Memorizing openings without understanding is NOT recommended. You will not know what to do if slightly different position is reached, perhaps a totally different plan will be required. You may have difficulty in recalling memorized moves.
Example: White remembered the book move was N-B3, but which knight? Without understanding the move, he guessed wrongly and played 1.Nf3?? and after 1...Ng3 lost material.
Transposing move order is a common technique used by strong players versus weaker players.
You won't know what to do at the end of the book variation. If you following grandmaster moves, you may well get a complex middlegame you have no understanding of, when a simpler position would have sufficed.
Also, if you UNDERSTAND the ideas behind opening moves, you will learn them very easily, otherwise it will be a great struggle. IDEAS are important, as you can use them in different situations.
If you do study an opening in depth, your superior theoretical knowledge will tend to more useful if it is a SHARP variation. The drawback of sharp variations is that they are more likely to be UNSOUND. New moves may be discovered which refute a supposedly playable line. Your opponent may even stumble onto a refutation over the board. Some books have erroneous analysis. I saw a player follow a book line, only to lose a piece by force in a few moves. There is nothing worse than losing because of somebody else’s mistake. It may pay to check sharp variations yourself, before playing them.
Basic opening principles are well known, but broken far too often by bulk of players (exception to every rule taken to extremes) . For example, in first round of weekender, after 10 moves, the higher rated player will often have a development lead or some other advantage in position, as either colour. Losing time unnecessarily is fairly common.
Some books say absurd things like you should only move 2 pawns (Fines book, Ideas Behind the Chess Openings) in the opening, in most openings at least 3 pawns are moved, though you should try and avoid unnecessary pawn moves.
CHOOSING A REPERTOIRE The minimum opening repertoire you will need is (as Black) one defence against e4 and one defence against d4. If you are White, and play e4 or d4, you will need a line against all the main defences. e.g./ If you play e4, you will need a line against 1...c5, 1...e5, 1...e6, 1...c6, 1...d6 and 1...Nf6 (this are in rough order of frequency.)
To avoid need for opening study, you could play a SYSTEM for White and/or Black, in which you have a similar setup as possible, regardless of what they play. Examples of White systems are, Kings Indian attack, Colle system Birds opening. Examples of Black systems are French to e4 PLUS QGD to d5, Kings Indian plus Pirc.
You can even play the same thing s both colours, eg/ the English and the Sicilian.
A very narrow repertoire is not recommended, it has the same disadvantage of playing the same opponent again and again, your play will get in a rut. The ideal is have to have at least 2 lines available, so you will not be too predictable.
One approach is to learn a new variation, play it for say 6 months, then take up another one. Once you have learnt an opening, you can always fall back on it.
STUDYING OPENINGS It is quite possible for a dedicated average player to become quite a specialist in one line, and know more than most people. To make your opening knowledge tell, choose a sharp line, if you like to do only a little opening study, choose a middle of the road, or quiet line.
A little dedication in the study of a sharp opening like the Dragon will pay off.
WHAT OPENING TO PLAY ON THE DAY Presuming you have more than one opening available, which do you choose? Is it the last round, where you need a win at all costs? What is the style of your opponent? Does he like to embark on speculative attacks, or is he very cautious? Have you played this opening on him before, did he play well, if not is he likely to have improved on his play? How well does he know the theory? These are just some of the questions you can ask yourself.
BASIC OPENING PRINCIPLES The opening is the phase of the game in which the major aim is to develop the pieces as quickly as possible and to castle. An opening is over when one or both players have connected rooks.
DEVELOPING A developing move is one that improves the position of at least one piece relative to its starting position.
NONDEVELOPING A nondeveloping move is one that does not improve the position of at least one piece relative to its starting position. Examples are, an undeveloping pawn move or moving an already developed piece. Recapturing with a developing move gains a tempo. Exchanging a developed piece for an undeveloped piece loses a tempo. A nondeveloping move loses 1 tempo.
UNDEVELOPING An undeveloping move is one that undoes the development of at least one piece, usually by moving a first to the first rank. An undeveloping move loses 2 tempi. eg/[..Nf6-g8]
CASTLING EARLY Castling helps develop a rook so that it may get to an open or half-open file quickly. Castling quickly generally moves your king behind a pawn barrier. An uncastled king may not only be exposed to an attack, but also to annoying checks. This is more important in open positions, particularly if the king file is open.
CENTRE Control the centre. Some pieces increase their mobility when they approach the centre. Occupying the centre with pawns can give you an advantage in space. The theoretical importance of the centre has different schools of thought.
EARLY QUEEN DEVELOPMENT Queens can be exposed and are usually safest on QB2, Q2 or K2. If a queen is developed and attacked by a developing move, a tempo is lost when the queen moves away. Sometimes they can be effective placed elsewhere if not exposed to attack. Moving the queen off the first rank helps develop the rooks.
INITIATIVE Develop the pieces as rapidly as possible The player who develops faster will tend to gain the initiative. Losing time means falling behind in the race to complete development.
MOVING A PIECE TWICE In all opening positions, the most must be made from each move. Unnecessarily moving a piece twice in the opening loses time. Move a piece straight away to its best square when possible. after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 1...Nd4?! sets a trap (2.Nxe5? Qg5! 3.Nxf7 Qxg2 4.Rf1 Qxe4+ 5.Be2 Nf3#) , but loses time if white does not fall into it.
KNIGHTS BEFORE BISHOPS Develop knights before bishops or at least one knight before a bishop (as in the Lopez). The knights best square is usually Bishop 3. The bishop's best square depends a lot on the position. In the opening as in any stage of the game, it is important to do the more important things first. To help preserve options, develop the knights first. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 After 1...Bg4? white gains the advantage with 2.dxe5 Bxf3 3.Qxf3 (recapturing with a developing move and gaining the 2 bishops) dxe5. Note that black has also exchanged off the stronger of his bishops.
NO UNNECESSARY PAWN MOVES All pawn moves in the opening are nondeveloping moves in themselves. This is because pawns have their maximum mobility at the start of the game. A pawn move which opens a diagonal for a queen or bishop, which did not previously have a line, can be called a developing move.
OPENING THE POSITION Don't open up the position when you are behind in development. An open position favours the side with more pieces in play. The corollary is if you are ahead in development, then open the position (especially lines against the king).
PREMATURE ATTACK Don't attack when undeveloped. An attack with only a few pieces in play is likely to fail against correct defence, though sometimes when the opponent has erred, an early attack is justified. After 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4 Bc5 If white embarks on a premature attack with 1.Ng5? not 1...Ne5 2.Nxf7 Nxf7 3.Bxf7+ Kxf7 4.Qh5+ and white is OK, but 1...Nh6! , if 2.Nxf7 Nxf7 3.Bxf7+ Kxf7 4.Qh5+ g6 5.Qxc5 d6 and black has the initiative.
ROOK DEVELOPMENT Rooks are usually developed last and stay along the back rank moving to open files, half open files or files likely to become opened. Sometimes a rook is developed on a rook file, by a4 Ra3 Rg3 etc. Castling may immediately develop a rook to an open or half open file. A file may be opened with pawn exchanges.
GAMBIT A gambit is when a player gives up material, usually a pawn or more, in exchange for a positional advantage, usually development. While one side is capturing pawns, the other side is developing pieces. A recapture may be made with a developing move. A pawn is worth about 3.5 tempi, so if you give up a pawn you should aim at least 3 tempi as compensation. If the gambit is taken, this is called accepting the gambit. If it is not taken, it is called declining the gambit. Don’t waste time trying to win a pawn in the opening. A pawn can be worth several tempi (in theory about 3) and while you are winning material your opponent may gain the initiative. There are many instances though, when material can safely be grabbed and this can sometimes even can you the initiative.
COMPENSATION A gambit may not merely be for time, but may be for another advantage in position such as a better pawn formation. Judging whether a gambit (or any other sacrifice of material) is good or not, is one of the most difficult decisions in chess. The Morra gambit against the Sicilian. Does white have sufficient for the pawn?
CONNECTING ROOKS Rooks are said to be connected when there are no pieces between them. Counting how many moves each player takes to connect rooks is an important device for evaluating who is leading in development.
BOOK MOVES Playing `book moves’ is playing the same as one of the myriads of possibilities of recorded opening theory. A `book’ position is one which has been reached before in theory. If the position is book, but one (or both) players doesn’t know it, for all practical purposes, he (or they) are out of the book.
TRANSPOSITIONS A game may start out as one opening ,but may `transpose’ into a different opening. You need to be aware of transpositional possibilities, otherwise you may find yourself in an opening you are unprepared for.
REVERSED OPENINGS Some openings are reversals of other openings. For example, the English (1.c4 e5) is a reversal of the Sicilian (1.e4 c4). Being aware of any openings that are reversals images of the current opening can help introduce new ideas into a position by analogy. after 1.c4 e5 2.d3 Nf6 3.a3 If black now plays 1...d5 he has to contend with a reversed Najdorf after 2.cxd5 Nxd5 3.Nf3 Nc6
MIRROR OPENINGS Some openings are mirror images of others. For example, the Birds (1.f4) is a mirror of the English (1.c4) Being aware of any openings that are mirror images of the current opening can help introduce new ideas into a position.
The Versov is a mirror image of the Lopez. Knowing this can help Black come up with some ideas more quickly.
PAWN CENTRES The position of the pawns will dictate where the pieces should be placed.
FIANCHETTO This is the development of a bishop on a long diagonal by moving a knights pawn one or 2 squares ,followed by moving the bishop to knight 2.
COUNTER FIANCHETTO This is a fianchetto on the same diagonal that the opponent has already fianchettoed on. There may be a later combination based on the 2 bishops on the same diagonal.
OPENING TRAPS A known opening line which leads to a quick win for one or the other player is known as an opening trap. A trap may happen when one player baits the other, but more often, a player makes a blunder in a book position.
An opening attack may involve a checkmating attack, the win of material, or in a very few cases, pawn promotion.
Many traps involve a check on an uncastled king. On its original square, the king may be checked on the e -file, the short diagonal (h5 -e8, h4 -e1), the long diagonal (a4 -e8, a5-e1), the back rank (usually d8 or c8) or by a knight.
The open e -file may involve pins or discovered attacks. Of the diagonals, the short diagonal is usually the most dangerous. This is because in the starting position there are fewer pieces that can block this diagonal. The shortest possible game is chess is only 2 moves, and happens on this diagonal. Pins and forks may occur on these diagonals.
A knight check may fork a king and rook (on c7, c2) or sometimes lead to smothered mate.)
Many of the traps demonstrate the advantages of castling early. Other opening traps include pawn forks, other types of forks, nets and the other types of combinations.
Many themes are repeated, though often with slight variations. Familiarity with these themes helps with your tactics generally and is a good way of studying the openings.
TRAPS INVOLVING KING Many traps involve a king on its original square. A king may be checked on the short diagonal, long diagonal, file, back rank or by a knight.
SHORT DIAGONAL TO KING This is the weakest of the two diagonals to the king, and needs to be defended well. The KB pawn should not be moved unless necessary.
WITHOUT KING There are many ways to lose material in the opening, without the kings being involved. These are divided into forks, pins, skewers, discoveries, ties and nets.
NETS A bishop may be trapped by a pawn advance. One example is the Noahs ark trap. The knight can easily be trapped in the corner or the edge, and sometimes even in the centre.
The rook is vulnerable to minor pieces. The queen can sometimes be trapped in the opening, despite its extreme mobility.
FORKS Pawn advances can lead to the win of material.
OTHER Many other types of opening traps are possible.