What you should do in the

opening
The opening stage consist of the first few moves on the game where both
players aim to develop their pieces and prepare for the fight ahead.

It’s quite normal for beginners to wonder which moves are the best at this
stage.

If you follow the advice in this lesson then you will know how to find good
moves in the opening and at the same time you will also discover the things
you shouldn’t do in the opening and the pitfalls you should avoid.
 What you should do in the
opening
At the start of a new game, all the pieces occupy their
starting positions and the first few moves you are
going to make is known as the opening.

You may be wondering – what is the best move to

start the game? This is a good question to ask yourself
because some opening moves are good, and others
aren’t so good. In this lesson I will show you how to
find good moves in the opening.
 What you should do in the
opening
But before I continue I want to quickly explain that a chess
game usually has 3 stages.

And as I’ve just said – the first stage of the game is known
as the opening.

But once you’ve completed your opening moves, you reach

the second stage of the game, which is known as the middle-
game.

The middle-game is when most of the action will take place

and during the middle-game, most of the pieces and pawns
will be captured or exchanged and eventually,

when only a few pieces remain on the board, we reach the

third stage, which is known as the endgame.
 What you should do in the
opening
In this lesson we are going to focus on the first stage –
the opening. Right from the start of the game you
should aim to make good moves and avoid bad ones
because if you can do this consistently, you will
improve your chances of winning the game.

To help you find good moves and avoid bad ones I am

going to tell you about 3 things you should do in the
opening and then I will also tell you about 3 things
you shouldn’t do.
 What you should do in the
opening
Control the Centre

Develop your minor pieces (Knights before Bishops)

King Safety by castling

Connect your Rooks

 What you should do in the
opening
The first thing you should do is to focus your attention
on the middle of the board.

The squares in the middle of the board are known as

the center and you should aim to control these
squares.
 What you should do in the
opening

Now if I ask you – which opening

move here is better:
 What you should do in the
opening

You should realize now that playing the pawn to e4 (the one in the
center) is a better move because it helps you control the center, whereas
moving the pawn on the side wouldn’t do so.

Now you may be wondering – why is it important to control the center?

Well, of course all the squares on the board are important and you
shouldn’t forget about the squares on the sides, but the center is more
important because most of the action will happen in or near the middle
of the board.

And if you control these squares then it would be to your advantage.

Another reason why it’s important to control the center, is that your
pieces can do more when they are near the center. Here’s what I mean:
 What you should do in the
opening
The bishop on the side of the board attacks only in
one direction. But if the bishop was in the center…
 What you should do in the
opening
The knight on the side of the board attacks only 4
Here’s an example with a knight:
squares, but if you place him in the center…

He would be attacking 8
squares. You can clearly see
that a piece is more useful to
you when it’s in or near the
center.

So that is the first thing you

should do in the opening –
focus your attention on the
center.
 What you should do in the
opening

The second thing you should do in the opening is

called development.

Development simply means you should move out

your pieces and bring them closer to the action so
that they can help you fight.

Here’s an example:
It’s white’s turn to move. Which move would
be better? – to move the pawn on a2 to a4 or
to develop the knight from b1 to c3. What do
you think?
 What you should do in the
opening

The knight is still on it’s starting square and we need

to develop him. It is usually much better to develop a
piece than to move a pawn.

In fact, you shouldn’t move too many pawns in the

opening, except for the pawns in the center, because
moving them helps you control the center and also,
opens up the diagonals for your bishops to develop.

So, this is the second thing you should do in the

opening – develop your pieces as quickly as possible –
and of course, it would be even better if you could
develop them towards the center.
 What you should do in the
opening

The third thing you should do in the opening, is to

make the castling move.

You will notice both players are busy developing their pieces
and at this stage white is ready to make the castling move.
And probably black will also castle soon.

The reason why you should aim to castle in the opening is

that your king will be safer when you move him away from
the center and this move will also help you develop the rook
that’s otherwise stuck in the corner.

It’s also a good idea to connect your rooks, which means you
need to clear the spaces between them. If white wants to
connect his rooks here…
 What you should do in the
opening

…he can move the queen, and now the rooks are
connected, and being connected makes them stronger
because they protect each other.

So, these are the 3 things you should do in the

opening –
1) focus your attention on the center,
2) develop your pieces as quickly as possible
and
3) make the castling move.
 What you should do in the
opening

But now I will also tell you about 3 things you

shouldn’t do in the opening.

First, don’t make too many pawn moves.

You should use the time to develop your pieces,

because every time you move a pawn, you could
have better used that move to develop one of
your pieces. Look at this position:
 What you should do in the
opening

White’s pieces have been developed and he is

ready to start an attack on black’s territory, but
black made far too many pawn moves and that
means his development is incomplete. He also
hasn’t castled yet.

Instead of making all these pointless pawn

moves, black should have rather spend those
moves developing his pieces.
 What you should do in the
opening

The second thing you shouldn’t do in the

opening is that you shouldn’t develop your
queen too soon – because if you bring out your
queen early on, your opponent will often be able
to gain time by making threats against your
queen.

This is what I mean. If black brings out the

queen here…
 What you should do in the
opening
then white can develop his knight and at the same time
attack the queen.

If the queen moves here…

 What you should do in the
opening
then white can gain even more time by moving
the other knight into the centre whilst again
attacking black’s queen.

In fact, your knight is also threatening to

capture the pawn on c7 and if black wants to
save the pawn, the queen must go all the way
back to defend it.
 What you should do in the
opening
You can see that black wasted three moves with
the queen and at the same time white managed
to develop some of their pieces, whereas black
made no progress.

This is why you shouldn’t bring out your queen

to early. It’s better to wait until the other pieces
are developed, and then it would be easier to
decide where to place your queen.
 What you should do in the
opening
You can see white is making progress in his
development and he has already castled, but he
must still develop the queen.

And because your queen is your most valuable

piece, you ideally shouldn’t move her near
danger. So here the queen can move to either d2
or e2.
 What you should do in the
opening

And now your rooks will also be

connected.
 What you should do in the
opening

The third thing you shouldn’t do in the opening,

is that once you have castled, you shouldn’t
move the pawns in front of your king because
they act like a shield to defend your king against
sudden checks or attacks.

If you move the pawns, it will open-up your king

and this could very well become a big problem
in the middle-game.
 What you should do in the
opening

To conclude this lesson let’s quickly summarise what you’ve learnt.

In the opening stage of the game you should focus your attention on the centre, you
should develop your pieces as quickly as possible and you should castle your king.

Then you also learnt about three things you shouldn’t do in the opening – don’t
make too many pawn moves, rather use the time to develop your pieces, don’t bring
out your queen too early and when you’ve castled it’s better to not move the pawns
in front of your king because that would expose him to much danger.
 What you should do in the
opening

To conclude this lesson let’s quickly summarise what you’ve learnt.

In the opening stage of the game you should focus your attention on the centre, you
should develop your pieces as quickly as possible and you should castle your king.

Then you also learnt about three things you shouldn’t do in the opening – don’t
make too many pawn moves, rather use the time to develop your pieces, don’t bring
out your queen too early and when you’ve castled it’s better to not move the pawns
in front of your king because that would expose him to much danger.
 What you should do in the
opening
 How to make good
exchanges