Understanding chess openings | How to play ANY opening well

This course will help you properly start the game of chess. You will not be lost or confused in the opening anymore!

By the end of the course, you will know exactly what to do in the opening ( first 10 moves, roughly speaking), how to do it, and, what may be even more important, WHY you need to do it.

You will be able to spot your opponent's mistakes and will learn ways to benefit from those. You will also learn some fantastic examples from World champions and you will learn the mistakes made by their opponents.

Learn and Master Chess Openings with a Successful Grandmaster

• Learn the main rules/principles of playing the opening

• Discover the crucial detail about those rules

• Understand the deep reasons behind the rules

• Develop ALL your pieces to good squares

• Get GM-approved downloadable opening repertoire

This course will boost your opening play to the next level

The course is for Beginner to Intermediate chess players. First, you will learn the general rules/guidelines of opening play. You will deeply understand the rules and will be able to spot the mistakes of your opponent. You will learn where to put ALL your pieces and WHY. I will show you some fascinating games and you will understand what went wrong there. You will be able to use that knowledge to your benefit. In the final section of the course, you will get an opening repertoire for both colors. The suggested opening choice is strictly following the rules described in the course. There are also explanations about where to develop all your pieces.

There will also be some homework assignments and solutions in the next file. The homework is designed to strengthen the knowledge you have learned over the course.

The course consists of 4 sections.

Section 1: You will learn the 3 main rules of playing the opening. You will also discover the crucial detail about those rules. I will teach you what to do with your pawns, pieces, and the king. You will learn where are the good places for your pieces and which are not so good and why.

Section 2: I will show you a detailed analysis of 4 famous games where the losing side did not follow the first 2 rules of playing the opening. You will learn the ways to use the mistakes of your opponent as well as avoid them yourself.

Section 3: We will deeply analyze another 4 famous games where the losing side failed to castle the king. You will learn the value of the rule as well as ways to exploit your opponents' failure to follow the rule.

Section 4: I will give you my professional opinion about the most common openings and the upsides and downsides of playing those. Then you will get the complete opening repertoire for white and for black. I will explain why I chose those openings for you and how exactly you should play those. You will know (and understand!) your first 10 moves against ANY opening. Finally, you will receive some homework that would strengthen your understanding of opening principles regardless of the pawn structure.

Sections 2 and 3 have a detailed analysis of the games attached in pgn format. Section 4 has the opening repertoire and homework attached.

Who this course is for:

- Beginner/hobby chess players who want to play better chess at the very beginning of the game.

- Chess enthusiasts who do not want to be confused from the very first moves of the game.

- Anyone who is interested in what grandmasters are thinking in the opening

Instructors

Mykhaylo Oleksiyenko – Grandmaster, Champion of Ukraine, PhD in Math, FIDE Trainer