How to build an opening repertoire

Every tournament player should have a sound opening repertoire. He has to decide what to play from either (white/black) side and prepare a line against each of opponent’s replies.

Example:

A player decides to play 1 e4 from white side. To plan a repertoire from white side he will have to consider all possible replies to 1 e4 that his opponent can play from black side. Against 1 e4 the opponent has following main replies:

1 … e5 the Open Game

1 … c5 Sicilian Defence

1 … e6 French Defence

1 … c6 Caro Kann Defence

1 … d5 Scandinavian Defence

1 … Nf6 Alekhine Defence

1 … d6 Pirc Defence

1 … g6 Modern Defence

These are the most popular ways to meet 1 e4.

He will have to choose a line against each of the above systems. If he decides to play the main line against Sicilian for example, he will have to prepare a line against each of black’s choices like Scheveningen, Dragon, Pelikan, Najdorf, Taimanov, etc. because black can play any one of these variations against him. If he decides to play English Attack against Scheveningen, he will have to prepare against each of black’s set ups against English Attack.

From black side, he will have to prepare a line against the most popular first moves 1 e4 and 1 d4. If he decides to play French Defence against 1 e4 for example, he will have to prepare lines against all the variations that white can play against French Defence. In addition to this he will have to prepare against less popular first moves like 1 c4, 1 Nf3 and also against sidelines like 1 f4, 1 b4, 1 b3, etc.

How to choose lines

It is completely your choice. Normally choice of openings will be based on:

1 Your playing style: Are you comfortable in closed positions? Do you like to take risk to get attacking chances? Would you mind sacrificing material while conducting attack? Are you good in endgame? The answers to these questions will help you choose openings. Normally a player should choose openings that suit his playing style.

2 How much time you can devote: Some openings are highly fashionable while others are not so popular. Some of them require exact move orders and memorizing of variations while a few others can be played by applying your chess understanding. You don’t need to memorize lengthy variations. If you know the typical playing methods and plans in such openings, you can face any tough opponent. For openings like Sicilian Dragon and King’s Indian you will have to spend a lot of time on opening preparation. These lines demand exact move orders. Sometimes you play theory until move 30. You need to update your knowledge frequently and continuously.

Another important decision is whether to play main lines or sidelines.

Popular lines are played by top Grandmasters and normally take time to prepare and involve too much of theory. They are popular because they give good results at that level. Normally you will get different types of positions with so many variations in these openings. They take time to prepare but give you good results even at a higher level.

Less popular lines (sidelines) have a surprise value and you don’t need to spend hours learning complicated variations. But if you play the same sidelines always, most of your opponents will know what you are going to play. You will find it boring if you play the same type of position every time. Sometimes sidelines can be a good choice at school level and also at club level. If you choose good sidelines that are not unsound traps, you can try them even against senior players. There are some Grandmasters who always play sidelines, even at the highest Grandmaster level. So they can’t be bad.

As you become a stronger player, you can widen your repertoire by learning more than one line against each of opponent’s choices.

Your coach can actually help you in choosing and preparing openings.

Prepare openings in 5 easy steps

Opening preparation is important for a tournament player because it gives him confidence, saves time on the clock and really makes a big difference in tournament results. There are some players who spend hours every day to learn opening lines and variations but they still don’t get satisfactory results in tournaments. Knowing ‘the book’ is not enough to win the game. Here are 5 simple steps to prepare openings:

1 Understand the opening

Try to understand common ideas and plans in the opening that you want to prepare. There are typical playing methods in all openings. Try to learn them from games annotated by masters. Search for games played in the opening that you want to prepare and study annotated games with comments in the openings. Get the books dedicated to particular openings. Read and understand ideas behind that opening. Learn how pieces of both the sides are developed, what type of pawn structure you get from that opening and common tactics that occur frequently. Do not hurry to learn so many variations by heart at this stage. Just try to learn the main variations and common plans in them.

2 Practice games

Try to play a lot of practice games, even blitz and semi serious games in that opening. You can try this in your local chess club and also online. Try to follow the playing methods and plans of that opening in your games. Analyze games with friends, opponents and coach without going deep into opening variations. At this stage you should try to understand how you could play better and after each practice session compare your moves with the book moves and study a few lines in that opening variation.

3 Study games

See a lot of games played by Grandmasters and strong players in that opening. Search for games from books and databases. Try to understand ideas deeper and also try to learn lines while studying games. This will help you gain better understanding of that opening. Study full games and do not skip moves after one side gets advantage in the opening. It is important to understand how a strong player plays that position after opening.

4 Learn lines

Now you can start learning opening lines from books and opening tree from a chess program. Try to remember ideas like “ This move is good if opponent develops his bishop on d7 but not so effective if he develops his bishop on b7” or “Black should play this if white moves his bishop to c4 but not if he keeps his bishop on f1.” Try to understand and remember key variations.

5 Keep learning

Keep learning and trying new ideas in the opening and update your knowledge by downloading and studying the latest games played in that opening. Try your own ideas in practice games and tournaments, analyze and find improvements, continue working.