The Opening: Attack & Defend With Purpose

If you've taken a look at the information under The Opening then you've noticed that I've listed Attack & Defend With Purpose as the number 4 principle to consider during the opening phase of a chess game. We've finally come to the heart of the game of chess. First off we talked about how we should move our pieces (Mobility, Development) then we've discussed where to move them (Control Center) and now we're going to focus on why we are moving them. Understanding why a certain piece should attack or defend is really what chess is all about. A person can memorize chess openings until there's no tomorrow, but if he doesn't understand why he's moving his pieces then the game of chess is lost to him.

Attack & Defend With Purpose is related to development in that it always involves moving your pieces to a more useful stage. But what sets it apart from development is that it involves either an attack or defensive move that benefits you. You may have heard grandmasters talk about developing with threats or plans. Others mention avoiding sacrificing pieces without a clear reason. All of those principles are actually lumped into Attack & Defend With Purpose. Moreover, like the other 3 opening principles mentioned earlier, this one can be employed from the very starting move of the game, and should be kept in mind all throughout the middlegame and endgame. Yes, in chess you should always be looking for Mobility and Development to move your pieces to better squares on the board. You should always be looking to gain Control of the Center as well. Last of all, you should always Attack & Defend With Purpose. 

In a future article on Attack & Defend With Purpose we'll go over some examples of employing it in an actual game.