Check out Chessable....
It's an online interactive chess training site.....they have courses on every aspect of chess including openings....some of the courses are free.....you can accomplish essentially exactly what you have described there...
https://www.chessable.com/chess-openings/
You might also discover something of interest here...
Chess Openings Resources for Beginners and Beyond...
https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell/openings-resources-for-beginners-and-beyond
I don’t think this is the best use of your time for several reasons:
A computer, especially on a lower level, will not play mainline theory, so memorising a line 8-10 moves deep, you’ll probably find the computer deviates from mainlines before that, and due to it being a low level, it may well play different random moves each game - so you wont actually get to repeat the openings you're trying to memorise.
The best way to learn openings IMO is a) to memorise the moves via the openings explorer database, replaying the moves over and over to learn the sequence played by strong humans, rather than computers, and 2) to either read, watch a YouTube video or listen to a coach to then actually understand the purpose of each move in that opening. You want to understand why a move is played, the purpose of it, and if your opponent does not reply accurately, how to take advantage of that - rather than continuing on autopilot with your memorised opening.
I’d say for beginners and most intermediates - you should not put too much effort into memorising openings and focus more on opening principles and instead invest most of your time on tactics (puzzles) and endgames starting with basic endgames (king + pawn vs king, and king + rook + 1 pawn vs king and rook, etc) and progressing from there, assuming you’ve already learnt the basic checkmate patterns like king + queen vs king and king + rook vs king.
Thanks for the replies (I always value the thought provoking replies I get on this site - I love the fact you can ask a question and you get some advice, and more often than not something to work on!)
I have found that the app I am playing deviates quite early - so my evaluation of the games so far has been, what does that variation achieve...is it good, or bad and why!)
I have a couple of books on my openings of choice and I have some youtube vids that I refer to - actually it is an amazing resource in that regard, particularly if I could mention Atlanta Chess club, St Louis Chess club, IM Rosen, GM Ben Finegold and others.
The book I am following now (The Game of Chess by Siegbert Tarrasch) is covering End games, so my openings at this stage are to just get me into having a game.
Thanks for the replies (I always value the thought provoking replies I get on this site - I love the fact you can ask a question and you get some advice, and more often than not something to work on!)
...
The book I am following now (The Game of Chess by Siegbert Tarrasch) is covering End games, so my openings at this stage are to just get me into having a game.
Honestly, having strong foundational knowledge on "opening principles" will be superior at your level than trying to learn specific mainline theory on particular openings.
This is because more often than not, beginners and intermediates will often deviate from mainline theory so your time spent learning this theory will only benefit you on the fairly small percentage of games where your opponent not only a) plays into your opening but b) sticks to the specific lines you've memorized. Sticking to "opening principles" should often be enough to carry you into the middlegame or endgame without much trouble. This also means you can free up your study time for endgames immediately, rather than waiting to 'graduate' onto that topic after you've learnt the openings.
Hikaru Nakamura (#1 blitz player) has an online youtube series where he specifically plays objectively "garbage openings" against players up to 2400 - where he indirectly demonstrates that tactical knowledge and endgame skills are superior to miniscule opening advantages.
The main thing is you enjoy what you're doing and enjoy the process of learning and understanding openings and the middle-game plans that come from them. So I would not want to discourage you from following this line of study, however I'm just trying to give context as to *why* I believe your time would be better spent on tactics (which help with calculation, pattern recognition, etc) and endgames (which also help with calculation, patterns, etc but also the good thing about learning endgames is that many games can and often do result in an endgame, with familiar positions, irrespective of the opening they originated out of).
Can I draw attention to a sythesis in my chess life?
I used to be really into chess, and I remember my last issue of the UK (British or whatever) Chess magazine talked about Jonathan Rowson getting his IM norm - jonathan Rowson is a Scottish chess player, now GM, who is now famous for great books for masters and beginners.
I asked a simple question and Kraig has given me (and everyone else who wants ask the same thing! ) so much to work with - thank you Kraig, I really appreciate your advice.
Hi boyd. I'm 1400ish. I know the first 3 or 4 moves of the mainlines of a couple of openings. That's it. If none of them come up then I just play opening principles. I spend most of my time studying tactics, positional planning and middlegame, endgame. Something to try, go back through your last 10 losses and go to the 6th move say. If, generally, the computer evaluation is less than 1 in your opponents favour then, on the whole, the opening is not an issue at the moment. You probably lost elsewhere in the game.
Hi boyd. I'm 1400ish. I know the first 3 or 4 moves of the mainlines of a couple of openings. That's it.
Amen Brother!
Read a book and make a study out of it on Lichess.com. Here's a link to a lot of chess books. Making a study will help you understand how to play openings and making a study will make you memorize the lines a lot more than simply reading it like a novel and forgetting what to do
I would like to second what Kraig said and then go a little further. I do strongly believe this is not the way you should be studying. All you need to know for the opening at this moment is that white should try to get pawns on e4 and d4, while black should try and prevent this. That is why 1. e4 - e5 and 1. e4 - c5 are so popular: it prevents the d4-e4 center for white. That is why 1. d4 - d5; 2. c4 is played, because if black takes the pawn, white again can have his d4-e4 center. That is why 1. d4 Nf6 is played quite often, because black still stops white from playing e4. Apart from that, develop all of your pieces (try and move them to an active place and don't play around with them before you've developed all or most!) and castle your king into safety.
Learning opening lines can be boring, but also frustrating. Because if they do something they're not 'supposed' to do, you find out it's hard to punish your opponent. And even when you do get the line you've prepared, you might end up in a position you just don't understand how to play, because you've learned the moves without a proper look at the resulting game. It could actively harm the fun you could be having with this game.
What I would advise you:
- spend time on tactics. Also spend time on learning about tactics and about how to spot them. I've always loved the 'step method' we use to teach Dutch children chess. Google it and you'll find their website, it is in English nowadays too. It actually teaches you even more about chess than just the tactics, also some essential simple endgames.
- learn basic endgames: how to checkmate with queen, how to checkmate with rook and how to win King and pawn versus King. The rest gets important when you find you frequently enter endgames with equal material.
- maybe go and see if you can find information on how to keep your pieces happy. Like rooks love open files, bishops don't want to see pawns on the color they are on, etc. Reasses your Chess by Silman is fantastic for this, but above your level. Then again, you don't have to understand everything in the book to still learn about the general principles that you can find in our game.
(I have mentioned before on these boards that I am getting back into chess after a big gap.)
I followed a good chess video series, and was recommended a few openings - but i have never really found a good way to memorise openings , certainly not just by looking at them in a book or going through them on a board.
So I have developed a plan; I have an app on my phone, and I intend to play several 8 game matches against the silicon horror: first 8 games I will consult my notes on my openings in all of the games, then I if I get a winning score the next 8 games I will allow myself to consult my notes for 6, then 4, the 2 and then none - if I win that set of 8, I will progress to the next difficulty level, and start again with notes on all 8, then 6, 4, 2....etc.
Does that sound any good? I know playing against a computer is not ideal, but I just want to get the moves and ideas into my head.