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3 Best Chess Openings for Club Players 👍 with GM Damian Lemos!

August 17, 2017 NHaselton Chess Lectures

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Want to outplay your rivals in the opening by mastering an attacking opening you can play against nearly anything? Get instant digital access to Damian Lemos’ 10 hour Deep Dive course on the London System – with 35% off! ► https://ichs.co/2zYq8Ws

🤝 “Choose an opening… which is sound, regardless of fluctuations in current theory.“, Horowitz and Reinfeld.

GM Damian Lemos gives his recommendation on which openings to play if you are a club player.

Damian’s opinion on improving your openings is well established: it’s more important to know ideas than to memorize moves. That’s why, instead of choosing “trendy” variations with long lines of precise moves to remember, he suggests sticking to positionally sound, active chess openings.

In this video, GM Lemos explains which 3 openings will give you solid positions with great attacking potential.

The London System – Openings for club players

This opening begins with 1.d4 and 2.Bf4, and can be played against any of Black’s responses (however, if your opponent plays the dubious Englund gambit with 1…e5?!, perhaps you should choose a different move!)

2.Bf4 has been neglected for years, but in recent times both Kramnik and World Champion Magnus Carlsen have decided that the London System has hidden power, even against the best players in the world!

In this video GM Lemos analyzes one of Magnus Carlsen’s games where he finds a very creative move in a well-known position.

By far the most popular move is 8.Bd3, with two ideas in mind:

1. To prepare the typical pawn break e3-e4.
2. To attack on the kingside.

Instead, Magnus Carlsen played the sophisticated 8.Bb5!, aiming to gain control over the e5 square by exchanging the knight. And, after 8…Ne7, then 9.Bd3! is the intended move.

It looks like White loses a tempo, but …Ne7 isn’t a move Black wants to play – mainly because he would lose control over e5.
In fact, the immediate Ne5 is very strong. But there is also a very nice tactical idea.

In the game, Black played 9…b6, and after 10.e4! dxe4 11.Nxe4 Nxe4 12.Bxe4, the Ra8 is hanging. With the knight on c6, Black could have answered with …Bb7, finishing development. But now Black has to play 12…Rb8, giving White the initiative.

White had a winning position just 3 moves later!

GM Damian Lemos’ insight into these 3 openings for White gives you the knowledge needed to get advantageous middlegames (if Black survives the opening!) without spending hours studying!

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