Books for opening theory

So I've been playing chess for most of my life, but I've never really studied chess openings. What would be a good book to learn theory from?

I recommend Fundamental Chess Openings by GM Van Der Sterren. Welcome to the world of openings.

@1

"I've never really studied chess openings." ++ Good for you.

"What would be a good book to learn theory from?" ++ The best book is ... a data base.

WRONG!

Databases are not where you start. Databases are like the "400-level" courses. You need the "101" courses.

First you need to look at your previous games and figure out which openings most resemble what you have played. Like against 1.e4, would that be 1...e5, 1...c5, 1...e6, or 1...c6.

Then you need to invest in beginner level opening books, like the Starting Out or First Steps series.

After that, the Move by Move series is a good "Step 2".

Lastly, highly theoretical works like those by Quality Chess or New In Chess or Gambit Publishing.

THEN AND ONLY THEN do you use the Databases to study unannotated games applying what you have learned and looking out for new ideas, often around moves 10 to 20.

Yup.

FCO, mentioned above, is indeed a good overview. The emphasis is on breadth rather than depth, and on conceptual explanations rather than lines. Rarely does the book cover lines past about move 10, so it 's not going to suit your needs when you get to the poing of really wanting to study an opening. But it's a good resource if you want to see what's out there and explore a lot of possibilities with good, quick introductions. When you turn to books on particular openings you're interested in, it's probably best to ask for specific recommendations. But as Thrillerfan notes, there are series that are typically good for starting out and then other series for later when you need more detailed, theoretical explanations.

The other thing to keep in mind are the Starting Out, First Steps, and more advanced Move by Move series are all set up in a "Complete Game" format. You won't be left out un the woods after Move 15. You get a feel of what to expect afterwards. Obviously it will not go into granular detail for literally every move. You do have to do some of the work yourself to actually understand the content. Hard work is the only way to succeed.

The more advanced formats tend to be more of a tree structure, like the Grandmaster Repertoire books. Some are complete game, like The Even More Flexible French, and some are a mix of complete games and theoretical sections, like Win With the Stonewall Dutch - a little dated, but the best book ever published on the subject - better than the one from a couple of years ago by Quality Chess - the latter has its points, and is worth reading, but the former has all the nuts and bolts!

There is a reason I succeed with the French and Dutch over the board. It is not from just randomly looking at games in a database and searching for A90 to A95 or C00 to C19.