How to Study the Chess Opening

The opening is the part of the game that a lot of people spend most of their time on. I think that a vast majority of such players would achieve better results and long-term success if they cut back on some of the time they used to study the opening, and studied the middle game and endgame instead. To help facilitate this, I'm going to discuss some things you can do to make your opening study more efficient, so you are able to learn the same amount of opening knowledge in less time, and thus have extra time to study the middle game and endgame.

Reference Material

An opening reference book is something like Modern Chess Openings (MCO), Nunn's Chess Openings (NCO), or the Encyclopedia of Chess Openings (ECO). These volumes act as a reference book for all important opening lines, and provide enough information for you to make decisions about what systems you would like to play. While I personally use MCO, I have close friends who use NCO and ECO as well. The main benefit of having an opening reference book is that you'll have a common starting point to begin your opening studies. This common ground can help keep you focused on the task at hand instead of wasting your time studying inferior lines or "what if" scenarios.

Database Management

Opening study should be about more than memorizing lines and variations. To study the opening effectively, you need to figure out themes and plans that each side has available for use. One of the best ways to do this is through the use of a database of games in which you can find example games from high level players in the exact opening line or variation you are studying. You don't have to pay for this service--there are tons of free databases and database programs available on the Internet.

Specialty Books

Once you have found an system that you like, you'll quickly find that you can only learn so much from general reference books and from studying the games of masters who have played the opening before. What you need at this point is a book especially geared towards your specific opening line or system. These specialty books will instruct you on what themes and ideas you should be learning and thinking about during your studies and during your games, as well as showing you specific lines and traps that will help you gain an edge. Specialty books are best used after you have consulted databases and opening references, and coupled with playing a lot of games, are considered the best way to master an opening.

Putting It All Together

When you begin exploring new opening systems to work on, your best bets are general opening reference books and databases. These combined can give you a general idea of the kinds of things that come up in different opening systems, and can also give you a lot of insight into specific variations, and the subtle differences in each. Finally, from consulting back and forth between each of them, you can gain a general understanding that will carry you through your games to the point that you can play the opening well enough to get to a playable middle game or endgame.

All in all, the truth of the matter is that until you reach at least 1600-1800 USCF, there's really no reason to study any openings in extreme depth, because a vast majority of the time, that opening knowledge will never be used. Instead, you should work on the middle game and endgame, where most of your battles will be decided.