Recently returning to tournament chess after a twenty year break I have had to book up on the openings all over again. It has made me see the openings with new eyes.

The double King Pawn openings haven't changed much in two decades ... there are players poking around at White d3 in preference to d4 in lines from the Four Knights to the Ruy, a couple of new tries in the Berlin, otherwise much of the same as always.

The  Queen Pawn openings show a similar tendency towards more conservative play.

The English is more important than ever. I read John Watson's Mastering the Chess Openings Vol III and found it enlightening. Also enlightening is a Wikipedi article First-move advantage in chess.

As I have relearned how to go to Chess land ... really the most important aspect of player preparation ... I have also learned to see the openings differently.

Here is one formulation that comes to me: The mechanics of the Chess opening is the struggle for the center. The meaning of the Chess opening is the struggle to yield the initiative favorably, to make the opponent commit while one's own setup remains more flexible.

This is how combination, the single move that makes two threats, arises: by flexibility in the face of commitment.

 UPDATE:  Speaking of the English Opening, check out this critical game in the English, Ivanchuk-Ponamariov World Cup rd. 7.1 2011-09-16

 Position after 9. ... d5