Chess Opening Guide - Which Openings Should I Learn?

So the question remains, which openings should you learn? Here's a few recommendations to get you started:

• Choose one straightforward opening for white that starts with either e4 or d4. We recommend e4 (King's Pawn) because of it's focus on open, tactical, and exciting play. Learn the main defenses to your opening, and how you will respond. Focus on the most common moves. Don't bother learning deep, obscure variations. You'll only be wasting your time!
• Choose a defense against the King's Pawn Opening that you will play as black. Learn the main lines.
• Choose a defense against the Queen's Pawn Opening that you will play as black. Learn the main lines.

This should give you a good foundation for your own personal Opening Book. Whenever you find yourself "out of book", just stick with basic opening principles and you will be fine.

For the openings you choose to study in greater depth, the internet has a wealth of resources to help you learn the main lines.

We've put together a graphic to visually show the relationship between the openings. Click on it for a better view:

Conclusion

This brings us to the conclusion of the guide. Hopefully you've enjoyed the read and have seen some ideas that spark your interest.

Make sure you choose openings that interest you and that you will enjoy learning - this is the single most important thing! As long as you choose something that isn't completely off beat, you'll be fine. As the American Grandmaster William Lombardy put it, "All openings are perfectly sound below the master level."