Chess Strategies for Beginners II

Stop making silly Moves!

Learn Chess Strategies for Beginners to play better chess. Stop losing making dumb moves.

"When you are lonely, when you feel yourself an alien in the world, play Chess. This will raise your spirits and be your counselor in war." Aristotle Learn chess strategies first at Chess Strategies for Beginners I. After that come back here.
Chess Formation Strategy

I show you now how to start your game. Before you start to play you should know where to place your pieces - know the right chess formation strategy. Where do you place your pawns, knights and bishops, when do you castle and what happens to the queen and the rooks. When should you attack? Or do you have to attack at all? Questions over questions. I will give you a rough idea now. Please study the following chess strategies for beginners carefully. Read the Guidelines: Chess Formation Strategy.

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Top Books For Beginners

For beginners I recommend Logical Chess - Move by Move by Chernev because it explains every move. Another good book is the Complete Idiot's Guide to Chess that received very good reviews.

Chess Thinking
Now try to get mentally into the real game and try to understand some of the following positions. Some are difficult to master, but don't worry, just repeat them the next day to get used to chess thinking. Your brain has to adjust, that's all there is to it. Win some Positions here! - Chess Puzzles

Did you manage it all right? It is necessary that you understand the following basic chess strategies for beginners called - Endgames or Endings, using the heavy pieces.(queen and rook are called heavy pieces) Check them out now! Rook and Queen Endgames - Basic Chess Strategies

How a Beginner plays Chess

Replay the games of a beginner. Beginner Chess - Games I Chess for Beginners - Games II

It was hard, wasn't it? Yes, chess is a hard game. You got to have discipline, yep! Chess teaches...It is hard to start a game and make the right moves all the time. This is almost impossible, I know. What do you think before you make a move? Try to understand the following chess strategies that are applied. In the following games Black needs to learn some chess strategies for beginners because he plays like a beginner. See next lesson. How to play a Chess Game and exploit Mistakes - Beginners Chess How did you go? Did it make click under your hat? Yes, it's mind blowing in the beginning, I know. When I learned chess I dreamed about chess positions at night. I have got some more training here now. How to win with Checkmate in 2 I got here a mixed cocktail of training positions. Mixed Chess Positions - Basic Chess Strategy

In the Beginning you lose all Games! So what! In the beginning when you start playing chess you are going to lose all games. So? Come back here and study more openings and more chess strategies for beginners. And one day you get them!

I tell you a secret. When I entered a chess club as a beginner, I was losing, losing and losing for the next few months to come. Because nobody had told me any chess strategies for beginners. It is quite normal that you lose in the beginning as most players got years of practical experience and knowledge. So how can you match that? You can't, my friend! You must lose at first. That's the way it is!

Go to my T-Shirt Shop

How to handle special Situations? - Chess Strategies for Beginners Defend it! - How to play a Chess Game And when things are getting really tough and you are losing then you might discover a perpetual check and you can force the same position three times in a row and more...which gives you a draw. Force a Chess Draw with Perpetual Check! And because you liked it so much there is just the next chess strategies for beginners lesson waiting for you here. Force a Draw somehow - Basic Chess Strategies

You are warmed up now. Try to find a winning move! Find the Winning Move - Good Moves It is getting harder now! Find it! - Learn to play Chess Avoid Unnatural Moves and put your pieces on proper squares! Unnatural Moves - Learn Chess Strategies Play the following position to the end and learn how to win this endgame as White. Win this Endgame as White In the lesson below you are up in material and should win. Play this Chess Position and win versus the Chess Program You are up in material and have a strong winning advantage below. Win this Chess Position versus the Chess Program

Chess Openings - Chess Strategies for Beginners

Yes, my friend we get there. We come to the chess openings now. This is great fun. When you know an opening well, you don't even have to think for the first twelve moves or more. You just play the moves within a few minutes. And if your opponent has no idea, how to open the right way, you just run him over in no time at all... How do I start my game? What is the right plan? Good chess openings will guide you and bring you on the right path. I tell you something, a lot of games are lost already before they even started, right in the chess opening. Many beginning players just don't have a clue how to start a chess game properly and they get overrun by stronger players right from the start. They have not the slightest chance to get the pieces out properly or they put the pieces on wrong squares or run early into a devastating attack or, or, or.... Example: Don't move the pawn on f7 beside your king! Or you lose the exchange - rook for a knight! See the following game. And don't move this pawn in similar situations as this is equally bad.

1. Your first move should be e4. (or d4) (or c4, maybe later in your personal development phase). To learn the principles of chess, it is important that you play open games with a lot of active play and combinations. This is best achieved by playing only e4 for many months to come. This is the most popular opening move. Bobby Fischer said about this move: Best by test! He himself played it nearly always.

2. Don't play closed positional chess openings in the beginning of your chess career!

If you would always start with e4 in every game you play, you have still a lot to learn which can take up a lifetime, believe me. You could specialize on e4 in your entire chess career and play nothing else with the white pieces. Many grandmasters play positional chess openings starting with d4,c4 or Nf3. But you are not ready for that. Get some good chess books or download UNIQUE chess teaching videos made by a grandmaster!
3. Play active! Get the initiative, if you can! Learn to play open, active, tactical-rich games first, until you understand the chess principles. Those principles are best demonstrated in games opened with the move e4! Later on you can learn chess openings. But this is not necessary at first. Just play wild chess games so much as you can. That way you get used to the way of thinking in chess and learn how the pieces move about. 4. Develop first your kingside pieces and castle and don't attack right away if black plays good developing moves. Use common sense! It can't be right to attack somebody who makes no mistakes and has developed all pieces correctly. If you do attack him, you will n o t develop your pieces fast enough and will lose center control and sooner or later the game! Always develop your pieces f a s t and don't move any useless pawns unless the pawn move is a center-pawn-move that controls vital center squares and is necessary for developing the pieces. Find the right opening and study it! I recommend that you study the Ruy Lopez ( Spanish Chess Opening Strategy ), Italian Game (Giuoco Piano) and the Sicilian Defence for a start. If White plays 1.d4 and 2.c4 setup. Then play the Cambridge-Springs Defense. Just try to learn the following moves now! This will be a good test for you in memorizing opening lines. This opening is easy to learn!

I will show you the games now. Go to Cambridge Springs Defense. If White plays 1.d4 and 2.c3 setup - The Colle System.

Learn the right setup for Black. If you have White and like to play d4 from time to time yourself, just to get the feel for it, then I recommend the Colle System - Basic Chess Moves for you. This chess opening system is easy to learn. It is important to know the Colle System when you have the black pieces, because sooner or later an opponent will play it against you. When you have Black and like to play the CambridgeSprings, but your opponent does not play the pawn to c4, but to c3 instead (Colle-System) then what are you going to do then?

When you play Colle as White, then you gain a good understanding of this opening and know how to handle it, when you have to play against it with the black pieces.

The Four Move Checkmate

Discover the nonsense of the Four-Move-Checkmate. Go to The Four Move Checkmate

The Early Chess Attack

Don't attack too early. Go to Early Chess Attack

Don't ruin your nerves.

Stay away from Bullet Chess Return here to chess strategies for beginners if you need to refresh the knowledge you have gained so far.

- See more at: http://www.expert-chessstrategies.com/chess_strategies_for_beginners.html#sthash.938dJjax.dpuf

A hardcore guide to study and train your chess openings (1st part)
Posted by Carlos on Oct 24, 2011 in Articles, Chess Openings, Chess Software, Free Chess Downloads, Hardcore Chess Guides | 20 comments 26

*
FIRST PART: BEGINNERS. 1. Introduction:

This article has been difficult to write down. Since I announced it, it has been a couple of months and some readers have asked me if I am ever going to do it. It is not easy. First, there is a lot of literature in both printed books and articles scattered around the Internet. While I have my own ideas about openings, I wanted to give an overview of the subject, respecting some opinions, especially since there are more respectable authors than myself, in playing strength and literary merits. Second, a method for studying openings varies according to the category and chess strength of the player. For example, you cannot ask a beginner to study the openings like a Grand Master, or even just a Master. This method is not only useless it is counterproductive and disappointing. How many chess players have surrendered by the evidence that they can never be good at chess because it is impossible to memorize all the moves of their favorite lines contained in voluminous chess openings encyclopedias (for example)? For all these reasons, I decided to divide the article into three parts: Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced. Although this website is specifically focused on intermediate and advanced players, it costs nothing to light the way to those seeking to improve their strength in our beloved game.

I also will include an appendix on how to choose an opening repertoire. The appendix is divided into three parts because each groups goals are different. For example, beginners want their king to survive the first ten moves; the intermediate player wants to arrive with all his pieces to the middle game; and the advanced player does not want to get an inferior position with white (or a lost position with black) before the first 20 moves, knowing of course some of the openings main ideas. And finally, a brief introduction containing some ideas about opening books and the industry that surrounds it. Ohhh, yes sir, it is an industry.
2. Openings chess books: Fast food for chess players.

I believe that the majority of opening books (at least 90 percent of these, to be condescending) are the McDonalds of the chess world. Many of the openings books are fast food for players because they are easy to make, easy to consume, and they make the reader believe those books are good for their chess health. But the truth is they spoil quickly (becoming obsolete really fast) and thus renewing the cycle new books on openings are published. Big time.

This is a recurring scene for me: I walk into a club, and on the shelves where they are supposed to have chess books, they are filled with opening books with fancy titles like: Beat the opening X, Winning with the gambit Z or Winning with the defense Y or A thousand traps in the kings pawn openings (I invented this myself, any coincidence it is an amazing lack of imagination of the libels author), and others like that. I could give some more examples, but my poor imagination would collapse in the attempt to reproduce misleading titles. However, books about other chess subjects (endgames, middle game strategy, chess literature in general, game collections) are just as important as openings, and they barely fill half a shelf. Sometimes if a subject stands out from the forgotten crowd are books about tactics. A waste of paper. But it is not a waste for publishers and producers of these chess fast food books. They sell, and often sell well. The reason is simple: the chess players want to learn how not to lose in a few moves, and they want to beat their opponent with their own knowledge. And if they win in the

opening, the better. And because there are so many books published on the subject they start thinking that openings are the most important thing in chess. But the news is, its not so. The truth is: nowadays Masters can easily make mediocre opening books or an e-book to sell on a website. The chess databases that already exceed five million games and powerful search engines give to aspiring theoretical writers invaluable material to build their projects. And if we add the fact that hundreds of thousands of these games are already analyzed by other Masters and Grand Masters, we could say that the raw materials are available to anyone who can use it (or reuse it), and the creativity is often lacking in these books, or articles, or whatever. There are honorable exceptions, which I will not name so as not to libel by omission. For Example:

Evans Gambit Accepted: 1.e4, e5 2.Nf3, Nc6 3.Bc4, Bc5 4.b4, Bxb4 5.c3, Be7 Heres a little theoretical article about the Evans Gambit, the variant 5Ae7 (1.e4, e5 2.Nf3, Nc6 3.Bc4, Bc5 4.b4, Bxb4 5.c3, Be7) in encyclopaedia format (click to download). Completely raw, can be improved a lot, but it actually took me only two minutes to make it, after deciding what opening or defense I wanted to compile. The article as is, is a good reference material, (especially by the fact that many of the games are already analyzed) but it is far from perfect. With a little more effort, I could write a few paragraphs explaining about the most fundamental ideas. I could translate the symbols into words, add more diagrams and pictures, cut off some long variants to shorten the analysis (where the assessment for one of the sides is already clear), re-check the games and analysis using computer programs in search of serious mistakes and improvements, etc. If the author has some integrity, he would add some games analyzed by himself, or even research the history of the variant: make it nice, you know.

And thats all folks! A brand new book to sell. If the author is a GM the books will sell well even after he jacks up the price. * We are all children of the (Chess) Informant Garry Kasparov Openings books come from a pre-computer era (and before the Yugoslav Chess Informant), where chess players had to rely on chess magazines to copy (literally by hand) their favorite openings and defenses, so the books were an improvement compared to the suffering of copying books, hundreds or thousands of pages. As evidence of the misery, I have a callus on the middle finger of my right hand I guess Im not the only one. With the advent of computers, the study of openings and chess as a whole has become easier, however the TMI syndrome (Too Much Information, a term invented by the Grandmaster Andrew Soltis ) is here to spoil the most enthusiastic student. But the good news is, if copying is easy to book assemblers, it will be for you. Let the compiler to compile, you have no need to buy a bad opening book anymore. In this article you will learn to choose the good opening books and produce your own theory. Just keep reading
WHAT DO YOU NEED: If youre reading this on the web, you have a great advantage access to a computer. If so, what would be perfect is to own a software like Chessbase or Chess Assistant, which are paid programs, but if they are out of your budget, then you may download here SCID for free, a program with fewer features than the formers, but that will serve you well when you master it. It is essential to own some databases (such as we have been posting here) and if you could get the Megabase 2011 (or any suitable) from Chessbase, it would be great.

3. Beginners.

This is for those beginners that know the following:

how to move the pieces, the main chess rules, the basic checkmates, maybe some endgames like king and pawn against king, and can solve with relative ease forced combinations of two moves.

Its time to take another step forward, and study some openings. I would like to add that my Beginners know that in the openings you should pursue three goals:
1. The control of the center, 2. Piece development, 3. and king safety (castle),

and that at this stage is a waste of development time (tempos):

consecutive movements of a piece, the adventures of the Queen in this early stage, and some pawn captures (poisoned pawns).

All the beginners should know all of the above, at least theoretically, but still they have difficulties playing, especially against more experienced players. In short, they do not know how to apply the theory learned into practice.

Before explaining any method, I will answer this question: What should be the repertoire of a beginner? My suggestions:

As White, Kings pawn openings (1.e4) and against different defenses for Black, I recommend playing open systems structures with the most attack and tactical opportunities as possible, for example, gambits. Avoid if possible mono-thematical and unimaginative openings such as the Kings Indian Attack, and similar systems, that is, as they propose universal answers against any black defenses. (It can be argued that inducing students to play bad such as playing gambits is a weak advice, but here comes the answer: this type of game is just an experiment. It is the beginners crawling through the world of chess. I have the opinion, as many experienced coaches do, that the beginner should pass through the classic stages of chess history, the Italian school, the romantic, the modern, hyper-modern, etc.. the right way to do this is beginning to play open openings. What about black? Well, again, a classic approach: Double kings pawn against kings pawn (1 e5); The beginner could experiment the Sicilian (1 c5), but after some mastery of the openings basic principles and some experience with double kings pawn. The Sicilian, although sometimes leads to closed games, it also brings a great deal of dynamism that the student would benefit from practice. And against Queens pawn? Again, 1d5. There are several defenses where Black can open the game, or play gambits (accepting the Queens Gambit or the Schara-Henning Gambit, for example). Playing Indian defenses at this time could complicate the chess life of the most enthusiastic chess novice.

There is a some orthodoxy in my suggestions, but everything has an explanation: in this stage of learning, the student will define what kind of style he has, what positions are best for him to handle, and so on. But more importantly, at this time when the chess cubs can commit the sin to skip stages, and start playing Grand Masters Openings and neglect other aspects of chess. Ive had, and I still have, students that find hard to understand, for example, the dynamics of the pieces, why some gambits and sacrifices of material are correct, and despite already playing in some advanced levels (1800-2000), the attacks and counterattack positions, open and dynamic, are alien to their understanding. The reason? They started their chess life playing openings like 1.c4 (English opening), 1.Nf3 (Reti Opening) and 1.d4 (Queen Pawns game), and they disregarded the importance of playing 1.e4, open positions, gambits, etcThey believed they could play like Karpov just like that, and now any player with an aggressive style take them out of balance, or they lose the north in positions where the action asks for a dynamic game, not the slow, positional strategy.
4. A method of studying openings for beginners:

For this you need a database with miniatures, games with no more than 20 moves, 25 max. We will publish some, but there is an inconvenience, that they are not analyzed for copyright reasons, but at least they will be useful for you with this method. If you could get books with

miniature collections commented in words, not symbols, it would be great because it also would help you understand the games.
WARNING: This is no time to look for openings books, because the way they are built they will do more harm than good, and always give you the feeling that you missed something, and for beginner is difficult to understand. Usually, the best opening book left unfinished the games, and assessments (like white -or black- are better -or have equal chances-, or the black pieces have a chance to pressure the pawns center, or even enlightening comments as X pieces have a strong attack on the king) do not help, because beginners often lack the skills and knowledge to understand how to lead an attack on the king or the pawn center, etc.

This is not the time to memorize long variations, but I recommend writing the first five or six moves that define an opening (heres a primer cart to help you out), and compile miniatures under the name of these. Notice, that instead of full games, we are talking about miniature games (games with less than 20 moves.) Usually these games are defined by strong attacks, explosive tactical blows, and of course serious mistakes. As the material available from each opening is huge, I advise you not to spend too much time in each game, five or ten minutes each. At this stage it is more important to learn from chess ideas than from long variations, however do not discard the opportunnity to learn by heart some move orders and sequences. Yes, thats fine, you may say, but what are those chess ideas?
Chess ideas, especially in the case of miniature games, is about learning: 1) how to place the pieces to the attack; 2) what are the most common tactical issues; and 3) the most mistakes that are committed by both sides -and you should learn to avoid or punish.

Do not spend much time at this stage with every move, a game of 20 moves is not a text book. Summarizing, repeating and widening the definition, step by step:

What are the typical breakthroughs (pawn advances to exchange with other pawns to open lines ) How to place the pieces to the attack and / or defense Common tactical themes (both simple and spectacular combinations). This could give you list of the weaknesses and options that you get in your opening positions. Common mistakes committed by both sides. Answering the question: How do they win the white / black when they win? Choose a limited number of games to be considered a model game, for both sides, and learn them by heart. The memory in chess is important, despite some say the contrary. If you want to go a little deeper, expanding the number of moves to be analyzed (instead of miniatures from 15 to 20 moves, up to 25) Repeat the steps with another opening/defense.

Of course, for every hour you spend studying your openings, you should spend four playing and putting your research at stake. I imagine it is very difficult to play tournament games all the time,

but playing fast games, both online and live, it will be easier. I would not now enter into the debate about if is good or bad to play Blitz (five minutes per player), but ultimately is a possibility to consider. Blitz is fun, you will spend a good time, and the number of games you will play in a couple of hours will be over 10 games, so this way you have practiced your openings big time; accumulating experiences is vital in chess. Of course you should (must) analyze your serious games, but for blitz games with trial and error method will be enough. To let you know, there are players who thoroughly analyzed lines of openings that occur continually in their games, even in blitz. That depends on the time you have available, is up to you.
Warnings:

(For young children who read this): seek help from an adult, preferably a chess player, if you do not understand some of what I wrote here, I know that sometimes my writing can be a bit confusing, specially in English (For parents/coaches): the help of a coach to guide this process, or even prepare in advance the information for the training of children and youngsters could be invaluable, but if the children are too young, please remember that chess is a great fun game that gives them great pleasure, and so they see it this way. This item is made especially for at least young chess players who could (and want) exercise their will power in the methodical study of chess. Any attempt to induce very young children by this method could be counterproductive. Softening the training and making it scalable would be essential, and the way to apply it would depend on the good understanding of each coach. (Players eager to get better at chess) Of course, you have to understand that this type of study of the openings only works when you are faced with inexperienced players like you. With stronger players you will find more resistance, and possibly lose games. It is normal, do not be discouraged, persevere. Do not doubt, this will improve your playing strength , and it will prepare you for the next stage. I would also like to clarify: This method is not intended to be The Method to study openings, but the practice and the experience of many other coaches indicates that at least it is not wrong; Also, this one fits with the spirit of our ChessForReal.com website, a serious approach to the study of chess. I would like to repeat something important, this method is not designed for absolute beginners, it is made for those who already have some notion of the game, and have the desire and the will to engage in the study of chess.

Free chess downloads here: You may download here the opening guide just for beginners , a guide to help you through the maze of the opening lines: in this case I have done just the Double kings pawn (1.e4, e5). Do not forget to download the first collection of miniatures, in this case the Evans Gambit (1.e4, e5 2.Cf3, Cc6 3.Ac4, Ac5 4.b4, Axb4 5.c3), a gambit that some aggressive grandmasters still use, like Kasparovs former contender for the World chess crown, Nigel Short).

Here in pgn

Here in cbv (Chessbase format)

Here it is the raw article about the Evans Gambit, the variation 5Ae7: 38 pages in encyclopedia format. Also, if you do not have software to replay games in PGN format, you may download here the SCID, a free chess program.

This is something you can start working with (of course, if youre interested in Evans Gambit. If not, expect future publications. I also accept suggestions). * Here it ends the first part of this article aimed at beginners. Next week I will try the method for intermediate players. Ad Majorem Caissa Gloriam!

6 Common Chess Mistakes Beginners Make in The Opening

Posted on March 23, 2011 by Martin in Chess Openings, General Chess Articles, Strategy & Game Review
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Don't end up like this guy! Ive recently been discussing the common mistakes of beginners with one my chess students. As a chess tutor, especially for beginner players, one of the most common things I get asked is what one should be doing in the beginning game. Ive decided it is probably easier to say what you shouldnt be doing in the beginning game than what you should be doing. Here are the 6 most common mistakes I see beginners make during the opening.

1. Not controlling the Center

Center control is essential. Imagine the middle of the chess board like a hill, whoever is the king of the hill has a better view of the board and can easily transfer the pieces from one side of the board without any issues. When you dont control the center, you lose control of the board. Again for more advanced players there are other strategies that forego control over the center for other advantages. For any beginner player, its too risky, control of the center is absolutely essential.

2. Not protecting the king

As a chess tutor, I probably hear about 3 stories every week of a beginner chess player losing a game in an under 1400 tournament by falling trap to gambits while forgetting about protecting the king, leading to a very early checkmate. As I said in my previous article chess is not checkers. If youre just thinking about gaining material without seeing the big picture, you will fall trap to a better player. By the time you see

the trap youll have to put your pieces or pawns in a suboptimal position or maybe maybe even lose a piece. Leaving your king unprotected can be a motif for losing a chess game very quickly.

3. Not developing your pieces

I know some of my beginners read certain advanced chess videos and strategies that focus on sometimes delaying development in favor of setting up a particular attack. Dont listen to them. There is a good chance your opponent will see your tactic, defend against it, and then be way ahead in development while youve been wasting your time moving the queen and your pawns around. For at least your first 6 moves every piece youre moving should be development out of your 1st and 2nd rank and if possible defending other developed pieces and aiming for control of the center. If you dont have men fighting in the battlefield it is relatively hard to win. Developing is essential because it gives you mobility, dynamic play and a possibility to attack, whoever is behind in development is most likely going to suffer later having a hard time to find good squares for their pieces. Save the multi-move setups for your attacks for later on.

4. Copy catting
Copycatting implies copying exactly what your opponent does without any idea of what you are trying to do; this gives your opponent the time to have initiative. As I showed in my previous article about copycatting its a dead-end road to a forced mate. Ill admit before my chess teaching days that when I was a beginner I was a folly to this problem so watch out for it. Thats not to say that sometimes copying your opponents move makes sense, just think about when, where any why.

5. Moving your queen out early in the game (especially to try to get a quick checkmate)
Most beginner players will look on YouTube for chess tutoring videos to the likes of how to checkmate in 5 moves and other such garbage. They will then find videos on the Scholars mate, which is a checkmate that implies moving your queen early in the game. Dont try to do the scholars mate, no one will fall for it, your queen will get attacked The real problem about moving your queen out early in the game is the fact that your opponent can develop pieces while attacking the queen. If your Queen moves to h5, then black can play Nf6 attacking your queen. Moving your queen will make you fall behind in development, which will cause problems with your position. Again this also plays into the previous mistake on lack of development. Time your spending moving your queen around is time your opponent is spending developing.

6. Moving the same piece twice in the opening

Every turn in chess is called a tempo, and every tempo is essential, some games of chess are won or lost from a one move difference, it is essential to not waste tempos at the beginning of the game to maximize your control of the board. Imagine I move a bishop two moves in a row during the opening, we can agree that we lost one tempo because we could have played the bishop to b5 in the first move while the opponent developed 2 pieces. In the move in which I moved my bishop twice I could have developed another piece causing me to be behind in development.
Think about these errors in the middle-game too!

If youre thinking about this list in your middle game, then my job is done. I emphasize during my chess classes that opening strategy is ALWAYS valuable for the mid-game. Sure the opening is the time to make sure you dont fall victim to these mistakes but if you still realize your mistake later on, you can try to make up for lost time and tweak your strategy accordingly.

A closing note
So you can tell all the mistakes here really tie into one thing, development. You will lose development by making bad moves, by moving pieces twice, by moving your queen out too early and by copying your opponents move blindly. Dont rush for a quick strategy, youll have your chance to develop your brutal attack later on; just keep on controlling the squares and youll be setting the stage for a good game! Thanks for reading!
By Martin Gerschenfeld (USCF 2054, FIDE 1900)

A Beginner's Garden of Chess Openings

A guide by David A. Wheeler. The first moves of a chess game are termed the "opening" or "opening moves". A good opening will provide better protection of the King, control over an area of the board (particularly the center), greater mobility for pieces, and possibly opportunities to capture opposing pawns and pieces. The possible opening moves of chess have been extensively studied for hundreds of years, and many of these sequences have been given names to simplify discussion of a game. This document briefly lists a few of the more well-known chess openings, so that when you see the first few moves you can at least say "Ah! That's the X!", where X is some well-known opening. Many books and encyclopedias give "how to play" information on each opening; here, we'll concentrate on at least knowing some common approaches to starting chess. This is a small subset of well-known openings; many others are not covered here. Before you play a particular opening, you'd be wise to study it in more depth than given here. Pictures show the opening position; selecting the picture will show the opening moves animated one move at a time if you have a PGN viewer installed. In all openings there is a struggle for key territory, in particular the center squares, and an effort to deploy pieces and pawns in useful positions. Some are direct, while others are more subtle and indirect approaches toward these goals. There are three groups of openings covered here: 1. White can start by moving his King's pawn 2 spaces, i.e. playing "e4". This move has many strengths - it immediately works on controlling the center, and it frees two pieces (the Queen and a Bishop). This is a popular first move, leaving Black with two options: 1. Black may choose to mirror White's move and reply with "e5" for the same reasons, leading to openings such as the Ruy Lopez, Giuoco Piano (including the Evans Gambit variant), and King's Gambit. 2. Black can also try something other than mirroring White's "e4" move, leading to openings such as the Sicilian Defense, French Defense, Caro-Kann, Center Counter, and Pirc/Modern. 2. White can start by moving the Queen's pawn to "d4". This leads to openings such as the Queen's Gambit, King's Indian Defense, Nimzo-Indian, Bogo-Indian, and Queen's Indian Defense, and Dutch Defense. 3. White can start with some other move than "e4" or "d4". One example is the English Opening. Each of these openings is briefly described below.

Ruy Lopez
The Ruy Lopez (also called the "Spanish" opening) starts out as
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5

The Ruy Lopez is an old opening; it is named after Ruy Lopez, a 16th Century Spanish clergyman and chess enthusiast. He made a systematic study of this and other chess openings, which he recorded in a 150 page book. However, although it is named after him, this particular opening was known earlier; it is included in the Gottengen manuscript, which dates from 1490. Popular use of the Ruy Lopez opening did not develop, however, until the mid 1800's when Jaenisch, a Russian theoretician, "rediscovered" its potential. The opening is still in active use; it is a favorite of Gary Kasparov and Bobby Fischer. In it, White creates a potential pin of the d-pawn or Knight and starts an attack immediately, while simultaneously preparing to castle. White generally directs pressure on Black's e-pawn and tries to prepare for a pawn on d4. It's known that Black's best reply on move 3 is a6, which attacks White's attacking bishop. After that, White can back up (Ba4) or exchange pieces (Bxc6).

Giuoco Piano

This "Quiet Game" has White performing a mild attack with his Bishop, but Black is often able to even up the game with his defenses. It starts as:
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5

If White then replies "d3", you have the "Guioco Pianissimo" ("The Quietest Game") - a very passive game.

If White replies with "b4?!", you have the "Evans Gambit", in which White offers a pawn in exchange for a powerful center and possibly opening his Queen Bishop.

King's Gambit

This opening was the most popular opening in the 1800s. White offers a pawn in exchange for rapid development. It's rarely seen now at the master level; according to Keene it's been found that Black can obtain a reasonable position (giving nothing for White's pawn).
1. e4 e5 2. f4

A natural following move is "exf4" accepting the gambit.

Sicilian Defense
The Sicilian starts as:
1. e4 c5

The Sicilian is popular at the master level. Black immediately fights for the center, but by attacking from the c-file (instead of mirroring White's move) he creates an asymmetrical position that leads to lots of complicated positions. Black tries to attack White's e-pawn, often through a Knight at f6 and Bishop at b7. Black would like to make the move "d5" without retribution.

The Sicilian has been extensively studied, and there are many variations. A popular variation is the "Dragon" variation, which starts as:
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6

In this variation, Black finachettos a bishop on the h8-a1 diagonal. This is called the "Dragon" variation because Black's pawn structure is supposed to look like a dragon.

Another variation that's quite popular is the "Najdorf" variation. It starts just like the Dragon, and diverges on Black's move 5:
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6

According to Grandmaster Daniel King White often responds with "Be2", permitting Black to attack the center with "e5!".

French Defense
In the French Defense, Black lets White have more control over the center, in exchange for which he builds a (hopefully) safe wall of pawns. The French Defense starts as:
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5

Games generally involve jockeying for position. The center usually becomes closed, two competing pawn chains arise, and each player tries to outflank the other. White generally tries to play e5; Black tries to play c5 or f6. Black's queen Bishop often becomes trapped and useless, and it's known as the "French Bishop".

Caro-Kann

The Caro-Kann is like the French defense - Black lets White build control of the center, and Black tries to get a pawn at d5. It looks like a "wimpy Sicilian". The Caro-Kann starts out as:
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5

The main line of the Caro-Kann is

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4

Black gets to eliminate one of White's central pawns and can get his pieces developed, which is an advantage over the French Defense. However, Black's pieces end up with more of a passive defensive role, so players of this opening are often looking for White to make a mistake (however slight).

Center Counter

The Center Counter starts out as:

1. e4 d5

This opening is also called the "Scandinavian" opening. A common continuation is exd5 Qxd5.

Pirc/Modern

This opening goes by various names, such as "Pirc" and "Modern". It starts:
1. e4 d6

or
1. e4 g6

Keene labels the "Modern Defense" as the sequence:

1. e4 g6 2. d4 Bg7

This is a relatively new opening. In the 1930s this was considered inferior, but by the 1960s it was found to be quite playable. Black lets White take the center with the view to undermining and ruining White's "wonderful" position. This opening is tricky to play and correct play of it is counter-intuitive (immediate center control is not a goal, since Black is trying to undermine that control).

Queen's Gambit
Now we look at openings other than "1. e4". The Queen's Gambit starts with:
1. d4 d5 2. c4

White offers up a pawn in exchange for rapid development. Black can accept the gambit with dxc4, playing "Queen's Gambit Accepted", which is a risky way to play this gambit. Black can also play Nc6 (the Tchigoran Defense), e6 (which leads to the Tarrasch Defense), or play e6 (the Orthodox Defense).

King's Indian Defense

This is a "hypermodern" opening, where Black lets White take the center with the view to later ruining White's "wonderful" position. It's a risky opening, a favorite of both Kasparov and Fischer.
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7

Black will be interested in playing c5, and when White plays d5, reply with e6 and b5.

Nimzo-Indian, Bogo-Indian, and Queen's Indian Defense

All of these "Indian" defenses start with:

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6

The Nimzo-Indian continues with "Nc3 Bb4". In the NimzoIndian, White tries to create a pawn center and mass his pieces behind behind them for attack.

Dutch Defense

The Dutch defense starts as:

1. d4 f5

The Dutch defense is an aggressive counterplay by Black. Black immediately begins to move toward White's kingside in an attempt to crush White. However, it also creates weaknesses in Black's position from the beginning - this move of the f-pawn weakens Black's defenses and doesn't help develop pieces.

English Opening

The English opening is a "flank" manuever. It starts very differently:

1. c4

Here White hopes to control the center by first gaining support on the side. A common response for Black is "c5".

References

How to Play the Opening in Chess. 1993. Raymond Keene and David Levy. ISBN 08050-2937-0. The Encyclopedia of Chess Openings. Batsford Chess Openings 2. 1989, 1994. Garry Kasparov and Raymond Keene. New York, New York: Henry Holt and Company. ISBN 0-8050-3409-9.