Beginners often ask: "Which opening should I learn?" The honest answer is that at club level, openings decide fewer games than tactics and endgames. But having a small, well-understood repertoire — a set of openings you always play — saves time, reduces early mistakes and gives your middlegames familiar shapes.
This article shows how to build one without drowning in theory.
Principle 1: Small is strong
A beginner or intermediate player needs:
- one main system as Red,
- one answer to the Central Cannon as Black (because you will face it constantly),
- one general plan against everything else as Black.
That is enough to play hundreds of games. Players who try to learn five openings at once usually understand none of them.
Principle 2: Ideas before moves
For each opening in your repertoire, you should be able to answer, in words:
- What does my first move aim at?
- Where do my horses and chariots go in the first ten moves?
- What is the opponent trying to do?
- What are the typical plans once development is done?
If you can answer these, move orders become easy to remember and you can handle surprises. If you cannot, memorized moves will fail at the first deviation.
Choosing your Red opening
The Central Cannon (C2=5)
Choose it if you like clear plans, direct pressure and tactical games. It teaches the fundamentals — development, center, chariots — faster than anything else. See the Central Cannon opening.
The Pawn opening (P7+1)
Choose it if you like flexibility and prefer to decide your structure after seeing Black's reply. It suits players who enjoy strategy. See the Pawn opening.
The Elephant opening (E3+5)
Choose it if you prefer solid, positional games and are comfortable defending first. See the Elephant opening.
A good default: start with the Central Cannon. After a few months, add the Pawn or Elephant opening as a second weapon for variety and for opponents who defend the Central Cannon well.
Choosing your Black answers
Against the Central Cannon
- Screen Horses (H8+7 and H2+3): the most solid and instructive choice. See the Screen Horses defense.
- Same or Opposite Direction Cannons (C8=5 or C2=5): sharp, tactical, good for players who like counterattack. See Same and Opposite Direction Cannons.
A good default: Screen Horses first. Add a central cannon reply later if you want sharper games.
Against everything else
Instead of learning a specific answer to every Red first move, use a general plan:
- Develop both horses to the third line.
- Get at least one chariot out by move five or six.
- Keep the center file in front of your general uncluttered.
- Answer Red's central cannon ideas by defending the center soldier with a horse.
This plan works against the Pawn opening, the Elephant opening, horse openings and most unusual moves.
Principle 3: Grow from your own games
The best way to expand a repertoire is to let your games tell you what to learn:
- You keep losing to the same line? Study that line, and only that line.
- You keep getting the same middlegame? Learn its typical plans.
- You are bored with your opening? Add a second one — but only one at a time.
Keep a simple list: opening, result, the move where things went wrong. After twenty games, the list shows your priorities better than any book.
Principle 4: Match the repertoire to your style
Ask yourself honestly:
- Do I enjoy sharp tactical fights, or do I prefer slow maneuvering?
- Do I calculate well, or do I play more by feel?
- Do I play mostly fast games or slow ones?
Sharp openings suit good calculators and slower time controls. Solid openings suit positional players and fast games, where avoiding early traps matters more.
Principle 5: Learn the typical middlegames
An opening is only as good as your understanding of the positions that follow. For each opening in your repertoire, play through several games — your own or strong players' — and note:
- where the chariots usually end up,
- which soldiers usually advance,
- which pieces are usually exchanged,
- where the attacks usually happen.
This knowledge turns an opening from a sequence of moves into a plan. The middlegame section helps connect the two.
A sample repertoire for the first year
- Red: Central Cannon, developing both horses and bringing a chariot out quickly.
- Black against the Central Cannon: Screen Horses.
- Black against other openings: the general plan above.
- Second weapon after six months: Pawn opening as Red, or a central cannon reply as Black.
This covers everything a club player needs and leaves time for what matters more at that level: tactics, calculation and endgames.
Common repertoire mistakes
Switching openings after every loss. One loss says little about an opening. Look at where the game was actually lost — usually in the middlegame.
Learning long lines without ideas. Twenty moves of theory are useless if you do not know why they are played.
Ignoring what the opponent wants. For each opening, learn the opponent's plan too. Defending is much easier when you know what is coming.
Practice
Choose your repertoire today. Then play ten games against the computer on the home page using only those openings, and ten on the online page. Keep the simple list described above. After twenty games, decide what to study next — and only that.
How to study one opening in a week
Once you have chosen, here is a simple one-week routine for getting to know an opening properly:
- Day 1: play the first eight moves on a physical board several times, saying the purpose of each move out loud.
- Day 2–3: play three games against the computer with the opening and stop at move fifteen to write down where each piece stands and why.
- Day 4: play the opening from the other side. If you learned the Central Cannon, defend against it. You will notice what the opponent finds annoying.
- Day 5–6: play two online games with it at a slow time control.
- Day 7: review all the games of the week and write three sentences about what usually happens.
After that week you will not know every line, but you will understand the opening well enough to play it confidently — and you will know which questions to research next.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a repertoire as a beginner?
A small one helps a lot. It prevents early disasters and makes your games easier to review.
Should my Red and Black openings be related?
Not necessarily, but it helps if they share ideas, such as early horse development and chariot activity.
How many openings do strong players know?
Many. But they built that knowledge gradually over years, one opening at a time.
Is it bad to play the same opening every game?
No. Deep familiarity with one opening is a strength. Add variety when you want it, not because you feel you must.
