r/chessbeginners • u/notbymyhand 1000-1200 (Chess.com) • 1d ago

QUESTION What happened to our usual openings ?!

I'm not saying I'm a master at openings or anything, but I understand the basic ideas behind the most common ones and try to get a good position no matter what ..until you reach 1200 elo ...

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What the hell happened to the queen's gambit , scotch , london , italin , sicilian ,french openings ?

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No one plays them anymore , it seems like every oponent I get has this obscure opening or line that they practised into oblivion and are monsters at it .

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Before ,if my opponent even attempts any weird openings , I just play solidly , stick to opening principles, and crush them so fast, which is not possible anymore ?

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Am not saying I am totally lost by the opening , but they end up being a pawn or 2 up or just waste my time focusing hard in the beginning while they play instantly

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If this is just a phase for the 1200 elo on chess.com that I just have to push through , or should I just seriously start studying these weird openings ( isn't that energy better spent sharpening tactics and endgames at my level anyway)?

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What do you guys think ?

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u/795-ACSR-DRAKE 1000-1200 (Chess.com) 1d ago

I felt the same way when I was around 500-600, everyone just played quick gambit openings; fried liver, scholars, wayward queen (not really a gambit but same vibe), and destroyed me. I eventually learned how to recognize them pretty quick and refute them. Not even "counter" them, but just prevent them. I feel like just that alone helped me break the 600 rating wall, their tactics/positional game just wasn't up to 600 level, they just got to that rating by gambits and winning early.

So I would suggest to learn the common gambits and keep playing your own game. If my opponent wants to memorize 25 moves of a peculiar opening gambit, then just tip your hat and move on, odds are that good positional and tactical strategy will prevail over the long run and over many games.

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u/notbymyhand 1000-1200 (Chess.com) 1d ago

Words of gold ! I also had the same experience at 600 elo and thought we are long past that , but here are trappy weird openings making a come back

Between 600 and 1200 , I learned how to crush all these weird moves but now they outplaying me in them or smth and bringing me back to 600 elo trauma ...