IM Renier Castellanos

One of the biggest questions when it comes to building a repertoire is should I focus on only one opening or include more than one option for each side? There is no right answer to this question; probably the way to go is what works best for you.

Both have their advantages and disadvantages. For example, playing more than one opening could result in knowing them less; you might not get to know all the subtleties and existing plans. The bright side is, of course, that you’ll be able to change your opening depending on the opponent you’re facing.

If you are a current club chess player I have 3 questions for you… Have you been struggling to find an opening that suits you and your playing style? Has it become harder to get into winning positions with your current opening repertoire? Has playing the same opening resulted in boring, predictable middlegames?

If you answered ‘yes’ to any of the above questions, read on to discover your new favorite opening based on ChessBase’s win statistics!

Finding the right opening for you is a complicated and time-consuming process. You need to be objective, know yourself very well, and try to find positions that will suit your style.

If you are still looking to build a repertoire with white, but not sure which opening would suit you best, we are here to help! In this article, we are going to take a brief look at the English Opening and its characteristics.

Do you wish you could find a more reliable Black opening?

Are you interested in learning a new defense against 1.e4 without much theory?

If you answered yes to either of these questions, we recommend you to take a look at the Czech Pirc: a solid, easy-to-learn opening bursting with potential for action!

Are you unsatisfied with your current Black opening? Have you felt lost when it comes to planning middlegame strategies?

Are you interested in learning a new defense against 1.d4? If you answered yes to any of these questions, I recommend you to take a look at the Chebanenko Slav: a solid, quiet opening bursting with potential for action!

These days engines have become a chess player’s best friend. Its influence is mostly felt in the opening phase, where every line is analyzed in detail and everybody, regardless of their level, knows a fair amount of theory. If you want to avoid in-depth preparation, it is a good idea to add to your opening arsenal a system that doesn’t require so much memorization and is based on middlegame understanding. There are many interesting systems that you can study and this article is dedicated to the Double Fianchetto System. Here are some of its important characteristics.

The Caro-Kann is one of the openings that has become more and more popular in recent years, as many strong Grandmasters have decided to include it in their repertoires.

For a long time, this has been considered an unambitious and boring opening, suitable for those players whose only goal was to equalize with the black pieces.

However, recent games and its rise in popularity are now proving that things are not exactly like that.

For any player who is trying to improve, finding the right opening is an important step. Especially if the time you can allocate to studying chess is limited, choosing the opening has to be done wisely. Ideally, you shouldn’t dedicate this time entirely to studying and learning endless opening lines, but divide it between all the phases of the game. Most of the time, it is in the middlegame and endgame where the decisive mistakes happen, so make sure you give them their due attention.

A beginner may easily feel overwhelmed when facing the choice of what to play at the beginning of the game. There are so many openings, so much theory!

What is he or she supposed to do?

What are the best openings for beginners?

The Reti Opening has been, for a long time, a second or third opening choice for white, being considered a dull and harmless alternative to the more popular 1.d4 or 1.e4. However, things could not be farther from the truth. In fact, its founder, Richard Reti, considered these moves to be inferior, since black could immediately start and attack in the center and equalize.