openings

[HocusPocus]

Say I am playing a computer and all my openings eventually result in the AI setting up a combo and then taking apart my "defenses," getting behind the front lines, threatening my king, and generally putting me on the run for the remainder of the game. So I go to this place:

http://chesstempo.com/chess-openings.html

and try one of the openings, but the AI does not act like a chess master or otherwise skilled human player. And after 2 moves nothing is going according to plan.

And suppose I have actually managed to reach the end stage of an opening. then what? Do they, by definition, put me at some kind of advantage? Where do these openings come from in the first place?


Obviously I need more foresight, but i'm finding it difficult to guess what the other player's intentions are with each move they make. Even more so to mount my own attack without being paralyzed by the fear of the enemy encroaching on my space.

[skessdtrek]

I agree! I'm getting better at the tactics and mates (compared to when I started anyway), and can now last a little longer in computer games, but I still get killed because my opening is weak and I can't predict anything until it's too late. What's the best way to train on openings? (Interestingly, in the tactics problems where there isn't a clear piece to be attacked, those are the ones I have difficulty figuring out the tactic to be learned - similar to the first several opening moves.)