Limited Openings Repertoire

Hey Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am currently going for the 1100 rating and am aiming for 1500 as a big milestone.
Since I thought about it, it seems logical to me that one should stick to a limited opening repertoire to deeply learn how they play out.
Now I am looking for a limited opening pool to like 4 or 3 for both sides. I am considering if one could also get away with something like only playing e4 or only playing d4. Besides, I don't want to spent hundreds of hours learning something like the theory lines of the ruy lopez, so something more modest would interest me more.

TL;DR
what are some simple, aggressive openings that are worth sticking to for a long time?

I'm no master, but I peaked around 1800ish so this seems like my ideal demographic.

Like you said, I think it's definitely better to be good at just a few openings than playing all of them equally bad. 

Personally, I don't think I have more than 4 openings total in my repertoire (although I haven't played seriously in about a year). I have two for white, my Colle System + some sidelines in case they avoid it, and the Catalan, but I use the Colle much more often. As black, I play the Alekhine's defense against 1. e4 and the Budapest gambit against 1. d4. Those don't seem like the openings you're looking for, but I'm just giving my personal experience on how many openings someone should be playing to get to that rating point. Using around 4 and being aware of the general ideas of the other openings has served me well (or used to).

You should experiment with both 1. d4 and 1. e4 to see which type of game you prefer, but I'd recommend playing the Vienna game as white based on what you said. Rather easy to learn, and doesn't have vast amounts of theory to go through. Most games involve some sort of attack on the kingside but the game plans are rather fluid and flexible. But once you choose between 1. e4 and 1. d4, you should stick with it. Don't start messing around with entirely different games just to expand your opening repertoire. Stick to one

As black, I think the French defense would fit you well against 1. e4, which relies more on your knowledge of the pawn structure rather than lots of theory (there is a lot of theory to learn if you go out of the way but it's not necessary). 

Against 1. d4, maybe the Queen's Gambit Accepted would be for you? Just take the pawn and develop normally without trying to hold onto the pawn and you'll end up in a rather open position for a 1. d4 game. 

Let me know if this helps, I'd be glad to play a few games with you if you wanted to practice too. lmk

Thanks for the answer!
Yes I happen to like the french defense as well. So I would probably have to learn the vienna and the grand prix attack/closed sicilian, should I happen to run into a 1. C4 right? I will hustle through D4 and E4 openings and see which one I would stick to.
I also like the vienna. What do you think about the pros and cons of the vienna vs the italian/Evans Gambit? I heard the vienna has a mainline that ends up in adventage for black and the italian is mor flexible.

At your rating, opening theory is counter-productive. You need no more than the basic opening principles that José Capablanca articulates in Chess Fundamentals and A Primer in Chess. Your study time is better spent learning checkmate patterns and practicing tactics. Some basic pawn endings would be useful, too.

  I completely agree. Knowing the ideas behind openings is a better way to start because the ideas behind openings are usually about how the middle game is handled after the opening. At 1100 most games will be out of book by move 3, 4 or 5 so there is no penalty in trying lots of opening ideas and seeing what kinds of positions you like.  As far as memorizing openings, I think it's counter productive, especially compared with understanding the ideas of the moves, but if you really want to, one rule of thumb I've heard is to divide your USCF classical rating by 200 and then try to learn that many moves deep.  With all that openings stuff said, [again as Ziryab stressed] you'll win a lot more games by understanding pins, forks, x-rays, basic checkmates and how to win pawn endings.

Where you are currently at (and honestly this applies even hundreds of points above your rating) it is actually beneficial to have a limited repertoire, the reason being that you need to build experience and understanding on a set repertoire before you go off exploring other ones. It does not make sense to be able to "play" a ton of different openings if you do not know anything beyond the first few moves for all of them.

I play a limited set repertoire only to assure an equalized opening and playable or enjoyable middle game.

Having fun is most important to me!

Had no issues starting from 800 and rising to 1400. Early in my phase I was more focused on ideas and accurate play then moved on to middle game planning, limiting blunders and tactics training; where I am now.

#1

"I am looking for a limited opening pool to like 4 or 3 for both sides."
++ You need 3, in order of decreasing importance:
1) a defence for black against 1 e4
2) a defence for black against 1 d4
3) an opening for white

"if one could also get away with something like only playing e4 or only playing d4."
++ Yes. Fischer for example played 1) Najdorf 2) King's Indian Defence 3) Ruy Lopez

"I don't want to spent hundreds of hours learning something like the theory lines of the ruy lopez" ++ You do not need to learn anything: just play and accumulate experience.

"what are some simple, aggressive openings that are worth sticking to for a long time?"
++ Recommended for beginners and world champions alike: 1) 1 e4 e5 2) 1 d4 d5 3) 1 e4

What opening should I choose for white?
I like the scotch, the vienna and the italian. I have found that the vienna is pretty flexible because it has variations against the sicilian defense as well but I also like the classical approach with the italian.

Not exactly sure what you mean by "it has variations against the sicilian defense as well"; you cannot get positions from the Vienna if your opponent plays the Sicilian.

All of them are reasonable and lead to imbalanced positions, so you'll have to test them out yourself and see which one you like best.

Hello Tillini/

If you are looking for something not involving theory heavy lines, the days playing e4 and just winging it are long gone now. against good players anyway/  & otb tournaments

You have to know at least 2 main lines against the big four (caro cann, sicilian, french, and lopez and itailian game complexes) not to mention the minor headache lines such as the above mentioned (alekhine's defense, modern, and so on) 

I would recommend the (1) torre attack, its not theory heavy & its good for white at your level (2) birds opening its good for playing people under 1900-2000 tim taylor wrote a excellent book on this, that u can pick up for 20 bucks

Hi Tillini

In short, I too think having a limited repertoire is a good idea!

I'm currently around the same rating as you and over the past month or two I've settled on a repertoire for white which is pretty simple and aggressive: I play 1. e4, then the following:

against...

1. ...e5: the Vienna game, with 3. f4 in almost all cases (but 3. Qg4 (the giraffe attack!) against 2. ...Bc5)

1. ...c5 (Sicilian): the Smith-Morra gambit (2. d4 and 3. c3 if 2. ...cxd4)

1. ...d5 (Scandinavian): the Blackmar(-Diemer) gambit (2. d4 - and then 3. f3 (the Gedult gambit) if 2. ...dxe4, which seems very common at this level)

1. ...c5 (Caro-Kann): the fantasy variation (3. f3)

1. ...e6 (French): not well settled yet (...but looking into it now, 2. f4 (La Bourdonnais variation) would probably be in keeping with the style of the other openings listed above)

1. ...d6 (Pirc) (or g6 (modern)): 150 attack (or similar against the modern)

Most of these openings lead to open, attacking positions, with a lead in development for white, which I find fun to play. (This frequently comes at the price of a pawn and a little more risk if the f pawn is advanced early.)

As black I adopt more of a counter-attacking approach, playing 1. g6 (modern) and 2. Bg7 against almost anything white plays (obviously, it's mainly e4 or d4). This leads to games that often see me cramped for space in the opening (and occasionally overrun by a kingside pawn storm or through the centre, if I delay castling too long), but that get interesting (and often attacking) in the middle game when the centre opens up and my fianchettoed bishop(s) come to life (I often develop the queenside bishop to b7, in addition to the kingside bishop on g7). My record with black is less strong than with white, but I still enjoy the challenges arising from this opening with black - and seem to be getting better at handling these challenges by playing the same limited style of opening (with kingside fianchetto) so frequently.

Hope this is of some use to you in developing your repertoire. Maybe we'll be paired up for a game some time soon!

#10
"I like the scotch, the vienna and the italian."
++ All are fine. Pick one and stick to it so as to accumulate experience with it.

As a 1500, I play:

The Queen's Gambit

The French

The Tamianov Sicilain (usually after 1.e4 e6 2.Nf3 c5 to avoid any exchange variations)

The Semi-Slav

The English Defense

I am playing Sicilian as Black against e4 and Dutch against d4. My play as black is improving faster than as white because I play e4 exclusively. I could spend time trying to learn the Italian (and the Sicilian which I am learn both sides for) then have to face French, Scandinavian, Caro-Kann and Pirc which all occur frequently. So I need to have a working understanding of these. On top of that even if I learn them I will be out of book againet Alekhine, Duras or any unusual opening. So be prepared to fall back on principles of development. Due to all the options against e4 and learning the sicilian I have no time to study d4 other than Dutch and no time to learn the Spanish, Scotch or Kings Gambit so I wont be playing them. Limiting your play to a pool of openings seems like a good idea for getting better. There is always one extra to add later.

Very hard to meet the criteria of "simple, aggressive, and worth sticking to for a long time" as these are somewhat contradictory goals, but I'll do my best. 

Against 1.e4 the French is relatively compact. There's four major variations, but similarities between the pawn structures of all of them except the exchange. The exchanged also has a simple hyper aggressive plan of castling queen side and going for the immediate attack. Unless white is alert enough to immediately counterattack (at your level not likely) they will find themselves in big trouble. The advanced structure is either something you'll enjoy playing or you won't. Black has the simple plan of attacking the central pawns, and at your level I think if  you come after the d4 pawn with everything I'd bet it will fall. 

Against 1.d4 the dutch has a somewhat dubious reputation but is certainly solid enough upto at least master level. Like any opening that moves the f pawn early it plays for a king side attack. I know less about the dutch than the french, but I think it's the closest to fitting your criteria. 

A white repertoire is a little harder to recommend. London is small book, but also not very aggressive. e4 has like 7 major defenses and you have to come up with a line against each one. One trick is to use an "advanced pawn" repertoire where you play the alapin sicilian, the advanced french, the advanced caro, the austrian pirc, and the three pawn modern. This will give you a similar structure that aims for king side aggression in all the main asymmetrical defenses. As for e4-e5, maybe the King's gambit would work. It's extremely aggressive, solid enough, and will dodge the ruy/scotch/italian theory war. 

I'd recommend playing the Taimanov full time if you're willing to risk an open sicilian to dodge the exchange french. Most of the alternative lines in e6 sicilians are just an improved french anyways, so the main drawback is staring down the open sicilian which you're doing anyways. 

I like your suggestion but I don't necessarily want to ditch an opening because of one variation. But it is still a good idea to start with the Sicilian to learn those sidelines and 1...e5 is good but very tricky. Might learn it later but for now, I have two solid openings