Openings for beginners
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NotDevastater
22 hrs ago
0
#1
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?
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Very playable, dynamic openings for the improving chess amateur….
Introduction to the Bishop's Opening....a flexible opening...
https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell/introduction-to-the-bishops-opening
You night also also check out these...
The Vienna Game and Gambit...custom made for Kingside attacking...
https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell/introduction-to-the-vienna-game-gambit
The Scotch Game & Gambit...never a dull moment...
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=scotch+Game+%26+Gambit
The Ponziani Opening.....solid, 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 greater 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 piece deployments in some variations of the two openings...
The Scandinavian Defense (1. e4 d5)...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scandinavian_Defense
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=scandinavian+defense+gotham
Caro-Kann Classical - Tartakower Variation (aka, Korchnoi Variation).....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsnITf68J5w&t=14s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPVp5TWZR0w
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MrEYqiMU4w
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.youtube.com/results?search_query=alapin+sicilian
The (Smith) - Morra Gambit...
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=morra+gambit
15 hrs ago
0
#5
@RussBell Thank you for the advice. The Bishop's Opening and the Scandinavian Defence seems to be the perfect for me!
@NotDevastate -
At this point in your chess journey I believe those would be good choices, places to start!
There are three major openings that are frequently played using the Bishop's Opening (BO) move order...
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 - or a setup very close to it. This position and deviations from it is the subject of Chapter 1 of the (now out of print) book "Winning With 1 e4" by Andrew Soltis, 1988. I had uploaded a pdf of that chapter to Scribd.com where it can be accessed under the title "Winning With 1 E4 - Chapt 1 - Andrew Soltis - Chess Digest 1988" by Jack Sprat (a pseudonym I used). You can download the document using Scribd's 30-day free trial if you wish. It is a succinct but very instructive introduction to the BO - KGB variation. You'll have to trust me on this - the site is safe and easy to use. I've used it 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 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
- 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 - this is the reference BO – KGB setup.
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
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.
3) The Italian Game position 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nc6 3.Nf3 can be reached via the Bishop's Opening move order...
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
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 - "The Bishop's Opening Explained" by Gary Lane, 2004 is available for free PDF download on PDFdrive.com. The presentation is that of example games featuring openings that can be arrived at via the Bishop's Opening - i.e., Urusoff Gambit, Boden-Kieseritzky Gambit, Two Knights Defence, Giuoco Pianissimo, Vienna Game, Evans Gambit, the King’s Gambit Declined (p. 93), and unusual replies by Black. It's the only book I am aware of that is devoted entirely to the Bishop's Opening. Well worth acquiring.
Good luck !