The amount of anaylsis available on a certain opening is in some cases an indicator as to its popularity, but keep in mind that these openings wouldnt be popular if they didn't offer richer possibilities than the others. And richer opportunities mean more variations, more approaches etc. There are some openings that have only a few ideas to them....obviously these will take less analysis to explain as well as attract less attention from theorists. The choice whether to learn main lines of the popular openings or the less-traveled route is a question of personal taste. I prefer to direct the games out of normal channels very early in the game. I think a mix of both ways (a broad foundation of standard lines mixed with a few offbeat opening surprises) may be the best advice.

In the old days it was thought that a player had to have a specific target or weakness (doubled pawns...uncastled king position), etc. to justify an attack. This general principle has been refined in modern day chess to the point of just THREATENING to saddle the opponent with weaknesses is enough to justify an attack. But how do we do this? Through another age-old concept: the initiative. The player with the initiative can often whip up an attack seemingly from "nowhere". What IS the initiative? It has been argued that the initiative is THE most important thing in chess....and yet you can't point to it like you can the center squares or a nicely posted knight on e5......so how do you tell when you have it and when you don't? I remember the old American western comedies, where one cowboy pulls out his gun and starts shooting at the feet of another cowboy, saying "DANCE, SUCKER!" .....well, this is very much like having the initiative. It is when you are making your opponent react TO YOU. He is momentarily making moves in reaction to YOUR plans, instead of developing his own plan. And you can build up nice little attacks in these "little moments". Every move you can make that interrupts your opponent's plan, and instead makes him react to you, must be considered as a strong candidate move. Don't overlook the power of the Initiative! It is the SECRET behind ALL of Kasparov's Opening Novelties, Shirov's Sponteaneous Attacks, as well as Fischer's whole career!