw

tabrezg
Great