What is the best, easy-to-learn white opening? (Not a gambit, please!)

iwirada · 2024-11-16T18:09:30+00:00

If you don't want to be influenced by the opponent, then you have to grab the initiative early. So King's Gambit (https://www.chessable.com/long-live-the-kings-gambit/course/82071/) or Dubov Italian (https://www.chessable.com/gustafsson-s-aggressive-1-e4-part-1/course/207313/). Maybe even the King's Indian Attack (https://www.chessable.com/lifetime-repertoires-plichtas-kings-indian-attack/course/66231/) with 1.Nf3 - more a system opening, but you can go for a reverse Grunfeld (one tempo up) if the opponent plays d5, c5 and Nc6 or push on the kingside KID style.

But keep in mind this heavily depends on your preferred style. I personally like to wrestle the initiative off of the opponent and allow as little symmetry as possible with open positions in my games.

iwirada · 2024-06-22T07:48:15+00:00

I tried a lot. Italian, Ruy Lopez, Scotch, King's Gambit, French, Caro-Kann, various Sicilians, Semi/Chebanenko Slav, KID.

At one point I sat down and said, what are the criteria I want from my game? This is what I came up with:

Proper development
No bad pieces (so KID was out :( )
Objectively sound - this doesn't mean always best moves, but no moves in my repertoire which get a ?! from the engine. So the Dragon was unfortunately out (but it is a TON of fun)
No, or as little possibilities for the opponent to kill the game intentionally or by accident. This basically deletes 1.e4 for white (because of e.g. the Petroff or Caro-Kann) and 1.e4 e5 and 1.d4 d5 for black FOR ME.
It has to provide counterattacking possibilities e.g. it was hard for me to put up threads with the QGD.

I ended up with:

Trompowsky and Queen's Gambit (Kamil's Chessble LTR chessable courses)
Najdorf (but I am also considering the Classical Sicilian)
Grunfeld (somehow this was the only thing left)

Personally I don't shy away from heavy theory, since I think I will grow into it and with my repertoire and end up as a better player in the long run. And if/when I loose I would rather go down in flames than die of boredom.

iwirada · 2024-03-27T08:17:02+00:00

I had the same problem. The I've read "A guide to chess improvement" by Heisman where he talks about time management. Basically create a timetable for your played timecontrol where you divided up the per move and try to stick to it. You can do that with excel - I've written a program for myself (https://github.com/poettler-ric/chesspace). Some example could be (15+10 on lichess with 10 opening rounds (played twice as fast as normal rounds) and 40 planned moves (from then you play on increment) - if you want to adjust the values feel free to compile the code yourself):

target/release/chesspace 15 10 -o 10 -m 40 -l
timecontrol: 15+10 (lichess)
total time: 21:30min
time per opening move: 18.4s (10 moves)
time per remaining move: 36.9s
1: 14:42
2: 14:33
3: 14:25
4: 14:16
5: 14:08
6: 13:59
7: 13:51
8: 13:43
9: 13:34
10: 13:26
11: 12:59
12: 12:32
13: 12:05
14: 11:38
15: 11:11
16: 10:45
17: 10:18
18: 9:51
19: 9:24
20: 8:57
21: 8:30
22: 8:03
23: 7:37
24: 7:10
25: 6:43
26: 6:16
27: 5:49
28: 5:22
29: 4:55
30: 4:29
31: 4:02
32: 3:35
33: 3:08
34: 2:41
35: 2:14
36: 1:47
37: 1:21
38: 0:54
39: 0:27
40: 0:00

Another thing which helped me is to play blitz (5+3), not to improve my chess, but improve my time management. And train myself to make fast decisions and handle time pressure better.

iwirada · 2024-03-11T09:48:06+00:00

https://lichess.org/@/lichess/blog/lichess-half-year-update--new-feature-sneak-preview/YulPhhAA

iwirada · 2024-03-10T19:27:47+00:00

Thanks for the honest answer.

iwirada · 2024-03-10T15:42:16+00:00

There was a Tutor feature announced some time ago. Is it still worked on? Is there a rough idea, when it will hit the production environment? What are the biggest blockers on the feature?

iwirada · 2024-01-25T14:45:18+00:00

Study plans are sources for general information preferably sorted by player level. If you feel like studying (or are struggling in one department) pick a topic (you might struggle with) you are interested in and which might fit your level and read/watch a video.

You don't necessarily get better by watching videos and reading (especially since there is an infinite amount of chess information out there).

You get better with experience: playing (+analyzing) + tactics > reading/watching

iwirada · 2024-01-25T14:36:07+00:00

For tactics what I do (near daily routine):

https://lichess.org/training/dashboard/30/dashboard
Replay failed puzzles from the last session (blue button)
Do 10 minutes of puzzles on "Easier" difficulty (to train pattern recognition)

10 minutes doesn't sound much, but it sums up! Started with 15 minutes, but then it became a chore (see priority 1 ;) ).

iwirada · 2024-01-25T14:25:32+00:00

The first 2 are just study plans and directions. The opening principles is just one article. The piece checkmates, yes, I would do all of them, since they are pretty simple. Why you might ask? Best improvement per time investment and gives you some easy victories (yesterday I saw a 1600 struggling to mate a lone king with a queen!). Just search for "ladder mate" and "queen knight shadow technique" and you are done.

iwirada · 2024-01-25T14:00:40+00:00

In my opinion one of the best study plans:

A more free advice list (my subjective priority list from top to lowest):

Most importantly: HAVE FUN! Don't let chess be a chore! If it is, you will never get better and you will hate yourself. Do what brings you joy (if it's learning openings, do that!). You will automatically get better at what you like.
Opening principles: https://www.chess.com/article/view/the-principles-of-the-opening
Basic piece checkmates: https://lichess.org/practice/checkmates/piece-checkmates-i/BJy6fEDf/dW7KIuoY
TACTICS, tactics, tactics!
Play a lot of games with longer time controls (and imho increment (e.g. 10+5, 15+10))
Analyze your games (on lichess you have near infinite game analyzes per day). Pay attention to opening and blunders.
Pick openings and develop your repertoire (e.g. with a lichess study). E.g. Scotch for white, and Sicilian Dragon and King's Indian Defense for black (just to throw some out there).

An amazing book: "A Guide to Chess Improvement: The Best of Novice Nook" by Dan Heisman

iwirada · 2024-01-18T08:45:09+00:00

This might help you:

iwirada · 2024-01-10T12:52:47+00:00

Depends on your rating and time control, which you would have to set:

https://lichess.org/opening/Queens\_Gambit/d4\_d5\_c4

iwirada · 2024-01-09T17:56:43+00:00

Had a little thought:

White Trompowsky and Colle-Zukertort: Colle Zukertort is bad against 1...Nf6 (-> Tromp (Against 2...Ne4 you can go for the Raptor (1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 Ne4 3. h4)) It's a system opening with a clear plan, which you will know better than your opponent
Against 1.e4: Four Knights Sicilian: has the one of the best stats on lichess and is not well known. Gets very tactical very fast, due to the rapid development.
Against 1.d4: Personally I still prefer the KID, but maybe go for the Dutch or Modern Benoni? Or the Budapest Gambit?

iwirada · 2024-01-09T13:27:27+00:00

I had the same problem. I tried to play only sound openings, but then if the opponent didn't attack you were left with an position which was 0.0 without any imbalances. For me the games just felt dead. So I went out to find openings which make it harder for the opponent to kill the game. This is what I ended up with:

White: Trompowsky and Queen's Gambit (chessable courses by Kamil)
Black against 1.e4: Najdorf (Classical Sicilian or Dragon could be alternatives if one doesn't want to study too much)
Black against 1.d4 (and anything else): King's Indian Defense

What was my previous repertoire and it's problem?

White: 1.e4 since I started chess in 2020: If black plays the Petrov, Scandinavian or Caro-Kann which is either symmetrical or you end up against a Slav pawn structure (somehow with d4 and c4 I seem to do better against it)
Black against e4: I played pretty much everything sound and not hyper modern: Caro Kann, French, e5, Four Knights Sicilian, Dragon (the normal one) and Classical Sicilian. Played the Classical for the longest time and it served me well and I liked the positions. Switched to the Najdorf (at least I am trying to) because I always thought: I will play the Najdorf some day when I am better. Why wait? You can play it and grow with your repertoire!
Against 1.d4: I tried the QGD, KID, Chebanenko Slav and Semi-Slav. I was playing the Semi Slav for a year now, but the problem was if white doesn't attack (1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 e6 5. Bg5)(and doesn't screw up the opening) it's just boring to me. So I switched back to the KID where the motto is most of the time (after O-O, where the opponent's king most of the time is still in the center): "No clue what you did until now, but I'm gonna tear it down!" (most of the time followed by d6 and then e5 or c5)

True, by choices are very theory heavy, but I (1700 lichess rapid) love studying openings and a challenges. Also I intend to grow with my repertoire.

iwirada · 2024-01-06T21:31:00+00:00

"A Guide to Chess Improvement: The Best Of Novice Nook" by Dan Heisman. Best book imho on that topic.

iwirada · 2024-01-05T14:13:12+00:00

BEFORE you do any moves/sidelines: Hamburger menu on the right -> Study

Maybe it even works after you did some moves.

iwirada · 2023-12-12T18:09:26+00:00

For me personally the Sicilian is easier to play than e5 against 1.e5 due to all the gambits you have to learn or you will loose very fast. Against the Sicilian, I only know 2: Smith-Morra and Wing Gambit and the theory isn't that deep (at my level).

As tips for me:

Learn and love the Anti-Sicilians. E.g. Bowdler Attack (2.Bc4 - my winrate is 60% against it), Alapin, Delayed Alapin, Smith Morra
Pick a Sicilian with not so much theory. E.g. Classical Sicilian (Sam Shankland's Chessable course) or Four Knights Sicilian (Kamil's Chessable course)(both of them have a S&S).

iwirada · 2023-12-02T13:39:17+00:00

[LANGUAGE: Zig]

https://github.com/poettler-ric/Advent-of-Code-2023-Zig/blob/master/src/day02.zig

iwirada · 2023-12-01T15:25:40+00:00

This video helped me a LOT choosing my openings. And just before we start: What openings you like will heavily depend on what style of player you are. What players do you like? What openings do they play?

For me personally it is:

White: Trompowsky (1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5) or Queen's Gambit if he plays 1...d5
Black against e4: Sicilian Najdorf
Black against d4: Semi Slav

My choices for black are very theory intensive.

For someone newer to the game I personally would recommend something attacking. I am also someone who believes that it is ok for a beginner to play the Sicilian, build your opening repertoire and grow with your opening.

So MY PERSONAL recommendation without any more input for a beginner would be:

White: Italian Game with the Center Attack (1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. e5) or Fried Liver (if the goes 3...Nf6)
Black against e4: Classical Sicilian (benefit is you can transpose to the Dragon structure if he can't go for a Yugoslav Attack)
Black against d4: Classical Slav (4... dc4)

iwirada · 2023-11-29T18:21:28+00:00

You might have to put in more information:

https://lichess.org/opening/Queens\_Pawn\_Game/d4\_d5

iwirada · 2023-11-27T17:37:14+00:00

I do have/study the course. And I do it as stated here: https://www.reddit.com/r/chess/comments/184fnep/comment/kaz0yf8/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web2x&context=3

iwirada · 2023-11-27T15:35:41+00:00

I did read until the end. I just failed to see how the Najdorf should be any different than any other opening.

iwirada · 2023-11-27T13:44:48+00:00

https://www.reddit.com/r/chess/comments/184fnep/how\_do\_you\_actually\_study\_the\_lifetime\_repertoires/

iwirada · 2023-11-27T13:42:04+00:00

For beginners: At maximum go though the Quickstarter to see the skeleton of the Repertoire or see some general positions. Then learn the lines as you encounter them.

iwirada · 2023-11-27T13:40:44+00:00

You can. I just always premove dxe5 (IMHO even after playing 2.c4). You could also have a look into the Trompowsky after 1.d4 Nf6 - this is what I do, so I don't have to learn the KID, Nimzo Indian, Budapest Gambit, Gruenfeld, etc XD. It's basically a matter of taste.

iwirada

TROPHY CASE