The Queen's Gambit, " Gambit de la Reine" is a good one to begin with, particularly when the gambit is accepted. Open the file by clicking on the link. You will see that the Queen has played such and has led the othe pieces on her side to play such as to create double pawns on the side of her opponent , at a total count of five at the middle game. Those double pawns are not very useful and more vulnerable than the normal pawns; they will be taken one by one easily by the rook and the bishop of the on the side of the gambit's playing Queen. (Reserve a l'auteur) (Ex.: QUEENGA1.pgn: 1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.Qa4+ Nc6 4.Qxc4 Qxd4 5.e3 Qb6 6.Nc3 Be6 7.Qb5 O-O-O 8.Be2 Nf6 9.Nf3 Kb8 10.Ng5 a6 11.Qxb6 cxb6 12.Nxe6 fxe6 13.O-O g5 14.Rd1 Bg7 15.Bd2 Rhf8 16.Rac1 Ka7 17.b4 Nxb4 18.Nb5+ axb5 19.Bxb4 Nd5 20.Rb1 Nxb4 21.Rxb4 Rxd1+ 22.Bxd1 Rd8 23.Bb3 Ka6 24.h4 Ka5 25.Rg4 Rc8 26.Rxg5 Bf8 27.Rh5 Rc1+ 28.Kh2 h6 *)

Another good classical opening is the Spanish opening or the Ruy Lopez. Open the file and click on the link. You will see that the domination of the center is done by the King's pawn which moves tow cases at the opening, the King's knight which follows the pawn and the King's bishop which together with the knight threatens the opposite king . In this opening the King castles very early to have the rook participate in the domination of the center. (Reserve a l'auteur) (Ex.: RUY5.pgn: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Nc6 4.d4 Nf6 5.Bxc6+ bxc6 6.e5 Ne4 7.Nbd2 Nxd2 8.Bxd2 cxd4 9.Nxd4 Bd7 10.exd6 e5 11.Nf3 Bxd6 12.O-O Qe7 13.Bc3 f6 14.Qd2 Bg4 15.Qe3 O-O 16.Qe4 Bd7 *) The game is level still after 16 moves; the Blacks have a broken pawn structure but have strong bishops (the two).

The third opening to be analyzed in this text is the Italian opening or the Giuco Piano. In this opening a mate , that of the Shepherd, can come as early as the fourth move with the Queen and the King's bishop, but only for the beginners. In this opening the domination of the center square (d4, d5, e4 and e5) is also the greatest by the Giuco Piano playing pieces which are first the King's pawn, the King's bishop and the King's knight and is long lasting with the minor pieces replacing each other. (1) The crucial cases to be occupied by a pawn are e4 and h3 ; the help of the Queen's knight may be necessary. (2) The crucial cases to be occupied by the King's knight are, first, f3, then e5 and g5, less often and if possible, d6 and f6. The sacrifice of the Queen pawn may be necessary for that so that this knight can be protected by the Queen's bishop. This occupation can be accomplished in two moves only for the King's knight and in three moves by the Queen's knight both moving towards the center and leading already and at least to 8 possibilities. (3) The crucial case of all is f7. (4) The crucial diagonal to be occupied by the King's bishop is the diagonal a2-f7 . (5) The crucial diagonal to be occupied by the Queen's bishop is, first, the diagonal c1-h6 that is next to its fianchetto diagonal. (6) The crucial cases to be occupied by the Queen are f3 and b3 and the (7) crucal line is the third line. She may need the help of the King's rook pawn to prevent the bishop of the mate to come nearby. The help of he rooks are to seize the columns e and d, the center's column that may be the (8) crucial columns in order to have the mate's King in check or have his Queen in danger. The sacrifice of the King's knight may even be necessary as you will see in the game with the Giuco Piano opening at this linked address below - LT-PGN-BOARD_Giuco.htm.
    What is the Giuco Piano then? Three moves only describe the opening, no more than that : the occupation of the center square by the King's pawn moving to e4, the move of the King's knight to f3 and the move of the King's bishop onto its crucial diagonal a2-f7.
    In the Concise Chess, the compact guide for beginners of John Emms, it is said that the Ruy Lopez is a more refined opening than the Giuco Piano; the fact is that good chess players never succumb to the easy mate that the Giuco Piano can lead to, at the opening, but there are still lot of possibilities and the Giuco Pianio is certainly the most open of the the Open Games. (Reserve a l'auteur) (Ex.: GIU8.pgn: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d4 exd4 5.Ng5 d5 6.exd5 Nxd5 7.O-O f5 8.Bf4
Be7 9.Bxc7 Qxc7 10.Bxd5 Bxg5 11.Qh5+ Kf8 12.Re1 Qd7 13.Bxc6 Qxc6 14.Qxg5 Be6 15.Na3 Re8 16.Re5 h6 17.Qf4 Qb6 18.Nb5 Rd8 19.Rae1 Bc8 20.Qg3 a6 21.Re7 Rh7 22.Qa3 Qxb5 23.Rd7+ Kg8 24.Rxd8+ Kf7 25.Qd6 Qe8 26.Rdxe8 Bd7 27.R1e7++ 1-0 .).
    In fact, there is no major difference between the Ruy Lopez and the Giuco Piano, since the first two moves are the same and the initial intention to play Giuco Piano can lead to a Ruy Lopez development depending on the cicumstances, as it can be seen in this analyzed and simulated game against Elton, a chessmate I played with on August 24, 2009 (GIUCEL6.PGN: 1.e4 c6 2.Nf3 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.Bb5+ Bd7 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bxd7+ Qxd7 7.Ne5 Qf5 8.d4 Nd7 9.Nxd7 Qxd7 10.O-O e6 11.Re1 Bb4 12.Bd2 Ne7 13.a3 Bxc3 14.Bxc3 O-O 15.Qf3 Rac8 *). After having played with my old chessmate Alberto who is at the intemerdiate level and tried this opening I was not satisfied of my Giuco Piano. So I went to analyse with my computer many answers a chessmate at this level can give to my opening. None of the variations I know - Giuco Pianissimo, Evans Gambit and so on - gave me a satifying result, but when I shift to the Ruy Lopez variation of this opening after the pawn defending my Queen mate knight has moved, I got pretty good satisfaction and has advantage at the end of the opening as shown here: GIU15.pgn: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d4 exd4 5.O-O Nxe4 6.Re1 d5 7.Bb5 Bb4 8.Bd2 Bc5 9.b4 * You have a clear advantage at the end of opening. The Giuco Pianio cannot either be played with this opening : GIU14.pgn: 1.e4 c6 2.Nf3 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.Bb5+ Bd7 * But the Ruy Lopez can be and is certainly the best answer. .
    Alberto unlike me does not believe in the power of the opening. My hypothesis is Chess obeys to Bayesian statistics and the opening is there to prove it: a bad opening will lead you probably to a lost while with a good opening you will have more chance to win against a mate (of the same level). During the whole game I can see this probability change as my computer using the software Dr. Schiller's Chess "told" me - the game is level (probability of 50% for both players to win), you have a minimal advantage (probability a little bit of more than 50% for one player to win), I have a sizable advantage, I have a clear advantage, I am wining, mate in three half moves - and they are linked; they are conditional, they are Bayesian. Thus, if I have to come at having a clear advantage, i.e, a probability a huge bit of more than 50% of wining, the next evolution is most probably "I am wining", i.e, a probabilty of almost 100% and the following one is a certitude of mate, i..e a probability of 100%.
    But can the Giuco Piano be played with the Black set? In playing with Alberto, while the games were easy with my Whites opening with Giuco Piano, they were far more difficult with my Blacks opening with Giuco Piano; they have led only to temporary gain of material, most often a rook, that sometimes I could not exploit to reach a good conclusiom. I guess it is probably because the Giuco Piano is an opening that can lead to a swift checkmate, but because the Blacks did not open the game, it is more difficult to realize this goal with them. So I will try the Sicilian Defense and have also the opportunity to learn and play a new opening. At the Bucknell Chess Club Home Page the Giuco Piano is definitely ranged in the Openings for Whites or the Attacks while the Sicilian Defense is ranged in the Openings for Blacks or the Defenses (reserve a l'auteur).
     Examples of Giuco Piano that can be accessed at this address - http://www.letsplaychess.com/chessclubs/ - on the internet: LT-PGN-BOARD_Giuco.htm (reserve a l'auteur: 1, or in this folder for other examples: LT-PGN-BOARD_Giuco2.htm, LT-PGN-BOARD_Giuco3.htm, LT-PGN-BOARD_Giuco4.htm, LT-PGN-BOARD_Giuco5.htm, LT-PGN-BOARD_Giuco6.htm, LT-PGN-BOARD_Giuco7.htm, LT-PGN-BOARD_Giuco8.htm, and LT-PGN-BOARD_Giuco9.htm). In this opening the King can castle after 10.Qe4... instead of waiting that the black Knight moves to take the pawn in c2 (11. ... Nxc2) after being attacked by the pawn at the move 11.a3. An attack to remove the black pawn on e5 can thus begin by the pawn moving to f4 being protected by the rook.
    Finally, the Giuco Piano is one of the most easy opening to learn and to teach combinations. A Giuco Piano database and a video lesson can be accessed at Let Play Chess.com of Chess World Net presented on You Tube. You don't need to inscribe yourself or to register to access the folder, but if you want to play chess on the internet at this site, you will need to do so. (Reserve a l'auteur). To be simple and correct, three moves only describe the opening, no more than that, I repeat it: the occupation of the center square by the King's pawn moving to e4, the move of the King's knight to f3 and the move of the King's bishop onto its crucial diagonal a2-f7. When you can realize it in the first 3 to 4 moves, Otherwise you are not playing the Giuco Piano . There are many variations and sub-variations as you can see in this datatbase. In the ECO sytem of classification and coding of the openings, the Giuco Piano can be coded as a C opening if the mate answers the first (1rst) move by e5 and the variations shown in this database are C50, C53, C54 and C55 depending on the fourth (4th) move. If it is c3 then the variations are C53 and C54 till the 5th move when many subvariations appear: Bird, Greco, Aitken, Cracow, Krause, Steinitz and Anderssen. If it is different, it is shown in the database that it can be either C50 or C55 with many subvariations: Holzhausen and Rosentreter for C55, after the castling on the King's side, and the Jerome's gambit for C50 at the sacrifice of the King's bishop. In the second link at the club Lett Play Chess (http://www.letsplaychess.com/) there is also a gambit in the Giuco Piano; it happens in the 7th move. Other variations are the Evan's gambit (C51 or C52) with many subvariations (Classeur reserve a l'auteur). I built recently a Giuco-Piano database and I will update it from time to time.

The Sicilian Defense, the fourth classical opening to be seen here is both a defense and a counterattack against some openings, like the Ruy Lopez. Open the file and read the interesting small note in French language (Reserve a l'auteur) (Ex.: SICIL.pgn:1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Bc4 *). In this opening the domination of the center by the Whites is strongly contested by the Blacks (Ex.:SICILIA2.PGN: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e6 5.Be2 Nf6 6.Nc3 Bb4 7.Bf3 Qa5 8.Ne2 Ne5 9.O-O b6 10.Bd2 Ba6 11.a3 Nxf3+ 12.gxf3 Bxc3 13.Bxc3 Qg5+ 14.Kh1 *).

All those openings are Open Games where the chess partners have at least two open files - diagonal - where they can launch their attacks. I used to choose mostly to play a Closed Game at the opening, but ii is evident only after the second move. The reason is that because I have not been playing much Chess I am more vulnerable with the Open game. The classical definition of Open Games and Closed Games given by the Encyclopedia of Chess Openings (ECO) code index is:

• "Open Game (aka [Also known as] Double King Pawn game): White moves 1. e4 e5
• Semi-Open Game (aka Single King Pawn games):  White plays 1.e4 and Black breaks symmetry immediately by replying with a move other than 1...e5.
• Closed Game:   Game begins 1.d4 d5.
• Semi-Closed Game (or Semi-Closed Opening):  White plays 1.d4 but Black does not make the symmetrical reply 1...d5.
• Flank Opening:   White attacks the center from the flanks with pieces rather than occupying it with pawns."

In the Open games, the King's pawn is moved two cases at the beginning while in the Closed games it is the Queen's pawn. Other openings that will be seen in this text as soon as I got them and learned them are:

1. the French Defense
2. the Indian Defenses: Nimzo, Queen's, King's or Grünfeld
3. the Scotch Game
4. the Reti System
5. the English Opening
6. the Caro-Kann Defense
7. the Dutch Defense

Let us begin by the Dutch as it favoured by a chessmate Marc or Mac and let us read what is said about it first: "The Dutch Defense is one of the chess opening moves that is easy to learn. It starts as 1.d4 f5 and therefore it is considered an aggressive counter play by black. Here black moves toward the whites' kingside with the aim of crushing the white. Although this move is good, it weakens blacks' defenses and does not help to develop pieces." (© 2009, Squidoo, LLC) This can be seen in this game - Ex,: DUTCH1.PGN: 1.d4 f5 2.c4 Nf6 3.g3 e6 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.Bg2 d5 6.Ne5 Nxe5 7.dxe5 Ne4 8.Nd2 Nxd2 9.Bxd2 dxc4 10.Qa4+ Bd7 11.Qxc4 c6 12.O-O-O Qc7 13.Qc3 Be7 14.e4 O-O 15.f4 Rad8 16.exf5 Rxf5 17.Be4 Rf7 * - where at the middle game the Blacks' pawn structure is broken and the development of their pieces is truly insufficient with them being confined to a very defensive position; the Whites then had a mimimal advantage which grows to a small then to a decisive one.

The Reti System; it is said that this opening demonstrates the hypermodern strategies of flexible restraint - limitation - of the strategy of the center pawns and the fianchetto of both bishops. The advantage I saw in trying is was a fast development of the pieces (Ex.:RETIW2.PGN:1.Nf3 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.Na3 Qd5 4.e3 b5 5.b3 cxb3 6.Nxb5 Qb7 7.axb3 Nf6 8.d4 Bg4 9.Bd3 a6 10.Nc3 Nbd7 11.h3 Bxf3 12.Qxf3 Qxf3 13.gxf3 e5 14.Nb5 Nd5 15.Bc4 N7b6 16.Bxd5 Nxd5 17.dxe5 Bb4+ 18.Bd2 O-O 19.Nd4 Rfb8 20.Rg1 c5 21.Nf5 Bxd2+ 22.Kxd2 g6 23.Kc2 Rb6 24.Rad1 Nb4+ 25.Kc3 Rab8 26.Rd6 Na2+ 27.Kb2 Rxb3+ 28.Kxa2 Rb2+ 29.Ka1 Rxf2 30.Rf6 Re8 31.Nh6+ Kg7 32.Nxf7 Re7 33.Ng5 Rxe5 34.Rxa6 Rxe3 *). "It is named after Richard Réti, an untitled Grandmaster from Czechoslovakia who most famously used it to defeat José Raúl Capablanca, the reigning World Chess Champion, in a game in the 1924 New York tournament." (Wikipedia, August 2009)

The Caro-Kann Defense; it is said that the opening "establishes a porcupine-like defense, attacking the center without blocking the queen's bishop." Indeed it is, like the Sicilian, both a defense and a counterattack allowing a fast development of the pieces (Ex.:CARKA3.PGN: 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nf6 5.Nxf6+ exf6 6.Bc4 Be6 7.Bxe6 fxe6 8.Nf3 Bd6 9.O-O O-O 10.Re1 Re8 11.c4 Na6 12.Bd2 c5 13.d5 Qb6 14.Qa4 Nc7 15.dxe6 Nxe6 16.b3 Re7 17.Rad1 Rae8 18.Bc3 Kh8 19.Rd5 Nc7 20.Rxe7 Rxe7 21.Rd3 *) with the Sicilian looking more classic.