Building an Opening Repertoire
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This is the method I use to build and mantain my opening repertoire. The first major step is to decide on what openings you want to play. Whether you're building an entirely new repertoire, or just changing certain areas of an existing repertoire, having a structured process can help. One thing I want to emphasize again and again is that, for the class player (below master), your time can usually be best spent on other areas of the game, such as tactics, endgame, and strategy. Choice of opening should largely be based on positions you feel comfortable playing, regardless of the amount of theory involved. Most "booked up" people at the class level don't know how to exploit your early deviations from theory if you're still following basic sound principles. |
You'll want to make sure the systems you choose fit well together, so that you don't get "move-ordered" into a system you don't know or don't want to play. Here are a few typical examples:
- You play the Sicilian Najdorf (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6). Against 1.e4 c5 2.Nc3, you decide to play 2...Nc6 (the most popular move), since 2...d6 allows 3.f4, a favorable Grand Prix Attack. But then White plays 3.Nf3 and 4.d4, transposing back into the Open Sicilian, and you're already committed to ...Nc6 and can't play your Najdorf. You have two choices: 1) Learn another Open Sicilian (for example, the Accelerated Dragon, having ruled out the Maroczy Bind), or 2) Against 2.Nc3 go ahead and play 2...d6 and learn how to face the Grand Prix Attack in that line.
- You learn the Exchange Variation of the Queen's Gambit Declined as White (1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5), always playing for f2-f3 (a very dangerous system). Against 1...Nf6 you decide you'd rather face the Queen's Indian (2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6) than the Nimzo-Indian (2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4), so you learn that. You also learn the Bogo-Indian (2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Bb4+). You're all ready and the game goes 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5. Suddenly you're in a Queen's Gambit Declined and you're already commited to Nf3 and can't play it the way you want.
- You've decided to respond to the Italian (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4) as Black with 3...Bc5, rather than the Two Knights Defense (3...Nf6). Against the Bishop's Opening (1.e4 e5 2.Bc4) you play the most popular move, 2...Nf6. Then your opponent plays 3.d4 exd4 4.Nf3, a dangerous gambit line. After 4...Nxe4 5.Qxd4 Nf6 6.Bg5 White has a sizeable lead in development in an open position, and scores very well. Thus, most players decline the gambit by 4...Nc6, and suddenly you've been tricked into playing the Two Knights Italian! One way out of this is Larry Kaufman's recommendation of 2...Nc6 in the Bishop's Opening.
Good opening and repertoire books will point these move-order issues out for you, but the important thing is to always be looking out for move-order tricks.
A lot of players select offbeat systems, hoping to gain time on the clock while their opponent has to think on his feet, and not require much in the way of studying theory. For class players (everyone under Master), I don't think the choice of opening really makes a huge difference. I believe it's far more important to choose openings that result in positions you're comfortable playing. Whether that involves a lot of theory or hardly any theory shouldn't influence your choice of what to play. Besides, if you deviate from theory early on against a booked-up opponent, and you're following sound opening principles, it's unlikely your opponent will be able to take advantage of your lack of theory. Naturally, you should be careful which systems you venture into unprepared: entering into a sharp Najdorf or King's Indian line typically requires that you know the right moves to survive. So if you're attracted to offbeat systems, and you like playing the resulting positions, by all means go for it. Just make sure it's a sound opening. After your opponents see it once, they're likely to read up on it for next time. Also, be careful of adopting openings where you dictate the system very early on, such as the Trompowsky with White. This may require less theoretical research on your part, but realize that an "opening" is just an arbitrary label applied to certain moves in a chess game. The Tromp can still lead to a huge variety of different types of position, and you'll need to know how to play them all.
You can find good chess books on general opening principles, specific openings, entire repertoires, and even how to build a repertoire. Here are some books I've enjoyed on the opening:
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| How to Play Good Opening Moves |
A great introduction to fundamental opening principles, by GM Edmar Mednis. It wouldn't hurt for any class player to read this as a refresher course. |
| Understanding Chess, Move By Move |
This book by GM John Nunn explains every single move in great detail of numerous master games. So while it extends beyond openings, it's coverage of the opening phases of each game is excellent, both in explaining general opening principles, and nuances of each particular opening played in the games. |
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| Easy Guide to the Nimzo-Indian |
One of the best ways to learn this opening, as taught by GM John Emms. |
| The Queen's Indian |
A very thorough, well-done book by GM Jouni Yrjola and IM Jussi Tella. |
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| The Chess Advantage in Black and White |
A very unusual book by IM Larry Kaufman, in that it gives an entire repertoires for White and Black. You can check out my review of it. |
| Play the Open Games As Black |
This book by GM John Emms, covers an 1...e5 repertoire for everything except the Spanish. It assumes you'll look elsewhere for that opening. A wonderful book on a previously neglected subject. |
| Play 1.d4! |
This very nice book by IM Richard Palliser, is one I'd love to study if I only had more time. His emphasis is on sound, strategic lines, avoiding mainline theory whenever possible. |
| Attacking With 1.e4 |
A repertoire for White by GM John Emms, one of my all-time favorite chess authors. While his choices of the Bishop's Opening, King's Indian Attack (against the French), Closed Sicilian, and most other choices are not exactly "attacking" systems, it's still an excellent book. My favorite sections are on the Alekhine Exchange, Scandinavian, and Pirc/Modern (where he finally recommends an attacking system, the 150 Attack). |
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| How to Build Your Own Opening Repertoire |
This recent book by FM Steve Giddins is a good read. I just wish he'd covered more on the specifics. |
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Some players like to save study time by picking universal systems. You probably can't get more universal than a complete repertoire I've seen in the tournament halls from time to time: As White, the King's Indian Attack; as Black against 1.d4 the King's Indian, and against 1.e4 the Pirc. I personally think it would be a bit boring to adopt the same formation every single game I play, but such a choice is a valid option. Keep in mind that "mirrored" systems are often quite different from each other. For example, the Sicilian Dragon as Black is a very sharp, tactical opening. It's mirror as White, the English Reversed Dragon, is a very positional, strategic opening. What a difference a tempo can make! There are various levels of universality. You could play the Slav (against 1.d4) and the Caro-Kann (against 1.e4), since both have similar pawn structures. Again, I don't think the choice of opening makes a big difference at the class level. Play what you enjoy most.
Finding a top player that fits your style and plays openings you enjoy can be very inspiring and instructive. My mentor is Michael Adams. I find that when I go through his games (especially well-annotated games), his ideas and moves seem very clear and make a lot of sense to me. And after much trial and error, my own repertoire has gradually become very close to Mickey's repertoire. For example, as Black I grew up playing the Queen's Gambit Declined against 1.d4 and 2.c4. That served me well until I reached the upper class levels, when I discovered that I didn't like the cramped positions and easy aggressive play White always seemed to get. Finally I studied up on the Nimzo-Indian and Queen's Indian (and Trompowsky and Torre Attack) and began to have better results (and much more fun!) in tournament play. Only after I became interested in Michael Adams' repertoire did I notice he also primarily plays the Nimzo-Indian and Queen's Indian defences. With the White pieces, I grew up playing 1.e4, played around with 1.c4 and 1.Nf3 for a brief time, and eventually returned to 1.e4, which I have the most fun with and generally achieve promising positions out of the opening. I struggled with what to play against the French for a long time. At first I played 3.Nc3, then switched to 3.e5, and finally out of desperation tried out 3.Nd2, the Tarrasch Variation. Suddenly I'd found the variation I felt most comfortable with. Guess who also plays the French Tarrasch? I also play the Alekhine Exchange and Pirc/Modern 150 Attack, again, all part of Michael Adams' repertoire. With Black against 1.e4 I grew up playing the French, but soon found I didn't like the cramped positions once I reached the higher class levels, so I gave a serious attempt to the Najdorf Sicilian. Even after much study, I found that very strong players consistently overwhelmed me with the ready-made attack in the Open Sicilian. I realized that this meant I needed to understand more about the typical positions that arose, but on a hunch I decided to investigate Mickey's repertoire against 1.e4. A complete 1...e5 repertoire is no small undertaking, so I designed my own crash-course learning project using the process described in this article. And while I still have a lot to learn about this collection of openings, so far I have not lost a single tournament game when playing 1...e5. It definitely suits my "natural style" best. If I hadn't chosen Michael Adams as my mentor, I wouldn't now be playing 1...e5.
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