Why I memorize openings

@hicetnunc said in #2:
> Sure, but the position after Be2 isn't lost and is also interesting to play... :-)

Is white even worse after Be2? It may depend on the settings, but Stockfish seems to say the game is even. Maybe the game got worse for white, but the issue wasn't necessarily Be2.

Who knows, maybe Be2 was even the better move, because it might have gotten his opponent out of his book. :)

I have no idea what the example has to do with the article conclusion: it was NOT the opening that caused you to lose that game (well, maybe it was but it absolutely was not the Be2 move).
In that setup I'd just take, play Nb3 and then figure out my development problem while black solves his IQP problem.
Playing Bb5 or Be2 seems that white's development problems will be more complicated to solve than black's.
Regardless of any of that, both players still need to find some good middlegame plans whether the position opens up anymore or not. That's where games are won/lost. And even if you both plan and execute well and get to a playable endgame, you still need technique to get the result there!
In conclusion, 10 mins a day to learn Bb5 is better than Be2 (without the "why" and the follow-ups) is absolutely useless!

There is actually an interesting blog by NoelStuder under the title, "Do Not Fall Into The Trap Of Half-Knowledge".

The summarized version of this blog states that either you know your prep or you don't but don't get the two mixed together because you might be in a position where you are quite unfamiliar with the ideas behind it.

So in short, it IS better for you to have played Be2 and understand the ideas you have behind it than play the theoretical Bb5 and go in without an idea.

Hi,

As you are suggesting apps to build and train a repertoire, I would like to introduce chess-repertoire-companion.com which is free, without ads, mobile friendly, nothing to download. (open source).

I tried to make it as simple as possible with a pretty GUI. Hope it can help !

Cheers

Because you're a nerd.

@biscuitfiend said in #3:
> "I mentally flipped a coin and played Be2."
>
> Well, there's your problem. You could have learned from what went wrong with your thought process. Instead, you doubled down: you concluded, "no, *not* thinking in the opening was definitely the right way to go about it, I just need to be able to play well without thinking."
>
> Rather than memorizing moves, you could get better at thinking deeply in the opening, learn how to weigh up the pros and cons of different options. It's actually not so different from the rest of the game!

So what guy? You're never not sure which line to pick? You never just pick one cause you're not sure?

I mean it looks like you just quoted the guy. And then made the claim that it's supporting some argument -- an argument made in your own words. Putting words in someone's mouth.

@Und3 said in #14:
> Hi,
>
> As you are suggesting apps to build and train a repertoire, I would like to introduce chess-repertoire-companion.com which is free, without ads, mobile friendly, nothing to download. (open source).

It is indeed a pretty GUI! Color me jealous. :)

I particularly like the concentric circles for candidate move choices. (I took the time to export a short repertoire from Chess Openings Wizard to test your PGN import function.)

- Mike

In my opinion what we should do and what will help our chess journey much more is to understand opening principles and have a lot of practical experience in different openings we play. I have little concrete opening knowledge, but I have some experience of how to play the structures that usually arise so that I am not lost in the middle game. Basically, I generally know up to move 10 or less, but a lot of my openings revolve around characteristic pawn-breaks (KID, English, French...) and the ideas surrounding them which helps me navigate the middle-game. Open positions are much more about the activity of the pieces rather than maneuvering/opening and closing the position with pawns, hence this idea about open positions can lead you to find Bb5, no need to memorize it. Some memorization is needed, but players better than me know how to play a myriad of structures and understand the nuances or find them in the game via their better calculation ability. I also think it's valuable to lose a game if you understand why and I also think it's valuable to play worse positions because you learn how to defend better and be resilient -- after all, you are playing people and not machines and people go wrong. Defense is a very valuable skill in chess.