Dawww, you can’t stop their love! Do I need to memorize openings to be a chess player? Semi serious question.
Not really for a while, I think. I’m around 1400 online and only know like 3-4 moves into a few of my favorite openings.
You really only need to focus on chess “principles” to get started, like why it’s good to control the middle, and developing all of your pieces before moving one twice, etc.
See, this is already helping me.
I’m happy to talk chess any time.
If you’re just starting out and looking to improve, doing a search for “chess principles” helps so much, because they teach you simple, solid play without memorization. Then, whenever you DO want to learn an opening, they make more sense, like “Oh, this one is designed to let me castle early” or “Aha, I see that every opening revolves around different ways to take control of the middle squares”
The best way to get started is just to download either the chess.com app or the (open source) Lichess app, which are the 2 main platforms, and start playing. They have matchmaking (elo), so you’ll be paired against people around your level.
Oh, and take advantage of the puzzles. I burn through those for fun, and I credit them as the #1 way I’ve been improving.
I’ve been playing chess for almost two decades and I know zero (0) openings
This is reassuring!
You absolutely need to as early as possible for a massive advantage. Pick 3 for white and 3 for black. Look for books, speak ideally to your local chess club.
Semi-serious answer: yes
Aww. That sounds like work. Where should I start? My local library is actively getting rid of their paper media, including the chess manuals.
I used YouTube tutorial to learn a few basic openings. GothamChess has a bunch of videos on different openings, where he goes through the main moves as well as a few variations. He’s definitely not for everyone though - he’s very much primarily a YouTuber/streamer and a chess teacher secondarily.
Thanks! Appreciate the insight into his style, I probably need a vid that goes slowly, like “explain as if I were 5 and this is public television” style. Although…my boi Bob Ross was on public tv and he raced through teaching a brush technique. You better have your palette of colors ready.
I love how all the replies to this comment disagree with each other.
Me too!
No, just be a monster at every other aspect and when you reach Super-GM level you’ll need to memorize
Funny, I love openings too!
