Chess Openings
T
he first moves of a chess game are designated
the "opening" or "opening moves". A respectable opening
will provide protection of the King, control over an area of the board, principally
the center, greater mobility for pieces, and possibly opportunities to capture pawns
and pieces.
In all openings there is a struggle for key territory, in particular the center squares, and an effort to deploy pieces and pawns in useful positions. Some are direct, while others are more subtle and indirect approaches toward these goals.
There are three groups of openings covered here:
In all openings there is a struggle for key territory, in particular the center squares, and an effort to deploy pieces and pawns in useful positions. Some are direct, while others are more subtle and indirect approaches toward these goals.
There are three groups of openings covered here:
- White can start by moving his King's pawn 2 spaces, i.e.
playing "e4". This move has many strengths - it immediately works on
controlling the center, and it frees two pieces (the Queen and a Bishop). This
is a popular first move, leaving Black with two options:
- Black may choose to mirror White's move and reply with
"e5" for the same reasons, leading to openings such as the Ruy Lopez, Giuoco Piano, and King's Gambit.
- Black can also try something other than mirroring White's
"e4" move, leading to openings such as the Sicilian Defense, French Defense, Caro-Kann, and Pirc/Modern.
- Black may choose to mirror White's move and reply with
"e5" for the same reasons, leading to openings such as the Ruy Lopez, Giuoco Piano, and King's Gambit.
- White can start by moving the Queen's pawn to
"d4". This leads to openings such as the Queen's Gambit, King's Indian Defense, Nimzo-Indian, Bogo-Indian, and
Queen's Indian Defense, and Dutch Defense.
- White can start with some other move than "e4" or
"d4". One example is the English Opening.