Learning the English Opening

Whats the best way to learn the english opening? And is it suitable for a novice/intermediate plater?

If someone could post the opening with advice on a board that would be very usefull

Thanks x

I'm a novice/intermediate player myself, and I pretty much exclusively play the English as white.

I find its biggest asset is flexibility. You have great freedom as to what to do with your e and d pawns depending on what black does.

Also, many people either don't know how to face the English, or don't like to. Against really weak players, you can often end up taking black's b-pawn with your fianchettoed bishop, and win the exchange for the rook.

Plus, you avoid lines (and accompanying massive reams of theory) like the Ruy Lopez, Scotch Game, French Defense,or Vienna Game with 1.e4, and all the Dutch, KID, QGA, QGD stuff with 1.d4.

Basically, it gives you the opportunity to pretty much always play on theoretical turf you are familiar with. Black has a limited number of good responses, the three most popular being the Reversed Sicillian (1. c4 e5), the Symmetrical (1. c4 c5) and the Anglo-Dutch system (1. c4 f5). Learn how to play those lines, and you are pretty well set.

Now as to how to do that? That can be tough. I have a book, The Dynamic English, and it is, at least at my level, almost completely unintelligable. I've enjoyed and gotten some value out of watching some videos on the English on youtube. But mostly, I've learned by playing a couple hundred games with it, and just seeing what develops.

Good Luck!

The english is an exceptionally awesome opening, here are some books to get you started:

Play the English by Craig Pritchett

Starting Out: The English by Neil McDonald

The Dynamic English by Tony Kosten

The English Opening by Nigel Davies (chessbase DVD)

Rubbish. The English is a spendid opening. Very adaptable for many situations. Definately my favorate opening.

You'll see more 1.c4 Nf6 or 1.c4 g6 stuff than you will with the Dutch defense (1.c4 f5). The rest of what you said, though, is spot-on. I love the English.

Kosten's book and the Nigel Davies DVD are good, solid resources for the English. I also like John Watson's Mastering the Chess Openings vol. 3 (Understanding the English Opening and related structures) and Marin's Chessbase DVD English 1.c4 e5 (but as you can see it only handles one line). If I had to go w/only one resource, though, I'd go with Nigel Davies' DVD already mentioned.

Best wishes!

The English is what i play (Botvinnik setup)  It is a tremendous opening.  It covers so many opening options.  It allows you many possibilities.  You get a reverse sicillian against 1...e5 which can be very beneficial!  I would suggest that the English not be used until you are at least a high C class player. 

The English (or any opening for that matter) is perfectly fine for beginners. I used it when I played Scholastic Chess, and my play-strength was probably about 1400 (1500 on a good day). The basics are that it creates asymmetry on the board to prevent a boring game/likely draw, and disrupts Black from achieving the ideal pawn center (d5 and e5) by it's signiture move 1. c4!

White develops on the flanks, fianchetto of at least 1 Bishop (usually the light-square one), and waits for a late game push of e4 and d4 to control the center. I found it to be a good opening at the Scholastic level, as everyone usually played 1. e4, so no one was really prepared for an off-beat opening. It forced people away from bookmoves and memorization, and made them play chess.

I still use it every now and then, but not as much anymore, as more experienced players have seen it, and know how to play against it fairly well. But it's a great opening, and has enjoyed world champion success with Fischer and Kasparov using the English in their opening repetoire.

Here's a typical English looked like when I played Scholastic Chess to get you started:

Thanks brandon thats exactly what i needed :)

x

The English Opening is an excellent opening. It is very good against weaker players/group. However, try it against stronger player or group only after you are thoroughly familiar with its intricacies - you might get lost, as also the opponent. Its flexibility also allows strong opponents to build up irresistible attacks against which you have no clue how to face.

"The basics are that it creates asymmetry on the board to prevent a boring game/likely draw, and disrupts Black from achieving the ideal pawn center (d5 and e5) by it's signiture move 1. c4!" - NOT if your opponent doesn't want it! There are several sharp black responses which can crush white if white is not prepared - so playing against average opponents is okay, play against stronger opponents only after you master the intricacies.