An opening is character carried on. The choice of a start says a great deal about a player: whether they like risk or control, calculation or intuition, a direct attack or a slow squeeze. Nowhere is that clearer than in the repertoires of the world champions.
We went through nine of the greats - from Capablanca to Carlsen - and showed which openings were their calling card and why those suited their style. Every opening can be played through on the board straight away.
The «chess machine» with flawless endgame technique played simply and clearly, avoiding needless risk. With White, Capablanca relied on the Queen's Gambit; with Black he liked the solid Caro-Kann.
A brilliant attacker and analyst, he gave theory an entire opening - the Alekhine Defence, in which Black taunts White's pawn centre in order to smash it later with pieces.
The king of sacrifices and intuitive attack. Tal adored the sharpest schemes - the Sicilian and the King's Indian - where you can tie up irrational complications and come down on the king.
The «boa constrictor» and master of prophylaxis, he smothered his opponent's threats before they appeared. His choice: solid, flexible schemes - the Nimzo-Indian and the Queen's Indian.
Fischer valued clear positions and theory studied to the end. With White it was almost always the Ruy Lopez; with Black against 1.e4, the Sicilian (the Najdorf). He also proposed the famous «bust» of the King's Gambit - the Fischer Defence 3...d6.
The benchmark for positional play: Karpov wrung the maximum out of the smallest edge and never let his opponent breathe. His trump against 1.e4 was the Caro-Kann; with White, the Catalan and the Queen's Gambit.
The most dynamic champion, with the deepest opening preparation of all. With Black, the Najdorf Sicilian and the Grünfeld; with White he revived the Scotch Game and used the Evans Gambit to spectacular effect.
In the 2000 match Kramnik neutralised Kasparov with the Berlin Wall of the Ruy Lopez and brought it back into fashion. He liked the Catalan and the solid Petrov with Black.
Carlsen plays everything and outplays opponents in «dry» positions and endgames. He brought the London System and the Catalan back to the top level and happily uses the English Opening.
The main thing is clear: an opening is character carried on. The attacking geniuses chose sharp schemes with sacrifices, the positional masters solid starts built for the squeeze, and the all-rounders played everything. Find an opening that suits your style and the game gets easier.
With Black, Garry Kasparov most often used the Sicilian Defence (the Najdorf) and the Grünfeld Defence; with White he revived the Scotch Game and played the Evans Gambit to spectacular effect. His repertoire reflected his bet on dynamism and the initiative.
Mikhail Tal chose the sharpest schemes - the Sicilian and the King's Indian - where you can tie up irrational complications and go on the attack with sacrifices. For him the opening was a springboard into tactical chaos, and in that he had no equal.
They are systems named after the champions. The Alekhine Defence (1...Nf6) is Alekhine's own hypermodern idea: lure White's pawns forward and then attack the centre. The Fischer Defence is the solid continuation 3...d6 in the King's Gambit, which Fischer proposed as a refutation.
It is useful to take on the ideas and the understanding, but blindly copying a repertoire is not worth it: the champions spent years polishing their schemes to fit their own style. Choose an opening that is close to you in spirit and go through it on the board - that will do more than memorising somebody else's lines.
If you are just starting out, have a look at the rules of chess and how to set the board up.
Everything people usually keep in a spreadsheet is already in the app: pairings, points, tie-breaks, round order. Free, with no subscriptions and no cap on the number of players.
Vibe Chess runs chess meetups - networking evenings in cities across Russia: Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Kazan, Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk and more. For companies we run corporate chess tournaments, and every city and format is gathered on the home page.
Open the Vibe Chess app - it has the schedule of meetups and chess events across the cities, the registration and your own tournaments.
