Book Openings

Introducing "Book" Openings

The reason book openings work is that the possible configurations are known. We know which pieces line up where, and we know what we get when we move them. We know which moves will facilitate positional objectives and which moves will counter them. Against a knowledgable player, a certain move will produce a limited number of possible responses. (Against an uneducated player, developing control of the board will be relativly uncontested.)

There are some wonderful characteristics about playing book openings which people who don't use them usually don't know.

• Book openings are flexable and modular by nature, not rigid sequences.
• Opening book knowledge gives tremendous advantage over an opponent who lacks that knowledge.
• Book Openings will always address the three opening objectives.

The Opening Objectives:

1. Protect the king, BTW: This means to castle.
2. Develop your pieces.
3. Control the center of the board.

How these objectives are met determines the style of the game. In my dicussion, I will only talk about openings which start with e4 or d4. I have found this general distinction to be true, that games beginning with e4 tend towards tight, closed play, while games beginning with d4 tend towards more free, open play.

My openings survey gives a variety of openings which I have selected based on following criteria:

• I personally understand and agree with the moves made by both sides.
• These openings suit my personal style of play.
• They represent some of the most commonly referred to openings.
• They result in a variety of contrasting positional scenerios.

The four openings in the first chart below represent a good start, and should be learned. Below these, I've also included a smattering of others for you to examine, but bear in mind, you need to learn variations that suit YOU. The book, Modern Chess Openings, has 700 pages of side by side column variations as well as practical introductions for each opening.

Four Starter Openings:

Some more to try...

How I teach openings.

I like to slowly talk through a new opening, comparing it to previous openings learned, pointing out how each move applies to the 3 objectives; control the center, develop the pieces, protect the king, and generally discussing the opening with the student(s), including such things as whether the opening is open or closed, and whether each side is controlling the center, kingside, or queenside, and enumerating "end of opening" considerations.

Next, we will go through the opening quickly 2 or 3 times, then the board is turned and learned from the other side. This is done until the players are comfortable from both sides. Lastly, students are issued a move list for each opening they learn. They then choose from these openings for their regular club games.