I’m looking for suggestions for a good repertoire of openings that allow me to rapidly develop my pieces. I’m rated about 1900 and I don’t like to play variations that require too much memorization (a little is okay though), but would like to play sound openings that will last throughout my chess career (I’d like to reach mastery some day).
This is where I’m at so far, but I would like some second opinions or suggestions: I’ve always stuck with 1.e4 as white so I would like to stay with that as I’m comfortable with it. So far I enjoy the King’s Gambit, Scotch, and Bb5 Sicilians as white. Black is a bit trickier for me to decide on. I’m thinking of sticking with the open games vs. 1.e4 with maybe the Schliemann Gambit (too dubious for a career-long opening?) as my main weapon since it looks and feels similar to the King’s Gambit or maybe the Chigorin or Breyer defences (do either of these offer good piece play?). Against 1.d4 I’ve used the Semi-Slav for several years, but I don’t always enjoy the positions, sometimes if feels like white’s having more fun with his own development and king-side attacks or central attacks. The Botvinnik contains too much theory so I usually head for the Moscow Variation instead. I’m wondering if a switch to the King’s Indian or Gruenfeld might be the ticket though as those openings seem to develop pieces faster. I’m a bit concerned though about leaving the “classical” approach to the center and adopting hyper-modern openings. I enjoy rapid development most of all, but next on the list would be having a bit of space in the center with a pawn to support piece outposts. I really hate being squeezed to death.
Anyway, that’s where I’m at so far. I really want to start planning for the long-term with my opening repertoire so I know exactly what to focus on so that in the years to come I’m comfortable and knowledgeable with my chosen systems.
Your rating is much higher than mine, so it seems sort of silly for me to act as though I have much that I could helpfully say to you, but it seems to me that you have too many goals, particularly when making choices of defenses for use as Black. I suspect that some degree of compromise will be necessary.
@ lblair:
You’re probably right about compromise about the d-pawn openings. I’m really torn between choosing an opening that provides rapid piece development and maintaining a bit of central space with a pawn on d5. It appears that all of the other openings in my repertoire take the classical approach and maintain a central pawn so maybe that should be where I focus. In that case maybe I should just stick with the Semi-Slav.
Also, that article is rather thought provoking. I wonder if I should play something a bit more main-line as black against the Ruy Lopez such as the Chigorin or Breyer defenses instead of the Schliemann. Maybe I’ll just use the Schliemann for blitz games or as an occasional surprise weapon.
Black against 1.e4: both the Zaitsev and the Marshall would seem to fit your bill more than the Breyer (very popular right now, but the undeveloping 9…Nb8, strong as it is, doesn’t fit your requirements) or Chigorin (unfashionable).
Black against 1.d4: Queen’s Gambit Tartakover (ultra-respectable), Von Hennig-Schara Gambit (slightly dubious, but a great practical weapon).
The funny thing about the Tarrasch is that Black’s first three moves don’t develop a piece! (The same could be said about the first FOUR moves of the Von Hennig-Schara Gambit.) But it sure is easy to put Black’s pieces on active squares after that…
Black is ready to castle after only three moves in the Nimzo-Indian…
The general problem with most defenses is an ability to effectively develop the Queenside pieces. Defenses that lead to greater piece mobility or at least require fewer attention to what the Queenside pieces are doing are the ones to look at. To get that mobility, however, there are usually tradeoffs in space or structure. The Ruy Lopez has a number of variations - the Open, Archangel, the Marshall Attack, for example, that get the Queenside pieces out. The Open Sicilian, with its many variations and subvariations, can get Black’s Queenside engaged and even dangerous very quickly, though at some risk to solidity. The Tarrasch Defense in the Queen’s Gambit mobilizes the pieces quickly, but positional weakeness remain and have to be dealt with. The King’s Indian Defense has many lines where the Queenside is often ignored for a large part of the opening; their potential is for later counterattack. The Grunfeld Defense seems to develop the pieces quickly, but White seems to be doing better than just fine in keeping Black at bay. There is no ideal defense that does everything you want. There are costs to all of them. The march of theory in trying to kill Black defenses marches on.
If you want some encouragement in selecting your Black defenses, see the books by Andras Adorjan - “Black is OK”, “Black is still OK”, and “Black is OK Forever.”