The Opening: Minor Piece Dynamics

If you've taken a look at the information under The Opening then you've noticed that I've listed Minor Piece Dynamics as the number 8 principle to consider during the opening phase of a chess game. For starters I want to clarify what the minor pieces are for those of you who may not know what they are. The minor pieces we are referring to are the knight and bishop respectively. There are many differing views as to the point value of these 2 minor pieces (the standard valuation places a 3 point value on each piece). But trying to calculate the value of these pieces in the start of a game of chess is like trying to decide whether the left wing of a bird is worth more than its right wing. Yes, both are crucial in getting you off of the ground early in the game and you should never underestimate what each piece is capable of.

Now you may wonder why I prefer to use the term "dynamics" instead of a generic word like "movement" instead. Well this brings us back to the first opening principle we discussed on Mobility. The idea behind minor piece dynamics is not simply to move a piece somewhere on the board, but somewhere that allows that piece to be useful the next following move. In other words, dynamics conveys the idea of continuous movement that is productive. Also a player should avoid needlessly hindering the dynamics of another minor piece in the game. For instance, a bishop could block a square that will prevent the knight from moving. Or a knight could occupy a square that could keep a bishop from being able to travel across the board. Of course, sometimes strategy may dictate another piece of yours be purposely blocked, but in the early stages of a game it is wise to let both your bishop and knight attack as many squares as possible.

In a future article I will discuss more about each the knight and bishop and how to use their dynamic abilities to the full in your opening game.

The Opening: Connect Rooks

If you've taken a look at the information under The Opening then you've noticed that I've listed Connect Rooks as the number 7 principle to consider during the opening phase of a chess game. Now this is one aspect of the game that the grand masters usually all agree on. It makes sense that if you have a powerful chess piece such as a rook that is sitting on the sidelines in a typical opening game that you would try to protect it dearly. Your pawns will offer you absolutely no assistance because they are progressing forward. Likewise your bishops and knights typically will not be a great long term defender of your rooks either because they are always on the move and fighting above and among your pawns. Okay so what does that leave us with? Your queen could act as a protector to one of your rooks early on, but eventually you will be able to bring her out into the playing field and she will leave that rook high and dry. But do not despair because if you are truly developing your pieces correctly and if you have already castled your king, chances are you do not need to be even worried about these rooks being protected because they will be protecting each other already! It is sort of like a buddy system where each rook has the other rook's back in the early stages of the game. Just how important is rook protection though? Well in most evenly matched games, losing a rook early on with no compensation for it usually spells defeat for you. Yet, if your rook is protected and you are able to compensate it with a minor piece, then you may still have a fighting chance. So connect your rooks and keep them connected until you have a good reason to break one off from its protection partner. This simple principle is even effective in the middle game and endgame because your rooks become more of a target and thus still require protection.

In a later article I will dive a little deeper into connecting the rooks and where and when to move each rook on the back row during the opening phase of a game.

The Opening: King's Position

If you've taken a look at the information under The Opening then you've noticed that I've listed Kings Position as the number 6 principle to consider during the opening phase of a chess game. I love it when I see grand masters giving advice on opening principles and they typically will say "castle as early as possible" or "castle before move 10" implying that castling is a must in every chess game. While it's true that most games will require each player to castle either early on or perhaps later in the game, on occasion there will be games where you'll want to refrain from castling altogether. That's why merely calling castling an opening principle is rather generic and sometimes downright misleading. What players should be giving attention to from the very start of the game until the finish is how safe is their king's position not simply on how soon castling should take place. Now obviously there are very good reasons why these grand masters keep stressing the importance of castling. For starters, these astute chess gurus know that both players will be attacking and defending pieces in the center of the chessboard, so it would make sense now for them to warn players to get their king away from the center where all of the action is taking place. A further benefit to castling is that it connects both of a player's rooks together which is another important opening principle.

However, as I mentioned above, the king doesn't always need to be castled immediately, but players should avoid letting their opponents force them into castling on a specific side (especially a dangerous one). So while I do not feel the need to tell players that they should always castle, I do suggest that they are at least prepared to castle on either or both sides so if the need arises they can do so without needing to wait until the coast is clear.

In a future article we we dive deeper into the king's position and go over strategies in keeping the king safe in the early stage of the game.

The Opening: Avoid Exploiting Your Queen

If you've taken a look at the information under The Opening then you've noticed that I've listed Avoid Exploiting Your Queen as the number 5 principle to consider during the opening phase of a chess game. You may have heard grandmasters list as a rule of thumb to not bring your queen out early in the chess game. That is excellent advice for the opening, but the principle is of absolutely no use to a player once the opening is over with. So as to have a principle that chiefly involves the queen throughout the entire game of chess, I've used the idea of "exploiting" the queen, rather than simply be generic and say "don't move the queen out early." But what exactly is exploiting your queen you may ask? Well the definition of exploiting that we're using in this case is:

"To use selfishly for one's own ends."



You see by moving your queen out to attack early, like the grandmasters warn against, you are really being selfish with your queen. Why is that? Well while your queen does make an excellent attacker in chess, she also makes an excellent target for your opponent early in the game. So while you may think you're accomplishing something worthwhile by an early queen attack, most likely all you are doing is wasting a turn. Moreover, not only will the queen selfishly slow down your development rate, but she could actually become an innocent casualty if you're not too careful!

In the following article in this series we will go into more detail on the idea of exploiting your queen.

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.

The Opening: Control Center

If you've taken a look at the information under The Opening then you've noticed that I've listed Control Center as the number 3 principle to consider during the opening phase of a chess game. Controlling the center of the chessboard is comparable to a military force using higher ground to attack an army on lower ground. What does higher ground have that lower ground lacks? A decisive advantage! A military force's artillery can shoot further when they are on higher ground. Also it's much easier to attack while travelling downhill than uphill. Similarly if you control the center of the board in chess, your piece's range of attack improves dramatically. Moreover by controlling the center you can make gaining any ground against you seem like an uphill battle for your opponent.

 However, controlling the center is not always an easy thing to do. The reason being is that your opponent is fighting for control of the center just as badly as you are! So not only do you have to control the center for the home team, but must also be prepared to give up parts of the center for the enemy.

It can be challenging I know, but with a little practice you can improve this aspect of your game. In the next part of this series I will go over some basic examples of how to take control of the center.  

The Opening: Development

If you've taken a look at the information under The Opening then you've noticed that I've listed Development as the number 2 principle to consider during the opening phase of a chess game. Many chess grandmasters fail miserably to explain what chess development really is to us amateurs. Some mistakenly view it as "building and creating." The Oxford Companion To Chess is extremely vague in its own definition which is "to bring one's pieces into play during the opening phase." However, neither of those definitions will help you to understand exactly what development is. This is the actual definition when it comes to chess development:

"The process of evolving to a more useful stage."

As you can see from the definition above, development isn't simply about bringing pieces out from their starting positions (everybody does that in chess!) but it has to do with evolving your pieces into something useful. Yes, when your 16 chess pieces start out on your side of the board they are completely useless to say the least. But as you move them from their starting positions they can begin to become useful to you. Now at the beginning of each game there are a total of 20 moves that can be made (16 pawn moves; 4 knight moves). However not all of those possible moves may contribute to a successful development. Some may even interfere with further development in the game. Consider how development is connected to the other opening principles:

• Mobility- A lack of good development will likely hinder other piece's mobility. 

• Control Center - If your pieces aren't developed close enough to the center of the board then chances are your development is weak. 

• Attack and Defend With Purpose - Lack of development will ultimately mean that you have to give priorities to development while attacking and defending which may prove to be overwhelming.  

• Avoid Exploiting Your Queen - If you move your queen out early you may waste your moves on her, rather than much needed development.  

• King's Position -  If a player cannot castle or at least move his king to safety, then a lack of good development is most likely the reason. 

• Connect Rooks - If a player cannot connect their rooks, then a lack of good development could be to blame.  

• Minor Piece Dynamics - Lack of development equals limited dynamic strength for your minor pieces to attack and defend.

• Pawn Structure - How the pawns are structured could easily hinder your development progress. Moreover, since a pawn cannot move backwards this could be a permanent problem.

It's a no brainer why chess grandmasters everywhere speak so highly of development. In a future article we will go over some examples of how to actually employ development in the opening.

The Opening: Mobility

If you've taken a look at the information under The Opening then you've noticed that I've listed Mobility as the number 1 principle to consider during the opening phase of a chess game. I must be out of my mind right? I mean most if not all of the chess grandmasters keep preaching about development. Development, development, development! But before you have an aneurism, you should keep in mind that those 9 principles aren't necessarily in a "this must come first" order. If only chess were that easy! No, they are simply in the order that I believe will benefit you the most in learning the opening. In fact, take note of the definition of mobility:

"The ability to move in one's environment with ease and without restriction."

I think that all of us would love to be able to move our chess pieces without restriction. But we're not just talking about your opponent's pieces restricting your own. No, we're also talking about how you can't seem to get out of your own way in most games! This happens to me quite often, and not just in the opening. I think it could be perhaps the number one reason why most games are lost to some extent. I mean consider how mobility is connected to the other opening principles:

• Development - You will not be able to develop successfully if part or most of your pieces cannot move freely about the board.  

• Control Center - If your pieces cannot reach the center, how on earth can they control it? 

• Attack and Defend With Purpose - Lack of mobility means that you cannot move your pieces quick enough to attack or perhaps worse yet, to defend a piece. 

• Avoid Exploiting Your Queen - A lack of mobility can cause the queen to be blocked behind other pieces, or to be trapped by your opponent's pieces (because you brought her out too early).  

• King's Position - If you cannot move your back row out, then you may not be able to protect your king by castling. 

• Connect Rooks - If you block your minor pieces in (bishops and knights) then your rooks cannot protect themselves. Also a rook that cannot move is a sitting duck in alot games.  

• Minor Piece Dynamics - Both the knights and bishops require mobility or they lose their dynamic strength to attack and defend.

• Pawn Structure - How the pawns are structured could easily hinder your mobility. Moreover, since a pawn cannot move backwards this could be a permanent problem.

So it's easy to see why mobility is such a crucial aspect to the game of chess. In a future article we will go over some examples of how to incorporate mobility in the opening.