Answers.Body: <p>Hypermodern openings are typically not recommended to beginners.</p>
  <ol>
  <li>They disregard some opening principles (prima facie) which beginners need to understand before &quot;breaking&quot; them. (That is &quot;giving up&quot; the center; in reality the plan often is to break the center with a pawn as soon as the army is developed. So even in hypermodern openings you eventually will put a pawn into the center.)</li>
  <li>They <strong>require a lot of chess understanding</strong> to play well. Many of them can get you in troublesome (e.g. cramped) positions quickly if you do not play them well (i.e. strike with counterplay).</li>
  <li>Due to the fact that the opponent gets the central control and a free hand, he has a lot of lines that promise an advantage. You'll <strong>need to know a lot of theory</strong>. In the time you need to really learn one of such openings (KID, Grünfeld,...) you could have improved your game much more meaningfully in other ways as a beginner.</li>
  <li>Hypermodern openings <strong>tend</strong> to produce more closed positions (even though some lines don't, e.g. in the Grünfeld), see Brian Towers' answer.</li>
  </ol>
  <p>Nevertheless, that doesn't mean they're never recommended or unplayable as a beginner. GM Daniel Naroditsky recommends the Grünfeld against d4 (and IM Levy Rozman says it's playable as a beginner if you are willing to learn a lot of theory). The Grünfeld has some advantages over other hypermodern openings w.r.t. beginners - it's very direct/tactical, positions can open quickly, the ideas are understandable - and you strike quickly in/at the center. I personally think that the Nimzo-/Queens-Indian isn't too bad for beginners, either.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2023-01-04T22:11:10.970Z
Answers.Text: There's another factor, though, which is that if you're playing a lot of other beginners, you can get a big advantage by knowing a few openings that are outside your oppenents' knowledge and experience.
Answers.UserDisplayName: Michael Kay
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2023-01-04T23:18:24.453Z
Answers.Text: @MichaelKay that's true, one of the best performing openings on lichess is the Alekhine. Would I recommend it? Rather not. Is it underrated? Definitely!
Answers.UserDisplayName: Hauptideal
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2023-02-06T03:43:13.557Z
Answers.Text: When I play the King's Indian setup, usually the opponents do not have opening traps or gambits prepared.
Answers.UserDisplayName: qwr
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2023-02-06T10:22:01.627Z
Answers.Text: @qwr You can have that with much more beginner-friendly openings..
Answers.UserDisplayName: Hauptideal
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2023-01-02T23:02:21.103Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2023-01-02T23:02:21.103Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Hauptideal
Answers.Body: <p>The standard recommendation for beginners is to play openings which produce open positions favouring rapid piece development and tactical opportunities. The reason for this is that this gives the most practice in tactics and improving tactics is the fastest way to improve at this level.</p>
  <p>Hypermodern openings produce closed positions where tactics play a much reduced role and the emphasis is on strategy and maneuvering. Beginners benefit and improve much less with this and so it is not recommended.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2023-01-02T22:13:11.570Z
Answers.Text: The Grünfeld can become very open
Answers.UserDisplayName: Hauptideal
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2023-01-02T22:50:03.893Z
Answers.Text: Hypermodern openings can be very tactical - Austrian attack in the Pirc or Modern, many lines of the Modern Benoni and Kings Indian. Personally I think it's because the hypermodern openings require a bit more positional judgement for e.g. pawn breaks, and knowledge of what tactics can be used  to support them, than the open lines and direct attacks of open positions. But I don't count myself a good enough player to offer that as a judgement, only as an opinion.
Answers.UserDisplayName: Ian Bush
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2023-01-02T18:24:45.697Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2023-01-02T18:24:45.697Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Brian Towers
Body: <p>Beginners are taught principles in a classical style: control the center and develop pieces early. To my understanding, hypermodern openings try to control the center from a distance and wait for the opponent to occupy the center with pawns that become targets. Is this style of play of giving the opponent the early center not recommended to beginners for being too difficult or tricky at that level?</p>
  
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2023-01-03T09:53:35.200Z
Comments.Text: Are you particularly interested in Hypermodern openings (i.e. just from the white side) or openings and defences (i.e. from both sides)?
Comments.UserDisplayName: Ian Bush
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2023-01-03T12:41:06.357Z
Comments.Text: @IanBush playing defenses as black. Actually Brian Towers edited my question and changed the meaning a little
Comments.UserDisplayName: qwr
Tags: <opening><beginner><hypermodernism>
Title: Are hypermodern openings not recommended for beginners?
ThreadText: # Are hypermodern openings not recommended for beginners?
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2023-01-02)
  
  Beginners are taught principles in a classical style: control the center and develop pieces early. To my understanding, hypermodern openings try to control the center from a distance and wait for the opponent to occupy the center with pawns that become targets. Is this style of play of giving the opponent the early center not recommended to beginners for being too difficult or tricky at that level?
  
  **Tags:** opening, beginner, hypermodernism
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_1**: Are you particularly interested in Hypermodern openings (i.e. just from the white side) or openings and defences (i.e. from both sides)?  
  > **username_0**: @IanBush playing defenses as black. Actually username_4 edited my question and changed the meaning a little  
  
  ---
  
  ## 2 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_2 on 2023-01-02. Score: 16
  
  Hypermodern openings are typically not recommended to beginners.
  
  1. They disregard some opening principles (prima facie) which beginners need to understand before "breaking" them. (That is "giving up" the center; in reality the plan often is to break the center with a pawn as soon as the army is developed. So even in hypermodern openings you eventually will put a pawn into the center.)
  2. They **require a lot of chess understanding** to play well. Many of them can get you in troublesome (e.g. cramped) positions quickly if you do not play them well (i.e. strike with counterplay).
  3. Due to the fact that the opponent gets the central control and a free hand, he has a lot of lines that promise an advantage. You'll **need to know a lot of theory**. In the time you need to really learn one of such openings (KID, Grünfeld,...) you could have improved your game much more meaningfully in other ways as a beginner.
  4. Hypermodern openings **tend** to produce more closed positions (even though some lines don't, e.g. in the Grünfeld), see username_4' answer.
  
  Nevertheless, that doesn't mean they're never recommended or unplayable as a beginner. GM Daniel Naroditsky recommends the Grünfeld against d4 (and IM Levy Rozman says it's playable as a beginner if you are willing to learn a lot of theory). The Grünfeld has some advantages over other hypermodern openings w.r.t. beginners - it's very direct/tactical, positions can open quickly, the ideas are understandable - and you strike quickly in/at the center. I personally think that the Nimzo-/Queens-Indian isn't too bad for beginners, either.
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_3**: There's another factor, though, which is that if you're playing a lot of other beginners, you can get a big advantage by knowing a few openings that are outside your oppenents' knowledge and experience.  
  > **username_2**: @MichaelKay that's true, one of the best performing openings on lichess is the Alekhine. Would I recommend it? Rather not. Is it underrated? Definitely!  
  > **username_0**: When I play the King's Indian setup, usually the opponents do not have opening traps or gambits prepared.  
  > **username_2**: @username_0 You can have that with much more beginner-friendly openings..  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_4 on 2023-01-02. Score: 10
  
  The standard recommendation for beginners is to play openings which produce open positions favouring rapid piece development and tactical opportunities. The reason for this is that this gives the most practice in tactics and improving tactics is the fastest way to improve at this level.
  
  Hypermodern openings produce closed positions where tactics play a much reduced role and the emphasis is on strategy and maneuvering. Beginners benefit and improve much less with this and so it is not recommended.
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_2**: The Grünfeld can become very open  
  > **username_1**: Hypermodern openings can be very tactical - Austrian attack in the Pirc or Modern, many lines of the Modern Benoni and Kings Indian. Personally I think it's because the hypermodern openings require a bit more positional judgement for e.g. pawn breaks, and knowledge of what tactics can be used  to support them, than the open lines and direct attacks of open positions. But I don't count myself a good enough player to offer that as a judgement, only as an opinion.  
  
  ---
  
  