FIDE World Cup 2023 | Round 5 | Game 2

When should you actually learn Openings in Chess?

  Openings are one of the most important fundamental parts of the game. It’s even 1 of the 3 phases of a game of chess (Openings, Middlegames, Endgames). And, while they are important, sometimes, their importance is overrated.

One example would be the Sicilian Defence. An extremely powerful opening, yes. But its sheer difficulty to learn makes it a massive time investment. And without strengthening the other 2 areas, Middlegames and Endgames, all that invested time, and perhaps money, would go to waste.

So, that begs the question, when should you actually learn Openings in Chess?

Point 1/3: Why are Openings even important?

Take a look at this position, and ask yourself, who is better?

Obviously White, right? Well, White is better because their pieces are more active and more centralised, which is the point of openings. Openings in chess are opportunities that allow you to develop, centralise and make your pieces super active.

But, sadly, this is a dream position, which can almost never occur. This is why it’s so difficult to learn openings and their variations. There are a lot of different possible moves they can play, developing differently, playing differently, and even traps! This brings me nicely to my second point:

Point 2/3: Complicated Theory

Let’s start with, What Is Theory? - Theory is objectively, THE BEST move in a common position reached thousands of times.

With that in mind, did you know that the Sicilian, the Berlin or the Giuoco piano have theory all the way beyond move 30? This is because these are, super powerful, super versatile openings that, if played incorrectly, will give the other player a massive advantage.

 Notice how I am in the Openings Database. This has been played hundreds of Times, by GMs all over the World.

This means that learning certain openings can cost up to months of learning theory, and may cost quite a large sum of money to learn. And, to add some salt to the wound, Openings like The London System, or the Vienna are Super simple and still usable, up to a very high level.

So, Should you even learn these openings?

Point 3/3: Should you even learn them?

Yes. But only when you’ve reached 2000 rated, in my opinion. I can assure you with 100% certainty that learning these super-powerful openings will NOT help you, below the 2000 ELO range. 

It does not make sense to pour months into these powerful openings when they will only make a tiny difference. But when you reach 2000+ rating, this 2% more power will help you in your games, and be the difference, between Winning and Losing.

So, please tell me in the comments below, what your ELO is and are you interested in learning these super-powerful openings?

We look forward to seeing you again!