Success in chess strongly depends on the quality of your opening repertoire. It can be your best friend, giving you a nice head start into the game, or your worst enemy, punishing you with a permanent handicap. Through the tight connection with typical middlegame structures or a specific playing style, the opening repertoire is more than just a tool. It forms an integral part of your identity and will define how you perceive the game of chess. In the same way as a substantial repertoire can make your entire chess understanding steadily grow, a feeble repertoire will considerably hamper your development.
Only after I started to systematically work with ChessBase in 1994, subsequently creating opening files in the three digits, I managed to break the barrier of Elo 2600 in 1996. I see no reason why ambitious amateurs should not apply the methods, which make professionals successful. Of course, there are differences. An amateur won’t be able to maintain such a broad opening repertoire as a pro, but this is no problem against amateur opposition. Also will an amateur not have the time to perform a big amount of analyses himself. He has to rely on professional offers.
The importance of including the middlegame
The importance of using digital data
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The Four Knights Sicilian
Anti-Morra Gambit
Beside my engagement in generic analyses I also help my clients to solve individual opening problems.