Archive for August, 2009

Chess Openings – Basic Chess Openings for Beginners

For many chess players, playing the game of chess is just like playing war game wherein you have to attack and defend against your opponent. In playing chess, you have to use healthy and logical thinking in order to win the game. There were times that you tend to be confused simply because you made mistakes on the opening round. To avoid these mistakes, you have to practice and know more about chess openings. But then, don’t expect that you will able to get by reading books. Of course you have to play it and gain experience.

Understanding to rules and notation of the game is the first thing you have to consider in order to play the game. Maybe at this point, you have learned it already. So, let’s start with the basic chess openings. Most of time, players use to create the basic plan by opening the center isle after moving e4 to d4. This type of opening can be the King’s Pawn or the Queen’s Pawn. This kind of opening was often used by chess players especially beginners because it’s the popular one. This idea is done to control the center. And if you able to control the center, you will have a greater control on the board.

So, what’s the next step after you moved the center pawns? Well, the next step is to develop your minor pieces. The ideal move is to develop the Knight first. This is done by moving to f3 or c3 for the white and the same as c6 or f6 for the black. Doing such move on these squares can help you develop the Knight and fight towards the center squares. Now for the other minor piece which are the bishops. The recommended move is to develop the King’s side Bishop wherein in it will allow you to castle on the next turn. But then, before deciding to move your bishop, think of a right square that will improve your position.

After the minor pieces, this time you have to develop your major pieces including the rooks. Rooks are said to be the powerful rams of chess where in they can destroy what’s in front or side of them. You can develop your rooks by placing the front pawn two squares forward. But then, it is better to develop the Queen’s side rook so you can castle for the next turn. After you put the rook on the right square, it’s time to develop your queen, the most powerful piece in the game. However, you have to be careful because your opponent will surely make a move to threaten and trap her. So if you’re careless, you have a great chance of losing your queen which can be terrible.

Finally, for the most valuable piece in the board which is the King. It is said that if you lost the King, you lost the game. So, you have to make move that can depend your king as much as possible. Chess players usually keep their king safe by castling. This is done by moving the king two square to the right and moving the rook two squares to the opposite direction. But then, remember the rules of castling. The king can not be able to castle if it is under checked or while previously moved. These openings will become more apparent as you play and gain more experience.