Answers.Body: <p>There may be nothing wrong with playing the KID as a beginner, if you are playing against other beginners who don't understand it any better than you. In fact, if you make it your regular defense, you will almost certainly understand it better than they do. Dont be misled by the name Kings Indian DEFENCE. Black has every intention of launching a counterattack at the first opportunity.</p>
  
  <p>There is one drawback with playing the same opening all the time, which is that if you are always playing the same people, they can prepare some tricky line against you. But even in that case, you will be educating each other.</p>
  
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Answers.CreationDate: 2017-06-22T21:21:28.493Z
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Answers.UserDisplayName: Philip Roe
Answers.Body: <p>You perhaps should worry more about just getting your pieces out onto good, safe squares than playing any formal opening system. Once you discover for yourself what types of formations you like (fianchettos? e4 opposed to d4?, other things), that will point you towards learning more about a formal system.</p>
  
  <p>You're a beginner - just play and gain experience. Don't be in a hurry to learn opening "theory" (the most misused word in chess) and just play.</p>
  
  <p>2c. Cat A Player, USCF.</p>
  
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Answers.CreationDate: 2017-06-23T13:50:36.207Z
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Answers.UserDisplayName: Priyome
Answers.Body: <p>I used to play the Stonewall with white (which is not really a good opening) and the KID with black, even at rating around 2200. My main motivation was laziness, as you can to some extend play more or less the same moves independent of what your opponent does (aka "system opening"), so you don't need to learn lots of theory.</p>
  
  <p>However, at your level, opening theory should not be a concern at all and lack of opening knowledge is most likely not the reason why you lose games. If you want to improve in chess, focus on:</p>
  
  <ul>
  <li>not blundering pieces/always being alert when your opponent blunders pieces</li>
  <li>learning basic tactics</li>
  <li>learning basic strategy</li>
  </ul>
  
  <p>This will be a lot more useful currently, than learning any opening lines by heart, since you are unlikely to understand the point of the moves yet.</p>
  
  <p>If you are happy with the "openings" you play now, it is fine to keep playing them, but for the time being I would not invest more time in learning a formal opening. If you are not too happy, you could just play the opening based on general principles, i.e. develop the pieces, occupy the center, castle, and take it from there.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2017-06-23T17:07:07.120Z
Answers.Text: Can you improve on chess. Can I at sometime too get a rating like you if I practice or is it just IQ based ;-;
Answers.UserDisplayName: user154547
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2017-06-23T20:36:46.643Z
Answers.Text: @user154547: Sure, everybody can improve with some work invested. Even more efficient it could be if you join a chess club or otherwise get some tips from a stronger player. I don't think there is any direct correlation with IQ. Lots of other factors play a role as well in chess. No idea what rating you can achieve, but I don't think anybody  should be stuck around 1000 rating.
Answers.UserDisplayName: user1583209
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Answers.UserDisplayName: user1583209
Answers.Body: <p>If your rating is around 1000, you should definitely abstain from the King's Indian for now. It is not a bad opening by any means, but it indeed is one of the more complex ones (requiring some sound strategic knowledge) .. too complex for your current skill level most likely, no offense. </p>
  
  <p>That said, there is no "best" opening for beginners or anyone else, everyone has their own taste and has to find out themselves. You have to try different ones and make up your mind what works best for you. In general, focus more on learning the core principles of opening play (development of pieces, fight for the centre, etc.) rather than on memorizing exact variations. As long as your opponents don't play along (because they have no clue about the "correct" continuations), they are not of much use anyways.</p>
  
  <p>You should definitely have a look at the category of the open and semi-open games (everything where White starts with 1.e4) instead of the closed ones you tried so far. Each opening has its own sharp or quiet lines (and your opponent has a word to say on that too!), but 1.e4 openings generally have a tendency to be more on the sharp side and are usually advised to be learned first by beginners because they are more educative at this level (less strategic and more tactical on average). </p>
  
  <p>For the pinnacle of aggressive openings, there's the group of gambits. They do have some added complexity though because you have to be very accurate to maintain your lead in initiative (if your attack ever loses steam without getting the gambitted pawn back, you are in a bad spot) unlike the "mainstream" openings where a standard developing move usually doesn't lose on the spot (unless you fail to parry an urgent threat). Most of them are not "sound" enough to be played at GM level, but that does not have to concern you as you will rarely play against GMs. You have to do more preparation of variations than in other openings, so I suggest you don't start with gambits until after you tried the conventional openings for a bit.</p>
  
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Answers.CreationDate: 2017-06-22T06:45:41.247Z
Answers.Text: Yes I know KID has never been very helpful but the problem seems to be in black in general. Black is forced to play on defensive lines because white plays for the middle (usually)
Answers.UserDisplayName: user154547
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Answers.Text: Black can (and should!) also play for the middle. Especially the half-open defenses are focused around exchanging either White's e or d pawn and by this achieve equality in the centre. Of course, White will always have the initiative at the start of the game because he moves first and playing as Black is thus a little harder in general, but if both sides manage to control roughly half of the centre with their pawns, White won't have a decisive advantage.
Answers.UserDisplayName: Annatar
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Answers.CreationDate: 2017-06-22T06:38:15.900Z
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Answers.UserDisplayName: Annatar
Answers.Body: <p>As a beginner who doesn't like knights, I would play the (relatively) simple "four knights" openings that often lead to early exchanges of knights.</p>
  
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Answers.CreationDate: 2017-06-26T17:33:10.607Z
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Answers.UserDisplayName: Tom Au
Body: <p>I am a beginner and someone who likes less pieces on board. I don't like complexity and have weak point for knights. My rating is 950 rn and has touched 1010 at best. </p>
  
  <p>So far I have used the Stone defence when playing with white and the King's Indian defence when playing with black.</p>
  
  <p>Needless to say that defensive openings increase complexity. </p>
  
  <p>What is best opening for black and white for me ? </p>
  
  <p>I don't mind pieces exchanging. I just want less pieces on board that helps my mind process faster.</p>
  
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2017-06-22T05:35:15.720Z
Comments.Text: Welcome to Chess Stack Exchange! I'm afraid that whatever opening you choose, it can always be complex. Either strategically/positionally (like the Stonewall you mentioned) or tactically (if you choose an open opening with lots of *potential* exchanges; your opponent can usually choose to avoid them if he/she likes).
Comments.UserDisplayName: Glorfindel
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Comments.CreationDate: 2017-06-23T16:11:34.200Z
Comments.Text: *have weak point for knights* Could you clarify what you mean. Does this mean that you like/don't like playing with/against knights.
Comments.UserDisplayName: user1583209
Tags: <opening><beginner>
Title: What is the best opening for a beginner who wants few pieces on the board?
ThreadText: # What is the best opening for a beginner who wants few pieces on the board?
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2017-06-22)
  
  I am a beginner and someone who likes less pieces on board. I don't like complexity and have weak point for knights. My rating is 950 rn and has touched 1010 at best.
  
  So far I have used the Stone defence when playing with white and the King's Indian defence when playing with black.
  
  Needless to say that defensive openings increase complexity.
  
  What is best opening for black and white for me ?
  
  I don't mind pieces exchanging. I just want less pieces on board that helps my mind process faster.
  
  **Tags:** opening, beginner
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_1**: Welcome to Chess Stack Exchange! I'm afraid that whatever opening you choose, it can always be complex. Either strategically/positionally (like the Stonewall you mentioned) or tactically (if you choose an open opening with lots of *potential* exchanges; your opponent can usually choose to avoid them if he/she likes).  
  > **username_2**: *have weak point for knights* Could you clarify what you mean. Does this mean that you like/don't like playing with/against knights.  
  
  ---
  
  ## 5 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_3 on 2017-06-22. Score: 1
  
  There may be nothing wrong with playing the KID as a beginner, if you are playing against other beginners who don't understand it any better than you. In fact, if you make it your regular defense, you will almost certainly understand it better than they do. Dont be misled by the name Kings Indian DEFENCE. Black has every intention of launching a counterattack at the first opportunity.
  
  There is one drawback with playing the same opening all the time, which is that if you are always playing the same people, they can prepare some tricky line against you. But even in that case, you will be educating each other.
  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_4 on 2017-06-23. Score: 1
  
  You perhaps should worry more about just getting your pieces out onto good, safe squares than playing any formal opening system. Once you discover for yourself what types of formations you like (fianchettos? e4 opposed to d4?, other things), that will point you towards learning more about a formal system.
  
  You're a beginner - just play and gain experience. Don't be in a hurry to learn opening "theory" (the most misused word in chess) and just play.
  
  2c. Cat A Player, USCF.
  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_2 on 2017-06-23. Score: 1
  
  I used to play the Stonewall with white (which is not really a good opening) and the KID with black, even at rating around 2200. My main motivation was laziness, as you can to some extend play more or less the same moves independent of what your opponent does (aka "system opening"), so you don't need to learn lots of theory.
  
  However, at your level, opening theory should not be a concern at all and lack of opening knowledge is most likely not the reason why you lose games. If you want to improve in chess, focus on:
  
  * not blundering pieces/always being alert when your opponent blunders pieces
  * learning basic tactics
  * learning basic strategy
  
  This will be a lot more useful currently, than learning any opening lines by heart, since you are unlikely to understand the point of the moves yet.
  
  If you are happy with the "openings" you play now, it is fine to keep playing them, but for the time being I would not invest more time in learning a formal opening. If you are not too happy, you could just play the opening based on general principles, i.e. develop the pieces, occupy the center, castle, and take it from there.
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_0**: Can you improve on chess. Can I at sometime too get a rating like you if I practice or is it just IQ based ;-;  
  > **username_2**: @username_0: Sure, everybody can improve with some work invested. Even more efficient it could be if you join a chess club or otherwise get some tips from a stronger player. I don't think there is any direct correlation with IQ. Lots of other factors play a role as well in chess. No idea what rating you can achieve, but I don't think anybody  should be stuck around 1000 rating.  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_5 on 2017-06-22. Score: 1
  
  If your rating is around 1000, you should definitely abstain from the King's Indian for now. It is not a bad opening by any means, but it indeed is one of the more complex ones (requiring some sound strategic knowledge) .. too complex for your current skill level most likely, no offense.
  
  That said, there is no "best" opening for beginners or anyone else, everyone has their own taste and has to find out themselves. You have to try different ones and make up your mind what works best for you. In general, focus more on learning the core principles of opening play (development of pieces, fight for the centre, etc.) rather than on memorizing exact variations. As long as your opponents don't play along (because they have no clue about the "correct" continuations), they are not of much use anyways.
  
  You should definitely have a look at the category of the open and semi-open games (everything where White starts with 1.e4) instead of the closed ones you tried so far. Each opening has its own sharp or quiet lines (and your opponent has a word to say on that too!), but 1.e4 openings generally have a tendency to be more on the sharp side and are usually advised to be learned first by beginners because they are more educative at this level (less strategic and more tactical on average).
  
  For the pinnacle of aggressive openings, there's the group of gambits. They do have some added complexity though because you have to be very accurate to maintain your lead in initiative (if your attack ever loses steam without getting the gambitted pawn back, you are in a bad spot) unlike the "mainstream" openings where a standard developing move usually doesn't lose on the spot (unless you fail to parry an urgent threat). Most of them are not "sound" enough to be played at GM level, but that does not have to concern you as you will rarely play against GMs. You have to do more preparation of variations than in other openings, so I suggest you don't start with gambits until after you tried the conventional openings for a bit.
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_0**: Yes I know KID has never been very helpful but the problem seems to be in black in general. Black is forced to play on defensive lines because white plays for the middle (usually)  
  > **username_5**: Black can (and should!) also play for the middle. Especially the half-open defenses are focused around exchanging either White's e or d pawn and by this achieve equality in the centre. Of course, White will always have the initiative at the start of the game because he moves first and playing as Black is thus a little harder in general, but if both sides manage to control roughly half of the centre with their pawns, White won't have a decisive advantage.  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_6 on 2017-06-26. Score: 0
  
  As a beginner who doesn't like knights, I would play the (relatively) simple "four knights" openings that often lead to early exchanges of knights.
  
  
  ---
  
  