1. Play to control the center. Classical chess suggests occupying the center right away with e4, d4, or c4 for white and e5, d5, or c5 for black. There are other schools of thought, but it is probably a good idea to learn classical chess first. The pieces then come into play where they also influence the center. I look back on my games and ask myself, did I fight as hard as I could for central control or did I get distracted by some flank maneuver?
2. Development refers to moving pieces off their starting squares. The coordination between pawn moves and piece moves in the opening is of great importance. We can't just blindly move the knights to the squares they find themselves on the most in the openings (f3 and c3 for white, f6 and c6 for black) because the specific demands of the board might need them somewhere else. Coordinate means have the pieces and pawns control/influence the same squares, support each other, and allow other pieces room to do the same. Central squares (e4, d4, d5, e5) and the squares adjacent to those central squares should be your first priority as mentioned in guideline #1. Pieces like to influence as many critical squares as possible (scope) so fight hard to get them homes where they can do that (without being harrassed by pawns and other pieces).
3. King safety should always be on a player's mind. When a king can be harrassed, there is an increased chance that tactical opportunities can be found. Conventional wisdom suggests castle the king away under a pawn shelter that has not been damaged (3 pawns on their starting squares on that side of the board). In many games, that is the case, but one can never ignore the specifics of the position. If every piece of the opponents army is bearing down on the kingside, castling there because it has an undamaged pawn structure will not work. The king will be a fighting piece in the endgame but in the opening it needs to be protected.
4. Space is a very tricky subject and must be fought for in the opening. Space is the amount of territory on the board controlled by the armies. It is usually looked at from the position of the pawns. The further the pawns move ahead, the more space an army can control. I don't want to say the army does control that space just because the pawns are forward though. There is the factor of piece placement which we will get to a little later. The army with more space tends to have more freedom of movement for its pieces and the army with less space tends to be cramped.
There is a catch to gaining space. There is space left behind that could fall under the enemy's control. When a pawn moves forward, it can not move back. A pawn moving from e2-e4 gained space but left squares that are weaker for the rest of the game. The f3, d3, f4, and d4 squares can never be influenced by that e-pawn again. If say the same army's c-pawn moves from c2-c4 the squares d3 and d4 become permanently weak (no pawns can ever control them again). The opponent may try to control and/or occupy those weakened squares (take the space left behind).
I have been overrun before in games due to lack of space. In those games I found myself too focused on trying to keep material equality (pawns worth 1 point, knights and bishops worth 3 points, rooks 5 points, and queen 9 points). I failed to recognize that my pieces weren't worth their assigned point value anyway due to their lack of activity. If you feel yourself being squeezed to death, look for piece exchanges (that don't make your situation worse) so that you have less pieces that need room to work, or a pawn sacrifice that will help you break out of the prison. Give up material to gain activity for your pieces. Material equality does not mean an equal game!! There are many dynamic factors (not always measureable such as initiative, activity, quality of your pieces, weak squares, etc.) that contribute to the quality of your position. You are likely to find the opponent overextended themself and will be tied down defending the space they left behind.
5. Piece characteristics. Knights and bishops are minor pieces. Knights are short range pieces and need to be right in the middle of the battle to contribute. They like outposts (squares that can be supported by pawns and/or other pieces and can not be chased away by enemy pawns) near the center of the board. For example a white knight has an outpost on c5 if it has a pawn on d4 or b4 supporting it and the opponent does not have a pawn that can get to b6 or d6. Knights influence it's maximum 8 squares between the 3rd and 6th ranks and between the c-file and f-files. Outside of that area, the knight's powers are diminished. Understanding this is the key to finding good squares to develop knights to. Bishops need open diagonals to operate through. Bishops can influence the most squares from a central square such as d4 (13 squares) but that does not mean it is the best location for a bishop. Bishops are long range pieces and enjoy being far from the battle on a good diagonal. They are at their best when the central pawns are gone or at least the friendly central pawns are not on the same color.
Rooks and queens are the major pieces. Rooks like to occupy open files (files with no pawns on it) or at least half open files (no friendly pawns on it) that extend far into enemy territory if possible. The queen likes to be on a central square where it can not be harrassed by enemy pieces but in the opening, it is likely to stay behind its pawns and pieces watching over the action. The queen should be one of the last pieces to develop and typically goes to e2 or d2 for white and e7, d7, or c7 for black where it is free from harrassment and watches over the center. When you are good enough to break this queen rule, you won't need to read a blog from me.
6. Activity and Initiative. Active pieces control more squares and have more options than inactive pieces. When active pieces are coordinated in their efforts, the owner of them tends to enjoy a better game. Initiative refers to the player that is calling the shots. If you are making threats that are also improving your position that your opponent must react to, you have the initiative. One move threats do not bestow the initiative however. Threats that improve your position by piece coordination, increased piece activity, and/or more space is what you are after.
7. Avoid the urge to win the game in the opening. Assume your opponent will see any cheap 3 or 4 move tactic attempts and fight hard to gain "favorable imbalances" (a term that chess author Jeremy Silman mentions over and over again in his books).
**My own experiences are fused in with some of the advice from these chess authors. Other ideas I have learned the hard way is not to commence any wing attacks until the fight for the center is decided. It is very tempting to go for an all out attack on the enemy king ("mindless king hunter") but if the opponent defends accurately, you are likely to be left with a losing position. Assume your opponent will play the best moves and make sure you like where your pieces are placed when they do. If an attack on the wing does appear to be correct, make sure you have all your pieces in play to make it happen (meaning get your entire army mobilized/coordinated to support that attack). I can't tell you how many times I have tried to attack on the wing, then noticed my rooks were never in a position to help out. It rarely works out and when it does, I found it was only due to an inaccurate defense by my opponent, not strong play by me. Fight for the best course of action on every move rather than hoping your opponent will make a mistake. If they happen to make a mistake, your pieces will be in a good position to take advantage of it.
I plan to go back and put in some diagrams to help support the concepts above. For now, I'll go into some fundamental openings that a player needs to know.
One of my favorites is Legal's Mate:
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Here is Scholar's Mate:Play chess online
Let's take a look at some instructive interesting openings. Two Knights Defense.
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