I haven't made my mind yet whether I should use the Masters or the Lichess database, and if the latter what rating ranges I should select. Any thoughts? Right now I have the Lichess database, with only Blitz and Classical (so I ignore Bullet) and I start with 1800 up to 2500 (so I ignore 1600).
It is always better to start at high quality games, this would mean strong players playing and at longer TC.
Classical + 2000 rating and up is very good.
If you are looking for some alternative moves at a position you are interested at, you can include Blitz.
Classical + 2000 rating and up is very good.
If you are looking for some alternative moves at a position you are interested at, you can include Blitz.
It depends what your objective is : if you look for best moves for OTB play, then using the Masters database makes sense. If you look for tricky openings to use in blitz, then looking for what scores well at your level in the lichess database makes sense.
#2 Classical 2000+ isnt that good, im only 1750 OTB but over 2100 here. It just depends on the pool of players but I'd say 2400 is the baseline.
@4
My recommendation is for jacquesd.
My recommendation is for jacquesd.
Thinking about it more (and in the light of Hicnetnunc's remark) I guess I should keep using the Lichess database with players in my rating range and above.
I only play online, I can't bring myself to study openings, but what I plan to do is, when an opening goes wrong in a game, to analyze it with the engine and the opening explorer, and see where I went wrong. That way, very slowly, I may build a decent opening repertoire.
One thing I'm wondering about is how many games there are in the various categories. The distribution of *players* is such that 2000+ players are lost in the crowd if we include players at the 1800 level. If it's the same for games, then I might only include games at 2000+, otherwise the 2000+ will be lost in the crowd. But perhaps the 2000+ players are less numerous but play much more, so there are a lot of 2000+ games. Do we know about this?
I only play online, I can't bring myself to study openings, but what I plan to do is, when an opening goes wrong in a game, to analyze it with the engine and the opening explorer, and see where I went wrong. That way, very slowly, I may build a decent opening repertoire.
One thing I'm wondering about is how many games there are in the various categories. The distribution of *players* is such that 2000+ players are lost in the crowd if we include players at the 1800 level. If it's the same for games, then I might only include games at 2000+, otherwise the 2000+ will be lost in the crowd. But perhaps the 2000+ players are less numerous but play much more, so there are a lot of 2000+ games. Do we know about this?
You should only review openings from top players or else you might learn the wrong things. And if you learn the wrong things, you wont get better. I suggest using the master database and spending time into figuring what each move does and what they try to avoid and do instead of just mechanically learning openings.
Thanks habatur for your input.
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