The Smart Way to Build Your Opening Repertoire
Here’s how to build your opening repertoire smartly and avoid 5 common mistakes.
Would you love to have strong openings, memorize your variations, understand the plans, and be ready for the middlegame transition?
Sounds like a dream? Actually, it's absolutely achievable.
I’ll tell you how to do it.
But before that, let me explain the 5 most common mistakes chess players make that cause them to struggle with their openings.
The 5 Most Common Mistakes
Mistake #1
They try to learn openings without first learning the opening principles.
And when the opponent makes a move, they are not prepared for it - they’re like, “What now?” 😊
Mistake #2
They choose the wrong level of openings.
If you’re a beginner, and you play an opening with very advanced strategies, you will, of course, very often be lost.
When I see beginners play the Sicilian Defense, I’m excited for them! But when they buy a course somewhere, play the Najdorf variation, and then play this move…
Ough…
It’s the main move in theory! But…it’s so advanced that even for Grandmasters it's quite complex. What does Black get for weakening their “d6” pawn and the “d5” square?
The answers are so deep that no beginner, not even an amateur, will digest them.
But okay, people see texts like “The only opening you need” and buy a course or a book…
Mistake #3
They try to memorize their openings. But it’s not about memorizing. It’s about understanding!
They see a well-marketed software that promises they'll never forget their openings.
The funny thing is that such software might have worked super well if it was about memorizing words in a new language one was learning. But not in chess!
Let me repeat. This is important.
Chess isn’t about memorizing. It’s about understanding.
(Read this article for more.)
Once you understand why you do each move, you’ll not only memorize your moves, but you’ll use those ideas in other openings, and you’ll know how to play if the opponent deviates from your preparation.
Mistake #4
They don’t learn the plans of their openings, and how the fight will develop in the middlegame.
Watching model games with that particular opening would be one of the most effective steps.
But people miss it. They try to memorize their opening move sequence instead.
Mistake #5
They don’t review their games and fix their mistakes.
As a result, they repeat the same mistake over and over, without actually knowing that they are playing a move that wasn’t in their preparation.
How to Learn Openings in The Right Way
Well, you should do exactly the opposite 😊
1. Learn opening principles first
2. Choose openings appropriate for your level
3. Understand your openings and not memorize
4. Watch model games
5. Analyze and fix your mistakes
How Can I Help & My Gifts To You
(All the resources I’ll mention are free for the next 7 days, Feb 15-22, as we’re celebrating our 7th anniversary.)
Learn the opening principles.
Watch our Opening Principles course.
Learn openings based on your level.
If you’re below 800, check out section 4 of our beginner course, “The Rise of Champions.”
If you’re between 800 and 2,000, build your opening repertoire for White and Black here.
If you’re rated 2,000+, go course by course, starting from here:
Watch model games.
If you’re below 2,000, after building your opening repertoire, watch these courses.
If you’re above 2,000, check out these two.
To learn how to analyze your games, read this article.
And you don’t need to manually compare your games with your openings to find mistakes. Our AI coach and the FixMood feature will help you!
Pick the course for your level, and please, please don’t repeat the 5 mistakes that almost every chess player makes. Keep in mind that more than likely you are making at least one of them.
And remember, it’s not about memorizing your openings. It’s about understanding them!
With best wishes and love,
For your growth and fun journey,
GM Avetik (or Avo, as my friends call me)
#RightMood_RightMove (our slogan)
#CoGro (Constant growth)
P. S.
If you’ve already read Our Story, you should know how deeply we’ve researched and analyzed all those openings so you can learn them easily, understand them deeply, and have fun playing.
If you check the reviews, you’ll find lots of stuff like this:
(BTW, Prin became the 1st International Master of his country! You can read his inspirational story here.)
All you need to do is to go through them step-by-step!
Enjoy 😊
Originally published Feb 15, 2025