How to Choose Your Repertoire - IM Christof Sielecki

Episode 7 - IM Christof Sielecki on How to Choose your repertoire
How to choose your opening repertoire? International Master and opening specialist Christof Sielecki races the clock to answer as many of Ben’s questions as possible in under 15 minutes. Christof is the mastermind behind the popular Chessexplained Twitch and KZbin channels, and a Chessable bestselling author, with rave reviews in all of his titles.
Twitch: / chessxplained
KZbin: / chessexplained
Courses: www.chessable....
A lot of facts weigh in choosing the right repertoire for you: time available for preparation, the format you play on, the kind of positions you feel comfortable with... But most of all, know yourself and be clear about your expectations of the opening.
Here you’ve got Christof’s three pearls of wisdom:
1. Know your goals (what do you want to achieve? Use openings that maximize your chances)
2. Don’t fear preparation (it doesn’t happen that much; just know your stuff and follow chess principles)
3. Adapt your repertoire to the situation (switching openings is a good idea from time to time)
Check out hundreds of free Chessable opening courses at www.chessable....
Or, create an account for free at www.chessable....
➡️ Check out Ben on Twitter / bennyficial1
➡️ Check out Christof on Twitter / chessexplained
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Visit www.howtochess... and follow / howtochesspod to stay in touch with the show.

[@ChessWithMouselip]

Every player thinks their opponent is more booked up.

[@andrew_owens7680]

Except Magnus.

[@ChessWithMouselip]

I have several of Christof's chessable courses and love them. The accompanying videos are brimming with instructional value.

[@davebrowne8042]

Not only is Christof my favourite chessable course designer, I find his voice very soothing, which in turn helps me understand more from his courses.

[@marcofrey2903]

Thanks Christof, as a Stafford gambit player who now knows the Petroff proper! For me personally, I've done a lot of work on openings just because I find it fascinating, so I'm switching my focus on the real culprits: tactics, tactics, and some endgame flaws. My goal is just to hit 2000 by age 50, and have fun along the way. I have a good mix of gambits and solid, and sometimes both (to choose). Evans Gambit, or Greco Attack (non-gambit, if I'm trying to be solid) Knight Attack (or Max Lange/Anderssen/Nakhmanson if I'm trying to be tricky) Smith Morra (no "solid" response yet to the Sicilian, but Morra has a great reputation and it teaches real principles) Stafford Gambit or Petroff proper French Advanced Milner Barry (there are more solid, less dubious lines) Caro Kann Fantasy QGD (also works against the English!). Against mainline Queen's Gambit, I love the Cambridge Springs variation. Qb6 lines against London Etc!

[@VeganCheeseburger]

Christof is a treasure of the chess world

[@TillSwims]

Christof is a great chess teacher

[@Zoomjah]

Loved this video! I'm happy I learned some simple chess openings I can fall back to as a beginner, but great to expand my mind to be willing to "get my hands dirty" with other openings for various reasons, without feeling it will hinder my growth as a chess player.

[@KeepChessSimple]

Ben, I woukd love a longer version of this on the Perpetual Pod

[@schaafman]

This show is good it just needs to be 10x longer

[@TCS088]

Yes, wish the interviews were 12 to 15 minutes long.

[@wyattberens3545]

It’s interesting, the main reason I play the London System as white is because the pawn structures and you usually get are very similar to certain variations of the caro kann but with the colors flipped. It really helps because I know I’ll pretty much always have an immediate and deep understanding of the position before even knowing what color I’m going to play as.

[@BMWE-hm7uz]

you only ever get one type of pawn structure though. very unconfrontational. its just boring to play from both sides imo. its solid enough you dont get blown off the board, but isnt fighting for an advantage with white

[@hagnuj1070]

Chess is a useless money scam.

[@j0s3phXO]

@@hagnuj1070 🤡

[@trews1]

@@BMWE-hm7uz But that's just what Christof said in this video. One person might be ok with the same opening and "boring" positions over and over again, another person might like more variation and/or sharper lines. If they likes playing the London because he knows the pawn structures in the Caro Kann and the London leads to similar structures good for them. You don't like it, so you play something different. Everybody just needs to know their own goals when choosing their repertoire

[@yzfool6639]

@@BMWE-hm7uz So?

[@horrorhouse0060]

I'm a 1200 ELO online, and i play Catalan or Italian for white, and King's Indian or e5 with black. I have a book about Scheveninghen Najdorf, but i gave up the Sicilian because it's TOO deep and complicated. Ruy Lopez is also a very complicated opening with so many different lines.

[@thomassorce5631]

thank you for sharing your time and skill set

[@dkpandey1996]

When it comes to system openings, there are sharper, more exciting choices like the Dutch system and King's Indian. I'm not anti-London, but I can't understand why someone would only want to play the same passive structure every game which doesn't even give an opening advantage and hardly creates imbalances that can be exploited.

[@alcubierrevj]

I think the mindset is to play neutral waiting moves within the solid, “boring” structure until your opponent overreaches or makes an inaccuracy. Then you pounce. Also, some players are really strong in the middle and endgames, so they are perfectly fine setting up the same structure and then outplaying you after move 10

[@rickstermandude]

Thanks very much for these very useful videos. Note that "Toth" is pronounced something like the English word "tote".

[@robertehrenworth3310]

Wish someone would do a video on what websites or software will help a player develop a completely sound, engine-approved or tested, repertoire.

[@tremolony4924]

Lichess Learn

[@TCS088]

Why does Ben look so nervous during the interview and do calm afterwards?

[@JH-pc8td]

I assumed he's being threatened at gunpoint to make this lol

[@WOUBZY]

I think he's paying attention to the clock

[@snehakulkarni2507]

Really helpful

[@b.1565]

Why did this podcast end so silent..... :(

[@Kathleengrace_]

This is so cool

[@g.e.whitman]

for online just create multiple accounts, one dedicated to using your full attention and one for trying stupid moves for fun

[@darrylkassle361]

Hack into the server and change your public repertoire. They will prepare for openings you don't even play.

[@horus4862]

Your Kung Fu no good!

[@chessic4]

Pretty predictable. Didn't even mention whether you should play openings that match your style.

[@yzfool6639]

They did mention it. If you are a club player your style is to drop pieces to tactically alert superiors. Playing openings that are fun for us matches any amateur style.

[@cw6136]

Good luck competing with the services which offer training content for free 😂.

[@thegreatgazoo7579]

What a useless video! The vast majority of chess players are amateurs who are rated under 2000 and nobody is going to prepare against them, and it would not matter if they did, tactical mistakes are what decide games at that level, not openings. Yet more than half the discussion in this video refers to opponents preparing or not preparing. So who is this video for, anyway? Stronger players aren't going to watch this, and weaker players are given no useful advice here.

[@zfeazcesd1047]

hard disagree. there was a lot of useful advice. it also illustrated the point that there is no simple answer to what openings people should play. it doesn't matter how often low rated amateurs are told not to focus on openings, they are going to do it anyway. for the low rated amateurs that only play online blitz, yeah, it doesn't matter what you play, but they did say that.