Finding the best amateur openings

Does chessbase allow you filter between two different elo ranges so that I can find game results based on openings?

The idea is to see what openings work out best for amateurs. I'm looking at the 1700 to 2000 elo range ideally. :)

Also, is there any study already done on this?

Jon

Yes, ChessBase allows this.

I suppose then the next question is, are there mega databases of amateur games out there?

Not really, but if you filter MegaDatabase games with a rating range like 1600-2200, that should give you the sample you're looking for.

because few people below 2200 are going to play cutting edge theory, my opening book is stuck somewhere between 1500 and 1950's in terms of how old the variations are, and it even excludes d4 from my white opening book

There are excellent reasons why I might want to do this. By looking at amateur games, it will tell me which openings are the best in practice for this rating range. Then I can adopt them! :)

Before you do your research, I think there are two answers to your question :

- sharp openings, whether mainstream or not - sharpness scores well in amateur chess

- and the other side of the bucket : slow openings with some clear strategical objective, where knowing what you're striving for will help you score points

But it's not the opening which scores the point : it's the player playing good moves

I would like to propose that following a certain opening is not so much the player but the opening. ;)

Try the KG, Dutch, Sicilian, and Open game

the chessatwork openings explorer lets you choose between games played by 1400-1900 players, 1900+ players and mastergames and you don't have to subscribe to use it: http://www.chessatwork.com/gamesexplorer

thanks, that helps