Chess: a look at amateurs' opening mistakes Part 1: for players rated 1400 through 2000

Chess opening theory deals with struggle for center control, pawn distribution on either flank, space advantage, open files/lines, mobility, activity, two bishops, controlling key squares, backward pawns, doubled pawns, pressuring the center, etc. Despite all the literature available, openings are rich in possibilities. Each side has many recommended choices. In actual games of amateur-level players (rated 1400-2000) we see many mistakes happening in the opening and early middle-game phases. When one of the players deviates from popular continuations, the game may become complex and imbalanced. The reasons may be an insecure king, a blocked piece, a weakened pawn chain, an isolated pawn, a structural weakness, etc. In the games included in this book, statistical average where a mistake occurred is move number 13 to 14. A mistake occurred on move 15 in the majority of the games. I hope you will find all games highly interesting.