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Basic Opening Strategy

General Principle #2: "Don't make any more pawn moves than necessary."

Every time you're thinking about moving a pawn during the opening phase of the game, ask yourself: "Does it help me to control the center? Does it assist in the development of my pieces? Does it serve some other specific purpose, like protecting me against one of my opponent's threats?" If the answer to all of these is "No" then the pawn move is probably a waste of time (at best) or a downright mistake (at worst). Consider the following moves:

1. e4

White opens with a central pawn, which helps to control the center and develop the pieces (as we saw in "General Principles #1").

1...f6?

Black moves a pawn for no good reason. The only remotely redeeming quality of this move is that it helps to control the central e5 square. However, Black could protect the e5 square with a developing move like 1...Nc6, or stake a claim further in the center with a move like 1...e5. 1...f6 is also a weak move because it doesn't prevent White from playing 2. d4 (the way 1...e5 does, for example), setting up the perfect classical pawn center (see the note after the next move). 1...f6 is also bad because it blocks the most natural square for the development of Black's Kingside Knight. Another bad thing about 1...f6 is that it weakens the pawn shield protecting the Black King, potentially exposing His Majesty to checks along the h5-e8 diagonal.

2. d4

Since Black has done nothing to prevent it, White simply plays 2. d4 and sets up the perfect classical pawn center, establishing a dominating control over the center and allowing the free and easy development of all of White's pieces.

2...g5??

Clearly, Black's last move doesn't promote control of the center nor the development of the pieces, and further weakens the Black King's position. In fact, it allows the devastating:

3. Qh5#!

Checkmate!!! By the way, this silly sequence is know as the "Fool's Mate" since only a total fool would allow it! However, even though no one is likely to play this exact sequence, it's not unusual for beginners to make similar pawn moves which not only do nothing to promote the control of the center or the development of the pieces, but also weaken the position of the King. Make sure you don't do the same, and try to take advantage of the situation if your opponent does!

Contrast this with the following sequence of moves (click here to view an interactive board):

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. O-O d6 6. Nc3 O-O

Notice that both players only made pawn moves which helped to control of the center and develop their pieces, while avoiding pawn moves which fail to do either, or which endanger the King's position.

Here are a few thing to notice:

1) Strictly speaking, no pawn moves are necessary to develop Knights, since they can jump over other pieces.
2) At least two moves are necessary to develop both Bishops: one to open a dark-squared diagonal and one to open a light-squared diagonal.
3) Only one pawn move is necessary to develop the Queen. In some cases a single pawn move (for example, e4 for White and ...e5 for Black) allows both one of the Bishops and the Queen to develop. However, it's not always a good idea to develop the Queen early in the game, as we will see in another lesson.
4) The Rooks usually cannot be developed properly until some pawns are exchanged and some files open up. However, it's not always a good idea to develop the Rooks early in the game, as we will see in another lesson.

Next: General Principles 3 & 4