Openings

One of the first things any chess player who is serious about chess does is pick their openings. This is an important ritual, and while experts and coaches will tell you that you should only spend ca. 25% of your study on openings, there is still something important in a player taking ownership of an opening. It adds identity and gives a sense of belonging.

Typically, players chose an opening for white, and then two for black-- one against 1.e4, and one against everything else.

For me, as white, I always find playing 1.e4 to be problematic simply because there are too many ways for black to reply, and preparing for all of those options is mind-bogglingly difficult. Thus, while I'm happy playing the Ruy Lopez (or Spanish) opening, what happens when black plays ... c5 (the Sicilian)? Or ... c6 (the Caro-Kann)? Or ... e6 (the French)?

For me, the answer is in the very adaptable Kings Indian Attack (KIA). I'm hardly unique in this, and part of me wishes I'd have the energy to invest in the English or some other unusual-but-not-crazy opening for white (I dabbled with the Nimzo-Larsen Attack.... not ideal). But in the end, I like the idea of being able to play 1.e4, and then switching to the fianchettoed bishop, etc., or, if I like, just going full Reti with 1.Nf3.

For black against 1.e4, I have struggled to find something I'm comfortable with. I'd love to just play the Ruy as black, but after 1.e4 e5 there is no guarantee that white will play 2.Nf3. It seems like everyone does the Sicilian against 1.e4 (Note: "Indeed, most statistical surveys suggest that 1.d4 is the most successful first move for White, but only because 1...c5 scores so highly against 1.e4."...) and somehow I'd rather not just do what everyone does. So for now, my black move against 1.e4 is ...c6 and the Caro-Kann. I'm not so familiar with it, though, and am still working on it.

Next is a reply to 1.d4/everything else not 1.e4. For that, I have opted for the Kings Indian Defense, or KID. Like the KIA, there is some flexibility so that I don't have to worry so much about move order and I can set up for the first few moves as I like.

So there it is: KIA, Caro-Kann, and KID.