Planning from the Beginning

It is said that there are about 10¹²⁰ possible unique chess games. That’s 1 with one hundred and twenty zeros after it! Not only is this number an extremely rough estimate, but it also only accounts for games in which about 40 moves are played by both players each. Which means the true number of possible chess games is far greater than that. Just after each player moves once, there are 400 possibilities of games. The number rises to 197,742 possibilities after each player moves twice and up to over 121 million after each player moves three times. The possibilities of games just goes up from there. Because there are so many different types of games, it is important for players to start planning before so that they might spare their mind from running into a mental minefield. Chess players do this by studying “Openings.” There are many different types of openings and opening ideas, and the more a player a knows, the more comfortable he or she will be when playing against unknown opponents. This week, we will take a look at some general opening ideas. Some specific chess openings and ideas behind them will be discussed next week.

General Opening Ideas

The first and most important rule of opening in chess, outside of protecting the King, is to develop your pieces. Pieces such as the Knight, Bishop, Rook, and Queen need to find optimal squares where they can best attack opposing pieces and protect their own pieces. The best place for most pieces to be is the center of the board, as all of them have access to the most squares at this position. This explains why most chess games are started by moving one of the middle pawns either to d4 or e4. As a result, the beginning of the game can essentially become a battle for the center as both players work to assert their dominance in the middle.

The pawns in this position open up lines for the Bishop and the Queen to move. Playing e4 first is slightly preferred as it also opens up a diagonal for the Queen. Additionally, moving the King’s pawn allows for the King side pieces to be moved quicker and leads to faster castling (will be discussed late).

Many beginner players try to move their pawns too often; however, this is not recommended. Instead, players should only move their pawns to promote piece development or when necessary as protection. An example of a prime opening position is given below after pieces have been fully developed and the King has been castled.

When a player reaches this position, their pieces are on great squares to begin attacking black’s pieces and more importantly, the opposing King.

A player that fails to develop their pieces and moves pawns too frequently can end up in a very restricted position such as that of black’s in the image below. White has better attacking opportunities and is able to more freely move, where as black has certain pieces blocked and will have a harder time protecting the King.

Castling and Keeping Pieces Protected

Any chess player should get themselves familiar with the “castle.” Castling is an easy way to put the King in a great, protected position behind its pawns and by one of the Rooks. In order to castle, neither the King, or the Rook it is castling with, can have moved prior to the move. Also, if an opponent’s piece is directly attacking one of the squares the King will pass through when castling, it is prohibited to go through with the move.

To castle Kingside, the King needs to slide over to the square g1 (g8 for black), and then the Rook needs to be picked up and placed on f1 (f8 for black). If a player is to move the Rook first (in tournament play) they would not be allowed to castle. Castling is a King move and not a Rook move, so make sure to move the King first. To castle Queen side, the King should slide to c1 (c8 for black), and then the Rook should be picked up and moved to d1 (d8 for black).

Finally, since we have learned about piece development and castling, it is important to bring up piece safety and defense. There is no point in having a good opening plan if your opponent exploits it and captures undefended pieces at the beginning. Piece protection can be something many players struggle with when starting out in chess (something I still struggle with often). During every game, make sure to think deeply about how well your pieces are protected. Here are a few things to remember during the opening of a game:

1. Before moving a piece, make sure it won’t be under direct attack from an opposing piece.
2. Try to move pieces where they may either protect another piece or have protection from another piece.
3. Don’t get too hungry for pieces at the beginning of the game. Think before you make any type of capture.
4. Look out for any undefended pieces your opponent might have, and if it looks like it is safe, take the piece and get ahead of them.

Now that we have gone over some general opening principles, it is time to move on to specific opening lines and reasons why chess players play them. Next week, we will look into some of the openings commonly played in chess.