Exploring another opening

If you’ve been following my chess odyssey at all, you probably know that when it comes to openings, I’m currently a one-trick pony. As white, I play the King’s Indian. As black, I play the King’s Indian. So far, it’s worked pretty well for me. I love these openings.

However, as I play more T4545 tournament games, and these games are recorded on the T4545 site for all to see, future opponents who do their homework will know exactly what I play, and will be able to fully prepare against me and my King’s Indian.

So, I’ve been shopping around for another opening to add to my repertoire (well, I don’t suppose I can really call it a repertoire until I have more than one option, eh?). I’ve been looking at various opening books at the bookstore, and I think I’ve finally settled on my next opening. I’m gonna learn to play the Ruy Lopez. It’s a classic, and it’s a strong opening when played well. Fischer played it. Kasparov played it. Petey’s gonna play it.

My fellow chess player at work plays that opening almost exclusively, so hopefully he will impart some of his wisdom to me.

Like with the Barcza/KIA, I plan to play a bunch of games using the Spanish, so that I can see the most likely responses, and learn how to react to those. The Ruy Lopez is a far more complicated opening than the KIA, with far more variations, so I expect it to take me a lot longer to learn and become proficient using.

And then I’ll be a two-trick pony. Neigh.