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Basic Opening Strategy

by S. Evan Kreider

Introduction

Examine the board below. It's White's turn -- what's the best move?

All right, that wasn't a very serious question! However, it did imply a more serious one: What's the proper way to start a chess game? In this tutorial, we'll learn a bit about the goals of opening play and the general principles which guide opening moves. First, however, a disclaimer or two.

There are two schools of thought on how to conduct the opening phase of the game: Classical and Hypermodern. The following diagram illustrates (in an admittedly simplistic fashion . . . ) some potential differences between the two:

White has opened the game in one typically Classical manner: (s)he has established a strong pawn center (on e4 and d4), developed both Knights to their most natural and centrally-influential squares (c3 and f3), developed both Bishops along their central diagonals (the c1-h6 diagonal for the dark-squared Bishop and the f1-a6 diagonal for the light-squared Bishop), kept the king-side pawns on their home squares and castled behind them, and so forth.

Black, on the other hand, has opened the game in one typically Hypermodern manner: (s)he has moved the pawns no further than the third rank, developed the Knights in a somewhat more reserved manner, placed the dark-squared Bishop in "fianchetto" (the formation with pawns on f7, g6, and h7, and the Bishop on g7; but it can occur on the queen-side as well, on either player's side of the board), castled behind the fianchetto, and so on.

Which is the better way to open the game? Neither: they are both equally valid ways to conduct the opening. However, it is generally agreed that the Classical approach is best for novices, as it tends to be more straight-forward, both in the sense of easier to understand and easier to play. As you become a more sophisticated player, you will undoubtedly want to learn about the Hypermodern approach, which often leads to dynamic, unbalanced, and fascinating struggles. However, in this tutorial we'll focus on the Classical approach. Therefore, the student should keep in mind that the following discussions of opening objectives and the general principles which guide those objectives may not necessarily apply to the Hypermodern approach. Indeed, as "general principles," they do not always apply to the Classical approach either!

Thus end the disclaimers . . . Now let's get back to opening strategy! There are two primary objectives of the opening: development of the pieces and control of the center. Let's discuss each in turn.

Next: Opening Objectives - Development of the Pieces