Opening preparation
Opening preparation is the work done before a game to know your chosen lines well, including studying your own repertoire and checking the likely choices of a specific opponent.
Also called: home preparation
Opening preparation is the study you do away from the board. It has two parts. The first is general: reviewing your repertoire, learning the ideas, checking the latest games and finding improvements. The second is specific: looking at what a particular opponent has played before, and planning an opening that suits you and aims at their weaker lines.
The goal is to reach a middlegame that you understand, with time on your clock. A prepared line saves thinking time early, which helps in games with a time control. A prepared surprise, called a novelty, can also give a real edge when the opponent has to solve problems alone.
The most useful preparation is on ideas rather than on long lines. Learn why each move is played, what the typical plans are and which pawn breaks matter. That way, when the opponent leaves your notes, you still know what to do. Engines and databases help, but the work is only useful if you understand the results.
A frequent mistake is to memorize a long line without the reasons, then forget it in the game. Another is to over-prepare one opening and neglect everything else. Review your preparation after each game, mark where you left it and correct the notes while the game is fresh.
Also worth reading is Countergambit. A countergambit is a reply in which the defender answers a gambit, or an early attack, with a pawn offer of their own instead of simply accepting or declining, aiming to turn the initiative around.
Compare it with Opponent preparation. Opponent preparation is the work of studying a known opponent's past games and habits before a round so you can choose openings and plans that steer the game toward positions where they are less comfortable.
It sits close to Repertoire building. Repertoire building is the process of choosing a small set of openings that suit your style and then learning their ideas, typical plans and key lines well enough to play them confidently.
Opening ideas such as "Opening preparation" are easier to keep when they are tested on your own games, which is what a first lesson with George Li begins with.
Related terms
An opening repertoire is the personal menu of opening lines a player has decided to rely on, so that with either color they know where they are heading and have answers ready for the opponent's most likely choices.
Opening theory is the body of knowledge about the opening, made up of the known moves, plans and evaluations of the main lines that players have tested over many games.
A novelty is a move that has not been played before in a known position of an opening, introduced to take the opponent out of their preparation and into unexplored territory.
Opponent preparation is the work of studying a known opponent's past games and habits before a round so you can choose openings and plans that steer the game toward positions where they are less comfortable.
An opening explorer is a tool that shows, for any position reached from the start, which moves players have chosen in past games and how often each move led to a win, draw or loss.
A chess database is a searchable collection of games, stored in a standard format, that lets a player look up positions, study opponents, and see how often moves have been played and what results they scored.
Guides that go further
Most popular chess openings and win rates
The most played openings, how often White wins, and how the numbers change with rating, computed from public games.
What to decide first, the questions to ask, what a first lesson should show and the red flags to avoid.
A game review, a read on your level and a written study plan from George Li.
Want to spot this in your own games?
A first lesson starts with your games: George reviews them and builds a study plan around what he finds.