Chess Blog

The chess opening moves is the group of initial chess moves in a game. Many recognized that sequences of the opening moves are commonly referred to as the openings and have been given the names like Ruy Lopez or the Sicillian Defence. They are classified in the reference works such as Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings.

There are numerous varieties of chess openings, widely varying in the character of the opening game play from silent chess positional play such as the Reti Opening – to a very warlike type of play like the Latvian Gambit. In some of the opening moves, the exact progression that is considered best for the both sides play has been strategically worked out to 30 to 35 movements or more. More skilled and professional chess players spend their years studying the openings and continuously doing so all through out their careers, because opening theories seems endless and continues to evolve.

There are some fundamental strategic goals of most opening chess moves. They are the development, control of the center, King Safety, and the pawn structure. These goals are established to gain better control and advantages in the game of chess.

In the development, placing or positioning the chess pieces most particularly the key chess pieces on the useful squares where they can have the best favorable impact on the game play is very important. This is where you will strategically position your chess pieces in order to have a better chance of conquering the opposing chess pieces. Developing your chess pieces before attacking is like thorough planning before going to a battle in the real war. When your army is not yet developed and suddenly attacked the opponent, the possibility of losing is immensely great.

Next is the control of the center. Controlling the central squares of the chess board allows the chess pieces to be relatively easy to be moved to any other part of the board. Moreover, they can restrict the opponent’s movements of the pieces and have a cramping effect on the opposing player’s pieces. Usually, the control of the center squares means getting an edge in the game play.

The King is the most important chess piece on the board. When one King is captured, that means the end of the game. The player who captures him wins the game. Therefore, the King’s safety is the top priority in this game. Keeping your King safe from all the dangerous possibilities of being captured is the best way to continue playing the game. Castling usually enhance this when it is moved in such correct timing.

Lastly is the pawn structure. Players of chess strive harder to prevent the creation of weaknesses of pawns such as isolated, backward pawns, doubled, or pawn islands and force those weaknesses into the opponent.

Most of the skilled chess players as well as theoreticians of chess consider the white, by the first move’s virtue, starts the game with a small edge. Black commonly strives to be able to neutralize this advantage and attained equality as well as develop dynamic counter play in such an imbalance position.