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.