The importance of openings for club players is often discussed and many people have different opinions about it. In this post, I will talk about how I approach the opening and how I came to these conclusions. But let me state the most important point right here: study openings in the way that you enjoy.
My Approach to the Opening
When preparing an opening, I’m not trying to go as deep as possible and try to remember huge amounts of theory. Also I don’t try to find some surprises for my opponents at any cost.
Instead I want to reach a position in which I feel comfortable and know the plans. A position which suits my style and where I have at least a rough idea of what is going on.
This means that I’m not looking for the absolute “best” line according to grandmaster play or the engine. I would much rather play an objectively equal position which I understand instead of having an +0.2 advantage in a position where I don't have a general idea of what I try to do.
Engine
I mostly use the engine to answer questions, like ‘Why can’t you play this move?’. But I don’t use the engine when I still have reference games in my database. I don’t like using the machine, since it often gives unnatural moves for both sides, which you will rarely see in actual games.
An engine also won’t tell you the common plans and patterns arising from the opening. Without this knowledge, you will have a hard time playing the arising positions as soon as you are out of book. I always look at the last position from my opening analysis and think about it for a little bit and gain a better understanding of it.
Getting a Feeling for an Opening
For me, the most important thing is to get a good feeling for the openings I want to play. By this I mean that you should know to what kind of positions the opening will lead. The two most common ways to do this is to play through master games or to simply play the opening yourself in (blitz) games.
Going through master games will show you which positions arise from the opening and also give you an idea on how to play the resulting middlegame positions. But I often find it difficult to get a good feeling for the positions, since it’s a big difference if you play a game or go through the game of someone else.
That’s why I prefer the second option since it gives me practical experience in the positions and it is also a good way to find out what players at your level will play against your line. It’s also easier to know if you like a position, when you are playing it.