Picking the right chess opening is important if you want to be successful in your

chess career. Due to the vast amount of openings and defences out there, choosing
the right opening may seem very difficult. Studying an opening is a major
commitment, which is why it is important to look at all different openings and find
which
one
suits
you
best.
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How can you pick the perfect opening for you?

Make sure that you enjoy playing that opening. If youre a strategic player,
you will probably not enjoy playing the Kings Gambit. At the same time, your
chess will be stronger if you play positions you can dominate.
Understand the positions that arise from your opening. Is your opening
sharp? What kind of positions emerge from this opening and how comfortable
are you at playing these positions?
Understand how much time you can devote to studying openings. If you
possess a limited amount of time you can devote to studying openings, it
would not be the best idea for you to delve into openings with heavy amounts
of theory (for example the Najdorf variation). Study systems or openings that
dont require a lot of preparation or memorization. If you are willing to spend
more time studying openings, and you possess a great memory, a more
complicated opening will be beneficial for you because it will allow you to
outplay opponents in the opening phase.
Dont study unsound openings. The Orangutan Opening may surprise your
online blitz opponents, but a strong player will know how to play against it and
will punish you.
Look at games by strong players. For example, have you always admired or
identified with Kramniks style of play? Then analyse his games and look at
the openings he plays. If you dont have a lot of time to study openings, this is
an effective technique, since you can steal a strong players repertoire.

Best openings according to ELO

We have done all the hard work for you and divided ALL opening into the following
categories:
Category-1 (800 1200)
The main goal is control of the centre, i.e. e4-e5 and d4-d5.

 Category-2 (1200 1500)

The main goal is an open centre and active pieces.

Category-3 (1500 2000)

The main goal is to play gambits.

Category-4 (2000 2300)

The main goal is to achieve a stable centre.

Category-5 (2300 2500)

The main goal is to be better prepared than your opponent.

Category-6 (2600 2800)

The main goal here is to be a chess alien!

Lets see some examples of openings.

Category-1
(800

1200):

Scholars

Mate

White:
At this level, the most famous way to win with the White pieces is by the Scholars
Mate. It happens for the first time in this game:
Amillano, Jesus Loeffler, Arthur G [C20]
Mar del Plata op Mar del Plata (6), 1972
1.e4 e5 2.Qh5 Nc6 3.Bc4 g6 4.Qf3 Nd4 5.Qxf7# 10

Checkmate
Note: you can download the PGNs of all the games here.
This system is still active and some
some of the TOP Grandmasters implement it in their
repertoire from time for time. For example:
Nakamura, Hikaru (2657) Filippov, Anton (2466) [C20]
Champions Challenge 92nd playchess.com INT (5.3), 30.04.2005
1.e4 e5 2.Qh5 Nc6 3.Bc4 g6 4.Qf3 Nf6 5.Ne2 Bg7 6.d3 d5 7.exd5 Nb4 8.Bb3 Nbxd5
9.h3 00
0 10.Bg5 c6 11.Nbc3 h6 12.Nxd5 hxg5 13.Ndc3 a5 14.a4 Qe7 15.Qe3 Nh5
16.g4 Nf4 17.Nxf4 gxf4 18.Qe2 Qh4 19.Ne4 Kh8 20.Nd2 e4 21.000
21.0
exd3 22.Qxd3
Qxf2 23.Ne4 Qe3+ 24.Kb1 Qxd3 25.Rxd3 Be5 26.Re1 f6 27.Nd2 g5 28.Nf3 Re8
R
29.Bf7 Re7 30.Rd8+ Kg7 31.Bb3 b5 32.Nd4 Rb7 33.axb5 Bxd4 34.Rxd4 Rxb5
35.Re7+ Kh6 36.Rd6 Kg6 37.Bc4 Rb7 38.Bd3+ 10
1

Black:
The most normal moves for White are: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4. A lot of players will
try to use these moves at the beginning of their games as White. Therefore, here I
have an interesting system for you with the Black pieces:
Muehlock Kostic, Boris [C50]
Cologne Cologne, 1912
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4

White to play
4.Nxe5 Qg5 5.Nxf7 Qxg2 6.Rf1 Qxe4+ 7.Be2 Nf3# 01
0

This system was played for the first time in 1912, but after 100+ years it is still very
popular and Black can win games with it. For example:
Dang, Minh Anh (1443) Nguyen, Ngoc Phuong Quyen (1427) [C50]
VIE-ch U07 Girls Ho Chi Minh City (7), 17.07.2014
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 4.Nxe5 Qg5 5.Nxf7 Qxg2 6.Rf1 Qxe4+ 7.Be2 Nf3# 0
1
Advantages:

You will not spend much time studying it

You can understand it easily
You can win fast!

Category-2
(1200

1500):

Scotch

Opening

White:
The Scotch Opening begins with the moves: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4.
Ercole del Rio, in his 1750 work On the game of Chess, was the first author to refer
to this system as a Scotch Opening. Later, the opening received its name from a
correspondence
ce match in 1824 between Edinburgh and London.
It gained popularity in the 19th century, but a little later it lost favour among top
players because it was releasing the central tension too early.
Nepomniachtchi, Ian (2721) Ivanchuk, Vassily (2731) [C45]
Beijing Sportaccord Basque Beijing (1.1), 17.12.2013
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Qf6 5.Nb3 Qg6 6.f3 Bb4+ 7.Bd2 a5 8.Nc3
Nge7 9.Nb5 Bxd2+ 10.Qxd2 Kd8 11.000
11.0
0 d6 12.Kb1 Rf8 13.g4 Qf6 14.g5 Qxf3
15.Bg2 Qg4

White to play
16.e5 Nxe5 17.Nxd6 cxd6
xd6 18.Qxd6+ Nd7 19.Rhe1 Qxg5 20.Nc5 10
1
But a great Grandmaster is always searching for novelties, i.e. doing all the hard
work for us, and in the 20thcentury Garry Kasparov popularized the Scotch Opening
once more. When he stopped playing professional chess in 2005, step by step this
opening went out of favour.
Often openings do not stop being playing because they lead to losses but simply
because of the prevailing fashion! For example, one year blue clothing can be in
fashion, the next white. Similarly,
Similarly, in chess one opening can be popular today and
not tomorrow. Garry again shocked the word and the top Grandmasters in 2016.
Lets see some of his games:
Kasparov, Garry (2812) So, Wesley (2773) [C45]

Ultimate Blitz Challenge Saint Louis USA (1.2), 28.04.2016

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nxc6 bxc6 6.e5 Qe7 7.Qe2 Nd5 8.c4
Ba6 9.b3 g6 10.Ba3 c5 11.g3 Bg7 12.f4 Nb4 13.Bg2 Rd8 14.Nc3 00 15.Bb2 d5
16.a3 d4 17.axb4 dxc3 18.Bxc3 cxb4 19.Bb2 Bc8 20.00 f6 21.Bd5+ Rxd5 22.cxd5
Qc5+ 23.Rf2 fxe5 24.Bxe5 Bxe5 25.Qxe5 Rd8 26.Rd1 Bg4 27.Qd4 Qa5 28.Rdd2
Re8 29.Kg2 Qb5 30.h3 Bf5 31.g4 Be4+ 32.Kh2 c5 33.Qf6 c4 34.d6 Bc6 35.f5 Rf8
36.Qe6+ Kg7 37.d7 Qc5 38.Qd6 10
Kasparov, Garry (2812) Nakamura, Hikaru (2787) [C45]
Ultimate Blitz Challenge Saint Louis USA (5.2), 28.04.2016
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Bc5 5.Be3 Qf6 6.c3 Nge7 7.Bc4 Ne5 8.Bb3 d6
9.00 00 10.f3 N7c6 11.Kh1 Bb6 12.Na3 Kh8 13.Qd2 Na5 14.Ndb5 Bxe3 15.Qxe3
Qe7 16.Bc2 a6 17.Nd4 c5 18.Ne2 Nac4 19.Nxc4 Nxc4 20.Qc1 f5 21.b3 Nb6 22.c4
fxe4 23.Bxe4 Bf5 24.Ng3 Bxe4 25.Nxe4 Rad8 26.Re1 Rfe8 27.Qd2 Qf8 28.Ng5 Qf6
29.Rxe8+ Rxe8 30.Re1 Rxe1+ 31.Qxe1 Nd7 32.Qe8+ Nf8 33.h3 Kg8 34.Ne4 Qf4
35.Qe7 Qc1+ 36.Kh2 Qf4+ 37.Kg1 Qc1+ 38.Kf2 Qb2+ 39.Kg3 h5 40.Nxd6 h4+
41.Qxh4 Ng6 42.Qe4 Qf6 43.Nf5 Qg5+ 44.Kh2 Nf4 45.g3 Nh5 46.f4 Qd8 47.Qd5+
Qxd5 48.Ne7+ Kf7 49.Nxd5 10
Black:
The Albin Countergambit begins with the moves: 1.d4 d5 2. c4 e5 3.dxe5 d4.
This is a very interesting defence against d4 openings. Morozevich (2770),
Kasimdzhanov (2690) and other strong Grandmasters are fond of this opening and
use it often.
Black sacrifices one central pawn in order to gain central control with the d4 pawn
and with his pieces.
One very famous trap is the following:
Biever, Roger Cassidy, Raymond [D08]
Wch U20 fin-C Muenchenstein/Basel (1.3), 29.07.1959
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 d4 4.e3 Bb4+ 5.Bd2 dxe3 6.Bxb4

Black to play
6exf2+ 7.Ke2 fxg1N+ 8.Ke1 Qh4+ 9.Kd2 Nc6 10.Bc3 Bg4 01
0
Advantages:

You will learn how to attack

You can handle dynamic positions
You should invest a little more time in the opening but you will be rewarded
for it!
Very flexible and able to be played in almost every game.

Category-3
3
(1500

2000):

Sicilian

Defence

The Sicilian begins with these moves: 1. e4 c5

The Sicilian is the most popular and best-scoring response to Whites first move
1.e4.
17% of all games between Grandmasters, and 25% of games in the Chess
Informant database, begin with the Sicilian.
This is the chess opening that you will love for your entire life, because Black is
playing not just for equality but for the advantage.
The drawback is that White often obtains an early initiative, so Black has to take
care not to fall victim to a quick attack.
White:

Smith-Morra
The Smith-Morra
Morra Gambit, or simply Morra Gambit, is distinguished by the moves:
1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.c3.
White sacrifices a pawn to develop quickly and create attacking chances. In
exchange for the gambit pawn, White has a piece developed after 4.Nxc3 and a
pawn in the centre, while Black has an extra pawn and a central pawn majority.

The plan for White is straightforward and consists of placing the bishop on c4, to
attack the f7-square,
square, and ccontrolling both the c- and d-files
files with rooks, taking
advantage of the fact that Black can hardly find any suitable place to post his queen.
Afromeev, Vladimir (2573) Smolskiy, Mikhail (2076) [B21]
Tula Rassadnev Memorial Tula (11), 17.02.2006

1.e4 c5
5 2.d4 cxd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Nxc3 Nc6 5.Nf3 d6 6.Bc4 Nf6 7.e5 dxe5 8.Qxd8+
Nxd8 9.Nb5 Rb8 10.Nxe5 Ne6 11.Be3 Bd7 12.Bxe6 fxe6 13.Nc7+ Kd8 14.Rc1 Bc6
15.Nxe6+ Kc8 16.00
0 Ne8 17.Bg5 Nf6 18.Rfd1 Nd7 19.Rxd7 10
1 0
Schmidt, W. (2475) Roeder, Frank (2250) [B21]
Krumbach
mbach op Krumbach, 1985
1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Nxc3 d6 5.Bc4 Nc6 6.Nf3 e6 7.00
7.0
Be7 8.Qe2 a6
9.Rd1 Qc7

White to play
10.Bf4 Ne5 11.Bxe5 dxe5 12.Rac1 Qb8 13.Bb5+ axb5 14.Nxb5 Kf8 15.Nc7 Ra7
16.Qb5 Nf6 17.Qxe5 Kg8 18.Nd5 Qxe5 19.Rxc8+ Bf8 20.Ne7#
20.Ne7 1
0
Black:

Nepomniachtchi, Ian (2718) Wang, Yue (2697) [B22]

RUS-CHN
CHN Summit 8th Rapid St Petersburg (4), 07.07.2012
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c3 d5 4.exd5 Qxd5 5.d4 Bf5 6.Na3 cxd4 7.Nb5 000
0
8.cxd4
e5 9.Qa4 Bb4+

White to play
10.Bd2 Bxd2+ 11.Kxd2 Kb8 12.Bc4 Qe4 13.Rhe1 Qf4+ 14.Ke2 a6 15.Kf1 axb5
16.Bxb5 Nxd4 17.Rxe5 Nf6 18.Re7 Be4 19.Rd1 Nxb5 20.Rxb7+ Kxb7 21.Qxb5+
Kc8 01
Advantages:

You will learn the role of time in chess

You will learn the role of material in chess

You will develop your pieces

pieces faster. Better development means a faster
attack. A faster attack means a WIN!
It clears the kingside pieces for castling
Black has a lot of options going into the middlegame.

Category-4
4
(2000

2300):

Spanish

Opening

The Ruy Lopez is

named after 16th-century
century Spanish priest Ruy Lpez de Segura. It is one of the most
popular openings, with such a vast number of variations that in the Encyclopaedia of
Chess Openings (ECO), all codes from C60 to C99 are assigned to them.
White:
Anand, Viswanathan (2779) Svidler, Peter (2728) [C88]
Corus Wijk aan Zee (5), 18.01.2007

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0

5.00
0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 00
0
8.h3 Bb7
9.d3 Re8 10.a4 h6 11.c3 b4 12.Nbd2 d5 13.a5 dxe4 14.dxe4 Bc5 15.Qe2 Qe7
16.Nh4 Nd7 17.Nf5 Qf6

White to play
18.Qg4 Ne7 19.Nxh6+ Qxh6 20.Qxd7 Red8 21.Qxc7 10
1
Black:
Marshall Attack
The Marshall Gambit is an attacking system in the Spanish Opening, named after
the American chess master Frank Marshall, who discovered this opening but
b kept it
top secret for 10 years, in order to play it against the great Capablanca.

Capablanca won the first game with White, but this gambit is very popular today.
Vojinovic, Goran (2445) Lazic, Miroljub (2470) [C89]
YUG-ch
ch op Nis (10), 1998
1.e4
4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.00
5.0 0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0
00 8.c3 d5
9.exd5 e4 10.dxc6 exf3 11.Qxf3 Bg4 12.Qg3

Black to play
12Bd6 13.Qh4 Re8 14.Rxe8+ Qxe8 15.f3 Qe2 16.d4 Bh3 17.gxh3 Qxh2+ 18.Kf1
Bg3 01
Advantages:

You will create a solid opening

open
repertoire
You will not be facing any surprises in this opening

Healthier pawn structure

Great flexibility in steering the game.

Category-5
(2300

2500):

Novelty

in

Opening

Novelty is a very
common chess word. Derived from the Latin word novus, new, it is the quality of
being new or, following on from that, of being striking, original or unusual.
When a player unveils a novelty in a chess game, usually he will win the game due
to his better opening preparation. Normally, the opponent cannot manage to defend
correctly against all new threats he will face.
If you would like to play well at this level, then you should have a lot of novelties in
your opening repertoire and continue finding others.

In this category, you nee

need
d to make the breakthrough! Hence, it is necessary to
know all middlegame and endgame techniques.
techniques. So you need to go really, really
deep into opening knowledge. You can do that by personal training from the highesthighest
rated ELO players and with the cooperation of other titled players.

Carlsen, Magnus (2853) So, Wesley (2779) [B90]

Sinquefield Cup 3rd Saint Louis (5), 27.08.2015
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e5 7.Nb3 Be6 8.f3 Nbd7
9.Qd2 b5 10.000
0 Be7 11.g4 b4 12.Nd5 Bxd5 13.exd5 Nb6 14.Na5 Nbxd5 15.Nc4
Nxe3 16.Nxe3 00
0 17.Bc4

Black to play
In this position, White played a novelty, a new move, i.e. the bishop to c4. This new
move helped him win the game.

17Nd7 18.h4 a5 19.g5 Rc8 20.Bd5 Nb6 21.Kb1 Qc7 22.Rhf1 Nxd5 23.Nxd5 Qb7
24.f4 f5 25.Qe3 e4 26.h5 Rc5 27.h6 g6 28.Qb3 Rf7 29.a4 Bd8 30.Rd4 Kf8 31.Rfd1
Rc6 32.Ne3 Bb6 33.Nc4 Bxd4 34.Nxa5 Qb6 35.Nxc6 Bc5 36.Qd5 e3 37.a5 Qb5
38.Nd8 Ra7 39.Ne6+ Ke8 40.Nd4 Qxa5 41.Qg8+ Kd7 42.Qxh7+ Kc8 43.Qg8+ Kb7
44.c3 bxc3 45.Qb3+ Qb6 46.Qxb6+ Kxb6
Kxb6 47.bxc3 Bxd4 48.Rxd4 Kc6 49.Kc2 Ra2+
50.Kd1 Rf2 51.Ke1 Kd7 52.Ra4 Ke6 53.Ra8 Rh2 54.c4 Kf7 55.Rb8 Ke6 56.Rg8 10
1
Note: you can download the PGNs of all the games here.
Advantages:

You can have your ideas ready from your home, from your computer analysis
In your games, you will be relaxed and will have more time on the clock.

Category
6
-

(2600

2800)

You simply need to

know everything. In this category, players can play ALL openings perfectly. Perhaps
these players have solved the chess riddle but havent shared it with us.
Advantages:

You will have followers. People will study and play your openings
You can beat other Grandmasters only with your home preparation
Your goal is to win the World Chess Championship title!

Conclusions

1. The most difficult question for trainers is: What opening should I suggest to
students?
. We can create opening courses and articles for kids, students and trainers, as per
your requests.
2. The opening should be provided according to the current rating level.
. Some openings are specific to a particular players ELO, but you can use them
any time you want.
3. The topic of chess openings is really HUGE and may require many years of study.
. One life is not enough for chess and this is one of lifes weaknesses! But in RCA,
you can find the best opening articles to help your progress. Any opening you like is
provided in a pleasing, educational and entertaining way.

4. Be smart and change your opening

systems as you grow up, when you become a better chess player!

. Understand the positions that arise from your openings. Then, at the appropriate
moment, you can move on!
It is more important to understand the idea of the opening youre playing rather than
mindlessly memorizing variations. When you know what you should do in an
opening, you can find the moves yourself. This is more entertaining and enjoyable,
and you will have fun while playing.
5. Continue to develop your opening knowledge by studying strong players games.
6. Equalize your training
. Dont spend countless hours studying openings. You want your opening,
middlegame and endgame skills to be at the same strength.
7. Practice!
. Practise the same opening. Grandmasters spend many hours playing the same
opening variations. If you want to master an opening, it is important to be patient and
stick with it.