openings for beginners

Hi! My name is Lauren Goodkind and I’m a chess coach and chess book author based in California.  My website is www.ChessByLauren.com

To help you with the middle game, it totally depends on the position.  

If there’s a lot of pieces on the board, then knights are better than bishops.  If the position is open, then bishops are better than knights.   

You want always control the center.  

You also want make a threat (such as threatening to do a knight fork, or threaten checkmate, etc).  

If you cannot move and make a threat, then threaten to threaten something.  Always have a plan.  

Also consider all checks and captures on your side and also your opponent’s side. 

I hope that this helps.  

Chess Openings Resources for Beginners and Beyond...

https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell/openings-resources-for-beginners-and-beyond

https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell

Saragossa opening is good.

Maybe try the hippo opening. I’m just learning it. 

The standard openings are standard for a reason.

Try to pick one or two common openings for each of the following:

White e4

White d4

Black against e4

Black against d4

When you're Black and opponent plays something besides e4/d4, stick to opening principles.

The already mentioned Saragossa and Hippo are not standard openings and are both too passive for a beginner to consider - after all, in order to win a game it's best to play the attack at your level.

Modern Scandi. I will always recommend it. The standard Scandi (with 2..Qxd5) loses a tempo and it's what your opponent will probably expect a Scandi player to play.

The fact that you can basically always play your preparation against 1. e4 is just one of the positives for me.

I might sound crazy right now, but as a beginner, try the london system(most other beginners have no idea how to handle it) and also things like the Trompowsky(butchered that) attack. As black(again, I might sound crazy) but try the king's indian(both of them). If you know it well, you will completely destroy people that may have seemed impossible to win against before. Against 1.e4, I don't really like the Sicilian(1. c5), but feel free to try it. Usually play e5 or d5 (e4 d5 is the Scandinavian defense) against 1.d4, I like d5, f5(dutch defense) or Nf6. 

French Defense and all its variations is an opening you can play as a beginner or a grandmaster, and as you play it you will understand it more and more. There are plenty of possibilities.

French Defense, Advanced French Defense, French Exchange Variation, and the French Wing Gambit

But not everyone plays 2.d4 against the french. I like 2.c4, and many titled players avoid 2.d4 entirely in favor of 2. f4 and 2.c4. 2.f4 grabs the center in a way that the french has a hard time handling, and 2.c4 puts a deadly clamp on the precious d5 square. 

Fair point, but it's uncommon, especially at beginner levels. 

Caro-kann?