Choosing the Right Openings to Climb from 1700 to 2100
This article is for rated offline chess players who want to gain rating points and reach 2100. I've seen many players who play different openings and don't make any progress.
All of you reading this article are motivated and have a goal to reach at least 2000-2100. It's important to choose the right openings to gain rating points quickly. This gives you extra motivation, and after every 300-400 rating points you gain, you'll need to change your openings slightly anyway, as your playing style will change a lot.
Things to Know Before Reading This Article
Don't Play Openings for Fun
This is the most important point. You should choose openings to make progress, not just for enjoyment. If you're someone who wants to enjoy chess and make progress at the same time, this article might not be for you. Many viral YouTube videos are based on traps or offbeat openings that aren't generally recommended for offline chess. Your goal should be to improve and play chess seriously.
Play Only One Opening
This point follows from the first one. When you are serious about improvement, you will naturally shift to one main opening. Playing a single opening will help you understand the structures and deepen your knowledge. I'm talking about openings, not variations. You can play multiple variations within the same opening, which will allow you to try different things and out-prepare or trick your opponent.
Choosing the Right Openings
This is one of the most important parts of opening preparation. I've seen many 1700-1800 players play the Najdorf and other very hard-to-remember lines. The problem with these lines is that they are not meant for players in the 1700-2000 range. Of course, you can play them because they're interesting, and many players like them.
The main issue with playing very complex lines is that you have to prepare a lot. For example, when you play the Najdorf, your opponent has over 10 options and more than 100 variations to choose from. You can't possibly remember everything. Even if you do, your opponent might play some very sharp lines that will most likely end up in a traumatic position for you.
The same goes for the white side. Take the Poisoned Pawn variation as an example. In that line, both players need to remember a lot of moves. While you can get instant wins sometimes, the chances are quite low—maybe you'll win 1 or 2 games out of 20. What about the remaining 18 or 19 games that end up in very complex positions?
Playing complex lines also involves critical "only move" variations, which you don't want as 1700-1800 players. You need very playable and simple positions that aren't losing, even if you make a sequence of slightly inaccurate moves.
For example, in the King's Indian Attack (KIA), White's plan is simple: Nf3, g3, Bg2, 0-0, d3, etc. In these setups, you can't lose the game in the next 20-30 moves unless you make a simple blunder, which we are not considering for players of your strength.
There are many other examples of such openings, like the Pirc, French, and Caro-Kann for Black. I also don't see any drawbacks to playing these lines.
One more key thing to note is that you shouldn't choose boring and dull openings for Black, even if they are risk-free. Something like the Semi-Slav or very drawish central pawn openings might not be the best choice.
List of Openings Not to Choose
(These are personal suggestions, and you don't have to agree with me.)
Najdorf
Ruy Lopez
Poisoned Pawn variations
High-risk variations
Very dull and boring variations
How to Prepare Openings
Get a Chess Coach
A chess coach will help you find your weaknesses and strengths and will help you find the perfect openings. Preparing with a chess coach will save you time, and you will get many new practical ideas.
Use Online Chess Courses
If you don't have a chess coach, don't worry. The first step is to choose one opening and then look for chess courses on that particular setup. Don't buy a course just because it looks good unless you have a lot of money. After buying a course, start going through it one by one.
I recommend going with Modern Chess and Chessbase courses, as both are not expensive and are good value for money. Of course, there will be some openings you don't like. In that case, just work on your own and change them.
Books and YouTube
Preparing from books is not a good way to learn, as it can feel boring unless you started chess in the "good old book era." On YouTube, you will find many videos, but they can be confusing and might only give you half-knowledge.
Create and Update Your Repertoire Regularly
Once you buy a course, copy the content and paste it into your repertoire folder. When you play a game, go to that specific opening file and add the moves where you were surprised or where your opponent made a good move. Within a year or so, you will have saved many games and rechecked your files hundreds of times just by doing this.
I know this might not be easy to understand, but I tried my best to explain it all. I am more than happy to solve all your queries in the comments!