Chess Opening Basics

[Balakrishna Prabhu]

Common aims in opening play
Irrespective of whether they are trying to gain the upper hand as
White and equalize as Black or to create dynamic imbalances, players
generally devote a lot of attention in the opening stages to:[5]
1. Development: One of the main aims of the opening is to mobilize the
pieces on useful squares where they will have impact on the game. To
this end, knights are usually developed to f3, c3, f6 and c6 (or
sometimes e2, d2, e7 or d7), and both player's King and Queen pawns
are moved so the bishops can be developed (alternatively, the bishops
may be fianchettoed with a manoeuvre such as g3 and Bg2). Rapid
mobilization is the key. The queen, and to a lesser extent the rooks,
are not usually played to a central position until later in the game,
when many minor pieces and pawns are no longer present.
2. Control of the center: At the start of the game, it is not clear on
which part of the board the pieces will be needed. However, control of
the central squares allows pieces to be moved to any part of the board
relatively easily, and can also have a cramping effect on the
opponent. The classical view is that central control is best effected
by placing pawns there, ideally establishing pawns on d4 and e4 (or d5
and e5 for Black). However, the hypermodern school showed that it was
not always necessary or even desirable to occupy the center in this
way, and that too broad a pawn front could be attacked and destroyed,
leaving its architect vulnerable; an impressive looking pawn center is
worth little unless it can be maintained. The hypermoderns instead
advocated controlling the center from a distance with pieces, breaking
down one's opponent center, and only taking over the center oneself
later in the game. This leads to openings such as Alekhine's Defense -
in a line like 1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. c4 Nb6 5. f4 (the Four
Pawns Attack), White has a formidable pawn center for the moment, but
Black hopes to undermine it later in the game, leaving White's
position exposed.
3. King safety: The king is somewhat exposed in the middle of the
board. Measures must be taken to reduce his vulnerability. It is
therefore common for both players to either castle in the opening
(simultaneously developing one of the rooks) or to otherwise bring the
king to the side of the board via artificial castling.
4. Prevention of pawn weakness: Most openings strive to avoid the
creation of pawn weaknesses such as isolated, doubled and backward
pawns, pawn islands, etc. Some openings sacrifice endgame
considerations for a quick attack on the opponent's position. Some
unbalanced openings for black, in particular, make use of this idea;
such as the Dutch, and the Sicilian. Other openings, such as the
Alekhine and the Benoni, invite the opponent to overextend and form
pawn weaknesses. Specific openings accept pawn weaknesses in exchange
for compensation in the form of dynamic play. (See pawn structure.)
5. Piece coordination: As each player mobilizes his or her pieces,
each attempts to assure that they are working harmoniously towards the
control of key squares.
6. Create positions in which the player is more comfortable than the
opponent: Transposition is one common way of doing this.[7][8]
There are three groups of openings covered here:
1. 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:
1. 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
(including the Evans Gambit variant), and King's Gambit.
2. Black can also try something other than mirroring White's "e4"
move, leading to openings such as the Sicilian Defense, French
Defense, Caro-Kann, Center Counter, and Pirc/Modern.
2. 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.
3. White can start with some other move than "e4" or "d4". One example
is the English