The Opening moves in Chess are possibly the most important, preventing your opponents from gaining an advantage in the Opening is a chief goal. Here's my favorite Openings and I will discuss a little of their advantages, as well as give you an explanation of Hypermodernism.

1.f4 (Bird's Opening) prevents ...e5, a very common Opening move, note that 1.f4 is not a very common Opening. Nf3 (the Reti Opening) is more than fifty times as popular, as F4 slightly weakens White's Kingside. Both Opening moves prevent ...e5. However, Savielly Tartakower has played f4 and proved it to be effective.

The Reti Opening (1.Nf3, or 1.Nf3 d5 2.c4) is the third most popular Opening move, and my personal favorite. It is a Hypermodern Opening move (like most flank Opening moves), as it makes no immediate claim to the centre. It gets its name from Richard Reti, who used it to defeat Jose Raul Capablanca in a 1924 Chess match. The Reti has its advantages, it maintains flexibilty by not commiting to a central pawn structure, it develops the King's Knight to a good square attacking the central e5 square (and g5 square), it also prepares for a quick Kingside Castle.

Durkin Opening or Sodium Attack (1.Na3) is an extremely uncommon Opening move, as it gives White little advantage and developes White's Queenside Knight to an unpopular square on the corner of the board. However, Gerard Welling has used the move with success in tournament play, which shows even though the move is unfashionable to some professional players, some with enough skill and courage as Gerard Welling can play uncommon Openings (such as the Durkin Opening)and prove them to be successful. Take into consideration that even though unfashionable to some people, not all Opening moves are losing moves.

Van Geet's Opening (1.Nc3)is a fairly uncommon opening that may have more names than any other: it is also called the Heinrichsen Opening, Baltic Opening, Sleipnir Opening, Kotrè's Opening, Meštrovic Opening, Romanian Opening, Queen's Knight Opening, Knight on the Left, and (in German) der Linksspringer. It's a sensible move, probably no worse than standard ones. It does lack a little in flexibility, as it blocks the c Pawn. A sensible straightforward reply would be ...d5, occupying the centre and underscoring the unsettled position of White's Knight. There is a trap to this, however, that has caught a few victims.

1.Nc3 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nxe4 e5 4. Bc4

Now we see White's unusual Opening move come to much benefit. He has a lead in development.

4...Be7?
A natural move, but hopeless.

5.Qh5!

Black will lose at least a Pawn. Black's damaged position has given White an advantage which may shortly lead to checkmate. Black has few defences.

Hypermodernism

Hypermodernism is a school of chess thought which advocates controlling the centre of the board with distant pieces rather than with pawns, thus inviting the opponent to occupy the centre with pawns which can then become objects of attack.

The leading members were Aron Nimzowitsch, Richard Reti, Savielly Tartakower, and the lesser known Gyula Breyer, who all came from central Europe. They felt that chess was becoming boring, slow and unworthwhile. They also believed that chess could not be defined by a simple set of laws or principles, such as those laid out by the German Siegbert Tarrasch. This school of thought emphasized the importance of "static" advantages such as: avoidance of pawn weaknesses, strong outposts for knights, and striving for "good" rather than "bad" bishops in locked pawn positions.

Hypermodern openings include the Réti Opening, King's Indian Defence, Queen's Indian Defence, Nimzo-Indian Defence, Grünfeld Defence, Bogo-Indian Defence, Old Indian Defence, Catalan Opening, King's Indian Attack, Alekhine's Defence, Modern Defence, Pirc Defence and to a lesser degree the English Opening. Openings such as 1.A3 do not constitute hypermodern openings since, although they delay the occupation of the centre with pawns, they also delay development which is not consistent with Hypermodernism.

Enjoy playing and thank you for your time if you're reading this. And thank God for copy and paste as well as Wikipedia for the quick definitions.

Sincerely,