Chess Instruction - Improve Your Openings

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Chess Tutorial : Opening Essentials
Your first task in a chess game is to get a good position. To do that you need to know something about the openings. Here are opening variations, names, and more.

Chess Openings at a Glance
Click on any small diagram for a larger diagram and the moves of that opening. Under the larger diagram find a link to the Introduction for the opening.

Top 10 Popular Chess Openings
Top 10 Popular Chess Openings • What's hot? What's not? Here are ten chess openings all players should be familiar with. Are you?

Index of Opening Tutorials
Click on any small diagram for a larger diagram and a brief introduction to that opening. Under the larger diagram find a link to the Full Tutorial for the opening.

Opening Tutorial : Count the Developing Moves
There is an extremely useful tool for handling the chess opening. Count the developing moves. First, it gives an idea who is leading in development. Second, it tells us what moves to consider next. Third, it lets us recognize and evaluate tradeoffs for less tangible positional factors.

Opening Terms
Chess terminology is at its most colorful in the names that have been applied to the openings and their variations. Chess also has a technical vocabulary which applies to opening theory in general.

Opening Repertoire : View Example Games
If you've spent any time browsing our site, you've probably seen 'Openings : Repertoire Recommendations'. We enhanced this feature by combining our game viewer with an old idea from the American master and writer Al Horowitz : illustrative games.

ChessPublishing.com
'THE chess opening theory site!' Subscription site with some features for Guests.

Charting Openings Diagrams
Displays opening variations as tree structures. Some pages use only Descriptive Notation (1.P-K4).

Chess Openings
Starting from the Initial Position, click on a move to follow an opening variation. The best moves in a position are presented at the beginning of a list.

Chess Openings
'An interactive series of over 5,000 board positions, from first moves through to full development of pieces, covering all major openings, defences and variations.'

Chess Openings (by name / by move)
'HTML version of the ECO database that is distributed with GNU Chess.'

Alekhine's Defense
1.e4 Nf6. Game of the Week

Blackmar-Diemer Gambit
1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3

Polish (aka Sokolski) Opening
1.b4

Opening Tutorial : Nimzo Indian Defense - 4.e3
One of the best moves to meet the Nimzo Indian Defense (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4) is 4.e3. Many authorities call this the 'Rubinstein Variation'. Unlike other moves, 4.e3 doesn't attempt to refute Black's setup. White builds a strong center and aims for flexible development. One idea is to continue Ng1-e2, recapturing with the Knight if Black plays ...Bxc3+.

Opening Tutorial : French Defense - 3.Nc3
The most common continuation of the French Defense is 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5. Black accepts a restricted Bishop and less space in return for a solid position which is not easily breached. The variations after 3.Nc3, where the Knight develops to its natural square, keep the central tension. Black has three good replies: 3...Bb4, 3...Nf6, and 3...dxe4.

Opening Tutorial : Queen's Gambit Declined - 4.Bg5
A popular response by Black to 1.d4 is the Queen's Gambit Declined (often abbreviated QGD) : 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6. The game usually continues 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5, which pins the Black Knight and threatens 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Bxf6 gxf6, ruining Black's Kingside. As with most Queen Pawn openings, the QGD move orders are flexible. In this tutorial we look at the main ideas.

Opening Tutorial : English - 1...e5
The variation 1.c4 e5 of the English Opening is called the Reversed Sicilian. Because the Reversed Sicilian is a tempo ahead of the Sicilian, many beginning players assume there must be something wrong with it for Black. Experienced players know that even if not logical, it is eminently playable.

Opening Tutorial : Ruy Lopez - 3...a6 Closed Variation
The moves 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 (Ruy Lopez) 3...a6 (Morphy Defense) 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 (Closed Variation) 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 O-O, lead to the most common position in chess after eight moves by both sides. One reason for its popularity is that the opponents have so many plans available.

Opening Tutorial : Kings Indian Defense - Classical Variation
The Kings Indian Defense is one of the sharpest ways to meet 1.d4. The Classical Variation (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 O-O) is one of the sharpest ways to meet the Kings Indian. After the board is separated into two pieces by ...e5 & d5, White attacks on the Queenside and Black attacks on the Kingside. Piece exchanges are infrequent and combinations arise everywhere.

Opening Tutorial : Sicilian Defense - Najdorf Variation
If you play 1.e4, planning to answer the Sicilian with 2.Nf3 and 3.d4, you will meet the Najdorf Variation (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6) many times. Be prepared!