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Basic Opening StrategyOpening Objectives: Development of the PiecesOne of the most important things you should accomplish in the opening phase of the game is the development of your pieces to good squares. Let's look at the initial position again:
There's not much going on, is there? Until the pieces get off their home squares on the back two ranks, there isn't much potential for the two sides to come into conflict. Though a peaceful co-existence with others is a good idea in life, it makes for a very boring chess game! There will be no attack, defense and counter-attack -- no tactics, no check or checkmate -- no anything! Developed pieces are much more likely to engage in such activities! Examine the board below:
Both sides are well-developed and should fare well in the upcoming conflict. Both sides have placed pieces (most notably pawns, Knights, and Bishops) on advanced, centralized, active squares from which they can be deployed easily to wherever they are needed for attack or defense. A lively struggle is sure to ensue! [Actually, a more advanced player would probably tell you that the position above is very boring and sure to lead to a draw, but just ignore them! They're correct, at least as far as how advanced players would feel about the position. However, this position is fairly common in novice games and can lead to exciting play if both sides are in the mood for a fight! Anyway, the diagram serves our purposes here well enough, as far as illustrating the point about development.] It also stands to reason that if one side is better developed than the other, then the former will have an advantage over the latter once the conflict begins. Do you remember the example game we examined at the end of the Rules tutorial? (If not, then click here to review that game!) White developed his pieces in an active and coordinated manner; while black, on the other hand, did not. This allowed White to conduct a devastating attack, against which Black's poorly-developed pieces were ill-prepared to defend. That game provided an excellent demonstration of the virtues of good development and the vices of poor development. Make sure your pieces are always on the side of virtue (development-wise, at least)! Next: Opening Objectives - Control of the Center Copyright 2002 S. Evan Kreider. Used with permission.
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