The openings you pick will live here. No need to learn everything: one weapon as White plus an answer to 1.e4 and to 1.d4 is enough.
Vienna Game: the knight on c3 holds the centre, the bishop hits f7, the king's knight goes to e2 and on to g3. One setup against both main replies, and a move of your own against every second move Black has.
1…Nf6 goads White's pawns forward and then hits them. The club's main reply is not 2.e5 but 2.Nc3, and the course has its own recipe against it.
1…Nf6 and 2…e6 against everything: wherever the knight shows up on c3, the pin …Bb4 follows. The Nimzo itself, the Bogo-Indian and the answers to the London and the Torre — all in one system.
One setup against everything they play after 1.d4: …g6, …Bg7, …d6, castling short and the …e5 break. Separately — what to do against the London System and against 2.Nc3.
The quiet Italian (c3, d3, Nbd2, Bb3, Re1) — one reliable positional setup against everything: the Giuoco Piano, the Two Knights, the Hungarian and tricks like 3…Nd4. A slow squeeze and the d4 break at the right moment.
A free beginner course: 1.e4, development and castling. The main scheme is the Four Knights, plus how to punish 2…f6 and ready-made answers to the Sicilian, the French, the Caro-Kann and the Scandinavian.
3.Bb5 without the theory marathon of the Closed Ruy Lopez: one setup, d3/c3/Nbd2-f1-g3, and a plan you can follow.
The main line is the classical Scotch 4.Nxd4. Gambit branches: the Scotch Gambit 4.Bc4 (including the Max Lange Attack) and the Göring Gambit 4.c3.
Vienna Game: the knight on c3 holds the centre, the bishop hits f7, the king's knight goes to e2 and on to g3. One setup against both main replies, and a move of your own against every second move Black has.
1.d4 e5 shows up in one game out of ten after 1.d4. You take the pawn, give it back only when you decide to, and sidestep every trap with …Qe7 and …Qb4+.
The London against everything: 1.d4, Nf3, Bf4 and one pleasant structure against almost any reply. Clear recipes against ...c5/Qb6, ...Bd6, ...Bf5, the King's Indian ...g6, the Dutch and the Englund Gambit.
The Queen's Gambit on a single plan: we win the c4 pawn back with tempo, take the e4-d4 center and press down the c-file. Your own answer to every Black second move — from 2…dxc4 to 2…e5.
1…Nf6 goads White's pawns forward and then hits them. The club's main reply is not 2.e5 but 2.Nc3, and the course has its own recipe against it.
The classical Caro-Kann: 3…Bf5 against the main lines and clear recipes against everything you actually meet at club level — from the Exchange and the Panov to 2.Bc4 and the Fantasy 3.f3.
The French: 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 — one system of plans against every pawn chain: …c5, …Nc6, …Qb6 pressing d4 (Advance, Steinitz, Tarrasch), and an active setup against the Exchange. Solid, clear, no cramming.
A free beginner course: how to meet 1.e4. The Petrov against 2.Nf3 and ready-made answers to every early raid — Scholar's Mate, the King's Gambit, the Vienna and the Centre Game.
The symmetrical 2…Nf6 against 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3. Main line 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 with the classical setup; 3.d4 and the transposition into the Four Knights (3.Nc3) are covered too.
The Pirc: 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 — one setup against everything: …Bg7, castling and a counterblow in the centre. Plans against the Classical, the Austrian Attack, the 150 Attack and early e5 pushes. Flexible, combative, no cramming.
The modern Scandinavian: 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qd6 — one sturdy setup against everything (…Nf6, …a6, …Bf5/…Bg4, …c6, …e6, …Nbd7, …Be7/…g6, castling). The queen is safe on d6, and the structure is Caro-like without the theory.
The asymmetrical answer to 1.e4, playing for a win with Black. The core is the Najdorf (2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6), and every Anti-Sicilian gets a short answering scheme you don't have to learn in depth.
The Leningrad Dutch: …f5, …Nf6, …g6, …Bg7, castling and …d6 — one setup against every White formation. Plus a separate look at the Staunton Gambit 2.e4.
One setup against everything they play after 1.d4: …g6, …Bg7, …d6, castling short and the …e5 break. Separately — what to do against the London System and against 2.Nc3.
1…Nf6 and 2…e6 against everything: wherever the knight shows up on c3, the pin …Bb4 follows. The Nimzo itself, the Bogo-Indian and the answers to the London and the Torre — all in one system.
The Slav for Black: 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6, with the main trump the light-squared bishop coming to f5 OUTSIDE the pawn chain. Clear recipes against the Exchange, the quiet systems, 3.Nc3, the Geller Gambit and the aggressive Ne5/Bg5.
