smrex13 wrote on 07/19/06 at 19:20:19:
Hi everyone,
I can't count the number of times I've seen it recommended that beginners play the open games as white and black to get a good chess education and to sharpen their tactics. However, I never see discussion about anything other than 1.e4 e5. Does responding to 1.d4 with 1...d5 offer the same benefit in terms of chess education? Do you think that in the closed games a beginner can try other openings earlier, like the Nimzo/smrex134, or should he/she stay in classical mode (presumably Slav, QGA or QGD) for a number of years before branching out.
Thanks for any thoughts,
Scott
I have taught many young, you might say, beginning, players, and I recommend the Tarrasch: 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 c5. As I've said elsewhere on this board (if it were at all easy to find the threads, I would just point to them here), open positions are fundamental. The Tarrasch, perhaps more than any other defense to 1. d4, produces open positions and good piece play. That's what beginners and improving young players need to learn, more than anything. One nice aspect of the Tarrasch is that it's good against essentially all the closed systems. For example, 1. c4 e6 2. Nc6 d5 3. d4 c5 or 1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 e6 and soon ...c5.
I would say too that it's a mistake to spend much time on remembering specific variations. For beginners, the time's better spent solving tactics exercises. But one specific thing new players need to know about the Tarrasch is that in general, ...Nc6 should precede ...Nf6. Not nice for Black is 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 c5 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Nf3 Nf6? 6. Bg5 and next 7. e4. 5..Nc6 was correct. Something else important to know is that if you get into IQP (isolated queen pawn) positions, which is quite usual in the Tarrasch, you have to strive for piece activity and try to avoid too many exchanges. The IQP confers a space advantage, but it's not so nice in an ending.