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Back to chess after 20 years.  What are some good openings for a rusty itermediate? Thx.

Bird's Opening.

What could be better?

Ruy Lopez has been popular for long time, it probably was 20 years ago, too!

ALL the major openings are fine.

(Indeed, it's been said that if an opening doesn't lose outright, it's playable. Another quote: "Dubious, therefore playable.")

Opening choices wax and wane in fashion at the highest levels (GM) and this has a natural cyclical affect on those of us who are mere mortals: we like to emulate the greats. True, different openings lend themselves to different styles, but even the Sicilian can be played positionally and the Ruy Lopez tactically.

If you aspire to great heights in the chess world (Master or higher), then most who know what they're talking about suggest that you must inevitably develop a repertoire using major openings. For example, let's look at the last five rounds of the recent M-Tel Masters, with Shirov, Carlsen, Topolov, and Ivanchuk among the participants: Ruy, QGD, Petroff, Gruefeld, Slav, Benoni, Catalan, Sicilian Najdorf, Sicilian, Slav, Ruy, Ruy, Sicilian, Gruenfeld, Gruenfeld. Here, you see that the pros are generally using very traditional openings, though the actual lines played are often quite on the cutting edge. (Alexander Morozevich is a striking counter example, a player that plays unusual and offbeat - by GM standards - openings, but quite well. Otherwise, he'd not stay consistently in the FIDE Top 10 list.)

In the end, the best opening for you to play is the one that you know the best. My personal history is this: I can pick up any opening, and in less than 30 games with it, be easily playing at my current strength. Any opening. (This probably says more about my current strength than it does about chess openings.)

Good luck. And remember, the opening is NOT usually the moment in the game where we squander the win.

Pick openings that suit your style.

For white: I like Queen's Gambit. I think this opening gives white a good positional advantage. If black counters with a 1... Nf6, I use Four Pawns Attack. I think this is the strongest attack after 1. d4 Nf6.

For black: Against 1. e4, I use Owen's Defense even though many people criticize it. If you don't like it, I would reccommend Sicillian Defense.