Author: Mike Leahy
Date: 06:59:33 02/28/06
Go up one level in this thread
I'll admit it. If preparing openings is confusing, the Bookup program will also look confusing. :) Similarly, if you know how to systematically prepare openings then the Bookup program will appear to be a godsend. So how are openings prepared? First I'll set aside the job of grandmaster who must prepare for a match against other grandmasters. Our job is to learn to play a set of openings and defenses that will be effective in a Swiss pairing system or on the internet where we are constantly being paired with different opponents with different styles and playing strengths. Some questions: How much time and effort do you want to expend on preparing your openings? Do you want to mimic the openings of your chess hero? Do you want to attempt to follow the latest theoretical trends of the best players? Or do you want to learn an opening system that is easier to understand and less likely to be busted by the latest theoretical improvements? Do you want to play the best moves, or do you want to play lines that give practical chances at the club level? Do you want openings rich in tactics or openings steeped in positional struggles? Once you have those questions answered, you'll want to pick specific openings. Then you'll want to pick specific lines in those openings. A Bookup ebook is the ideal place to make and record those picks. Here's an example of using a Bookup ebook to assemble an opening for White. I've decided to play 1.e4 because I want tactical openings. The only move that will appear in the starting position of my ebook will be 1.e4. When I play that, I will have ...e5 ...c5 ...e6 ...c6 ...Nf6 and every other move that I want to be prepared to meet. If I play 1...e6 I'll have 2.d4, the only move I plan to play. Then I might have 2...d5 for Black. After that I'll have 3.Nc3. I could have put in 3.Nd2 and 3.exd5 and 3.e5 and all the other possibilities but I've decided to play only 3.Nc3 when facing the French as White. The entire ebook will continue in this fashion, with all of the positions with White on move having only the one move I plan to play. All of the positions with Black to move will have all of the moves I want to be prepared to meet. Continue adding to the ebook. Where do you get your ideas about what to add and which lines to choose? You might start by looking at a few dozen games by very strong players if they play your favorite opening. You could consult a good opening book. You could buy one of the ebooks already prepared in Bookup format. You could get a computer's suggestion. Part of the wisdom is to know how much to add. For example, I have only a few positions for 1.e4 g6 because I only see it once in every 80 games as White and because I'm fairly certain I can wing it. I have a few thousand positions after 1.e4 e5 because I see it a lot as White and folks tend to know more theory and I feel compelled to keep up. That scratches the surface of opening preparation, and I realize that I am hardly objective but for the past 20 years I've found that if you're doing any work on your openings, using a Bookup ebook always makes that work easier and faster, leaving you more effective for the same amount of study time. Mike Leahy "The Database Man!" www.bookup.com
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