HOW TO PLAY A CHESS OPENING
WITH WHITE
Chess is a game modeled on war. When a fight starts,
you want to have more soldiers than your opponent, and control of key points.
In chess, this means two things:
(1) Develop your pieces. (2) Control the center.
The pieces on your first rank are the strongest
ones. You want to get them out right away. The knights are easiest to get out,
because they can jump. To get out other pieces, you need to move a pawn.
Knights and bishops, called the minor pieces, are the ones that you need to get
out early.
The three best ways for white to start are 1.e4,
1.d4 and 1.Nf3. A good player might use something else, to play a move the
opponent is not used to. You should learn the best opening moves first.
Starting the game with a pawn move is the most
common. Since we are trying to control space, when we move a pawn, we prefer to
push it two squares, rather than only one square. The center pawns are the best
ones to move at the start, because they aim at center control, and let a bishop
come out.
The move 1.Nf3 is also a good move, because it gets
out a knight, your only short range piece. The knight needs to be put closer to
the enemy before it is able to fight. The bishop, rook, and queen can fight
from anywhere in your position. They do not need to be brought close to the
enemy to be in the battle.
You may be thinking, "If 1.Nf3 is good, why not
play 1.Nc3?" The answer is when a knight is put on its best square, if the
pawn on that file has not moved yet, the knight blocks it. We will need to
fight for central control with another pawn besides our center pawns. We
usually do not want to move our f-pawn early in the game because it weakens our
king position a little bit. However, we very often want to move our c-pawn.
That is not only safe, but also opens a diagonal for our queen to use.
In a game that white starts with an early e4, it is
not so important to have our c-pawn get into the fight, because we use our
d-pawn to move forward, whether black has moved his e-pawn or his c-pawn. But
in the games that white starts with an early d4, we usually need to follow up
with c4 to move forward, since the opponent can stop us from playing e4 by the
countering moves d5 and Nf6.
When your opponent puts a pawn in the center, even
though this helps his game, it also gives you a target to attack. You want to
attack the pawn with one of your own pawns. In some cases you can do this right
away. In other cases you must prepare your attack. If your opponent does not
fight for the center with any pawn moves, put your pawns at d4 and e4 if
possible.
We will look at three opening examples.
(A) You have played 1.e4 and your
opponent has replied 1...e5 or 1...c5. Here if
you played 2.d4 and your opponent took it, you would have to take on d4 with
your queen to get your pawn back right away. You do not want to do this,
because your opponent could then play Nc6 attacking your queen, and you would
have to move her away. This would help your opponent get out a piece, and you
would lose time. The right way to attack the opponent's pawn is to prepare your
attack by 2.Nf3. Then when you later play d4, if the opponent takes your pawn,
you can take back with your knight, which will bring it to a center square and
help your game. It is also possible that you will want to prepare d4 by the
move c3.
(B) You have played 1.d4 and your
opponent has played 1...d5. Here you can
attack the opponent's pawn right away with 2.c4. You do not need to prepare it.
Your idea is if he takes the pawn, you will be able to take back with your
bishop as soon as you move your e-pawn. If he tries to hold onto his pawn by
b5, you can attack some more with a4, and will be able to get your pawn back
with a good position.
(C) You have played 1.Nf3 and your opponent has played 1...d5. The first thing you do is fix your target by 2.d4. This stops the pawn from advancing. Then you will follow up with 3.c4. You can use the same idea if your opponent replies to 1.Nf3 by 1...c5, by first playing 2.c4, and then attacking it with d4 later on. It is also possible to answer 1...c5 with 2.e4, switching into a king-pawn opening. If the opponent does not move a pawn right away, it is good to play 2.c4 so you can get the other knight out.
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