Published 3/10/2024
Every time you play chess, you need to have a solid plan of action, meaning you need to know what you plan on playing, and playing it to the best of your ability requires a lot of practice, but eventually you will get good enough at an opening for white or a defence for black. Therefore, it's imperative to learn other openings and defences, because coming to a gun fight with a pocket knife is going to get you hurt bad.
Having a Swiss Army Knife isn't good enough if your opponent has a gun opening on you, meaning they can smoke you fast because your defence is weak against their opening, and for this reason, it's imperative to learn which openings are better against certain defence and how to play them, or on the inverse, which defence to play against a particular opening. For example, using the Evan's Gambit effectively, a variation of the Italian Game, can literally lead to a huge advantage for White, and it is a very aggressive opening indeed!
Emanual Lasker in the 1890s found a way to defeat this gambit effectively, here is one of his games that showcases how he defeated the gambit, and the reason I showed you this is, you will often run into this opening against white. Also, Mikhail Tal, one of the most aggressive players in chess found a way to defeat the Caro Kann, and here is a video of him doing just that!
Of course for a long time the Evans Gambit and Caro Kann Defence were considered great chess openings/defences, they truly are, but as you can see any chess opening or defence can be defeated! Another example is by Semyon Alapin, who invented a very witty chess opening for white to defeat multiple famous openings, but mainly it is used to crush the Sicilian Defence.
In the video below you will find some great tips on which openings to learn by rating, it's helpful to master the basics first, and then learn to memorize & master the variations of multiple openings, yes it is a lot of work indeed. Chess has a massive learning curve, it's going to take you years to get great at it, at least 5+, and so if you don't have the commitment to learning on this level, then chess probably isn't for you.
A lot of people love chess, there are millions of players worldwide, it's a game of wit, strategy, and requires your undivided attention and focus to prevent you from making blunders and mistakes, therefore it's best to dedicate a space or place to give chess your total attention. It's too hard to play chess if you are distracted, it really is, and so you will need some quite time to focus on the game, also learning the game as well. (Studying Openings / Strategies / etc.)
Once you have acquire enough skills, learned a few openings, traps, and mastered the basics, you'll be well on your way to utterly destroying most of the local wannabe masters. Remember this though, planning is everything, therefore, before you even make your first move, decide how you will come with the attack, and that's because the old adage "The best defence is a great offence." is truly the bottom line in chess.
The greatest weapon in your repertoire is your mind, it's how you think that helps you win games, and one of the best opponents you'll ever face is one who has a definitive plan of attack. It's just that you need to learn which attack to bring against any particular defence your opponent is playing, because of this you'll find many Grand Masters will delay coming out with an opening, or mask what their opening is to confuse their opponent, which is another weapon to add to your repertoire.
Chess is very tricky, it's easy to fool a guesser, and if you don't know what you are doing, you'll probably get steam rolled by someone who does know how to win. I've seen a lot of players with no decisive plan of attack, they may know openings, but that's where it ends for them, and that's because they don't truly know how the opening wins ultimately. (E.g. the main attack plan.)
This is why the infamous Queen Attack and Fried Liver Attack are extremely good against novice players, they simply do not know how to handle these simple attack plans, and of course there is the Greek Gift, which is very effective against even good players. Overall your focus should be learning as many attack strategies as possible, this is why puzzles are good at helping you learn tactics that win games, and finding the check against the King or even the Queen will help you maintain control over your opponent, and open up even more or even better attacking positions.
Mikhail Tal was one of the greatest Grand Masters of the the Attack, his games were so vicious that even other GMs feared playing against him, and that's because they knew if there were any weaknesses in their defence, Tal would exploit it to checkmate every time! Speaking of time, it's time for me to go, but before I do, I'd like to remind you that writing blog post cost time and money, and all I'm asking in return is that you share this blog to help it become something more than just writing on a wall, thanks!
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