I've been playing chess against the computer this week whilst having lunch, and keep getting trounced. I used to be quite good when I was younger, and I still think my middle-game and endings are decent - y'know, forks, pins, skewers, sacrifices for position, all that good stuff. I know to check after each move the computer makes for things like: is one of my pieces under threat? Where is the computer's piece going next? Has that move freed up another of the computer's pieces? Despite all this, though, I keep losing. Aside from the things discussed upthread about the mathematical capabilities of the computer and how it will inevitably outplay a human, I have deduced that it's because I'm crap at openings. I always default to e2-e4 to get something in the centre and free up a bishop, and invariably the computer dicks me via clever use of knights. Even the fianchetto is met with smug indifference by the all-powerful black army. (And yes, I know computers can't be smug, and I'm projecting, but it feels that way.)
So... am I going to have to learn all the different openings and then appropriate counter-strategies? Any tips? I recall there being a Sicilian Defence and various 'gambits' but is there anything obvious I could try to outfox the wily CPU?