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I would like to share some views and tips on how to approach chess openings and the task of building a repertoire, as well as some personal experiences. I wonder if there is a comparable subject on which so much has been written and so many books published? More than twenty years ago, when I first started studying chess seriously, I began avidly reading as many titles as I could lay my hands on and ended up buying most of them, building up over a period of about eight years a most impressive collection. At one time, I convinced myself that I might become quite a good chess player. However, talent is all relative and after a few promising results, I started playing in tournaments with genuinely strong players and realised that I could never match their ability and skills.

What I did have, and this helped me greatly when I started playing competitively, was an ability to accurately memorise lots of chess moves and I became familiar with almost every chess opening system and particularly knowledgeable of many of the lines I used in practical play over the board. During tournaments I would often be consulted on opening lines by much stronger players, whilst in my own games opponents who knew me well would often nervously play unfamiliar lines to try and avoid my opening preparation. This learning of openings and analysing them in ever greater detail became a personal obsession; of that there is no doubt. As a result, and now I come to the main theme of this discussion, I developed a very strong repertoire. The lines I chose were usually slightly unusual variations on main lines; direct and often forcing, not very well-known and leaving little margin for error by either side. I even developed a number of alternative lines in each system, making it difficult for regular opponents to prepare.

How successful was my repertoire? Some opponents, even quite strong ones, I simply blasted off the board with dangerously sharp lines that were too difficult to work out at the board. This line won me countless games: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Be7 8.Qf3 Qc7 9.0-0-0 Nbd7. This opening is very popular amongst club players and even Grandmasters. There are a couple of popular moves here for White but now 10.Qg3 is my choice, because it is quite sound, not often played and very dangerous if Black doesn't play exactly. Lots of my games have continued 10b5 11.Bxb5 axb5 12.Ndxb5 Qb6 13.e5 dxe5 14.fxe5 Nh5 15.Qg4 Bxg5+ 16.Qxg5 g6 17.Nd6+ Kf8 18.Rhf1 and

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