Best Chess Openings - Best is if you Understand the Spirit of the Opening

There are excellent openings that could be called - the best chess openings - but this will not help you much to win. To play one of the best openings is simply not enough. You can pick one of the best, yes, but will you win because you did this? No! If you lack understanding and don't understand the spirit of this particular chess opening that you have chosen, then you will still lose if your opponent knows it better than you or is the better player overall.

But on the other hand it is logical to assume, that it can't hurt to study only the best right from the start. This will give you a statistical edge in the long run, provided you did study your openings well.

After all I have to put in a lot of work to master an opening so why should I study something inferior in the first place in choosing second best opening lines? This doesn't make much sense.

So take the best and go right into it and study hundreds of games until you understand the set up, plans, motifs and general principles of your beloved opening.

It is hard work to study an opening well and often just a general understanding is necessary and not only special opening lines that have to be remembered move by move. If you can replay all moves in a matter of minutes, this just shows that you have a good memory that's all.

Often players just don't know how to proceed further once the opening is finished, because they have memorized only moves but without understanding of the true spirit of the opening. Understand the general principles as well.

Yes, I give you some ideas what you should play! But don't become an opening fanatics. Just become an expert in the openings you study, this will be sufficient!

It is very beneficial to study general chess principles that are shown in the Ruy Lopez (spanish) opening >>Books/DVD

And don't forget the Marshall-Attack to be able to fight the Ruy Lopez (spanish) when you have Black!

The Scotch opening >>Books/DVD will open your eyes too. Play it with Black if your opponent plays his Bishop to c4 instead of b5 (Ruy Lopez).

As Black if you play 1...e5 you should know how to answer properly against White's different opening lines. This knowledge is covered in Play the open games as Black by GM John Emms.

Whatever you do, every chess player running around on this planet should study the Sicilian Defence >>Books/DVD and as Black the Nimzo-Indian Defense >>Books/DVD.

If you play Black and your opponent plays 1.d4 2.c4 3.Nf3 (instead of 3.Nc3) you can't play the Nimzo Indian above, but can play the Bogo-Indian Defense instead >>Books/DVD. It has similar ideas and plans as occurring in the Nimzo-Indian. This way you can use your knowledge that you gained studying in the Nimzo-Indian.

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