THE OPENING
In this section I deal with ingame considerations. Topics, such as preparing for an opponent or the construction of an opening repertoire are dealt with later. It goes without saying that most of the strategic themes covered in previous posts are also valid for the early phase of the game. Of course, I won’t repeat myself here, but limit myself to opening-specific questions.
281. What are the three basic opening rules?
The three basic rules are:
- Control the center
- Develop your minor pieces quickly
- Castle quickly
282. What is rule number 4?
Rule number 4 is less well-known and more sophisticated than the three basic rules. I would phrase it like this:
– Deploy your forces according to the three basic rules, but in a way, that makes it as difficult as possible for your opponent to do it himself. –
A short form for rule number 4 would be: Activity!
Try to play as actively as possible. Play with the initiative and force your opponent to answer your threats. That way, he will be busy and faces more difficulties to do something active or constructive himself.
283. Do I have to occupy the center with pawns?
Preferably you should do so, but it isn’t mandatory as long as you control the center, thus following rule number 1. In the age of the modern school of chess, starting around 1920, it was realized that you can also control the center from a distance. Let’s look at the following sequence: 1.e4 c5. Black is not occupying the center but takes control of the center square d4. 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cd4. Black eliminates one of White’s center pawns and prevents his opponent from building a perfect center (pawns on e4 and d4). 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 d6. Black has no pawn placed in the center, but he possesses a central pawn majority, which controls the important squares c5, d5, e5 and f5.
284. Are modern openings as good as classical openings?
It depends, as there are good and bad modern openings. While you hardly commit a serious mistake by playing in classical style (occupying the center with pawns, developing quickly), you can do so when adopting a modern approach. If you play, for instance, 1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 (the Modern Defense), you lost equity compared to the initial position by leaving the center to White.
285. Should I develop my minor pieces in the quickest possible way?
While quick development is a good generic guideline, you have to take into account that sometimes quality is more important than quantity. Developing pieces for developing sake is no good idea. You have to deploy them where they are effective and serve positional goals. Sometimes, pieces have to wait patiently, until their time has come, particularly bishops. There are two separate reasons for leaving them on their initial square for a certain period of time. On the one hand, there sometimes is no good square available, on the other hand, they are already effective on their initial square in contrast to knights. A good example for patient bishops are King’s Indian position types, where Black’s queen’s bishop often lacks an attractive square for quite a while. Another example is the closed Ruy Lopez, where the bishop has to wait on c1 until it finally becomes clear, whether g5, e3, d2 or b2 will become a decent destination.
286. Should I move a minor piece a second time only after the other pieces have been developed?
This would be too rigid an interpretation of the Tarrasch-rule. Such rules were made for beginners, but don’t meet the requirements of expert play, where all details have to be taken into account. As it was mentioned above, sometimes pieces simply cannot be developed, while other pieces, particularly knights often need more than one tempo to reach their ideal square. In the closed Ruy Lopez, the knight sometimes makes his trip to f5 via d2, f1, and g3, whilst the queen’s bishop is still standing on c1.
287. Should I develop the knights before the bishops?
This time it is the Lasker-rule (knights before bishops), which can only be taken as a rough orientation. Generally, there are a couple of arguments for developing the knights first:
1. In contrast to bishops, the knights are useless on the first rank, while the bishops are already effective where they stand initially.
2. As bishops have normally more several options, deferring their development retains flexibility. King’s knights are normally placed on f3 and f6, while the Bf1 might go to e2, d3, c4, b5 or g2, depending on the position. Retaining flexibility serves a double purpose: on the one hand it enables me to adjust to my opponents play, on the other hand it withholds information for my opponent. He has to reckon with many plans from my part and thus cannot play with determination against on single setup. Instead, he has to choose the smallest common denominator, which will dilute his play.
3. Knights often exert more pressure on the center. In that sense, 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 is stronger than 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4, as Black has to deal with the attack on the pawn e5.
4. Bishops tend to be more exposed than knights. If White develops the bishop to g5, in some position the move …h7-h6 is harmful for him, as after Bh4, the bishop is cut off from the queenside. Sometimes it can even be sent to a siding, with …g7-g5. On g3 it will now bite on pawn granite (a fortified pawn e5).
288. Do I need to castle quickly?
The topic of castling was covered in detail already in the section on king safety (defense). So here just a short answer: In general, you should castle quickly, but sometimes it is not strictly necessary and there are more urgent things to do. In some rare cases, castling could even be dangerous.
289. Should I go pawn hunting?
Early pawn hunting, for instance with you queen, can be dangerous as you will fall behind with your development. As with all things in chess it is case-sensitive. Sometimes, you can get away with it, sometimes not.
290. What pawn structure should I aim for?
The opening is much about creating the pawn structure. As it is equivalent to the texture of the board, it is the most important element of the position. Many players stumble into pawn structures and take them as they come. Strong players choose their structure deliberately. They are aware of the options and know, that most structures can be broken down into substructures and these again into sub-substructures, as every central pawn move by both sides will bring about another formation. Strong players have a library of the most important pawn structures with the corresponding evaluations and characteristics. They know which structure fits best for a given piece distribution, for a certain playing style or other metagame requirements. If you build an opening repertoire, learn the most common structures of your most important variations. That way, you can aim for the appropriate one with a great deal of consciousness.
291. Should I play my theory moves rapidly?
Firing your opening moves quickly can be intimidating for your opponent, which generally is a good thing. But imagine you prepared something and rather want him to stumble into it. In this case, you rather might want to feign ignorance or insecurity and take some minutes for each move.
Then, there is another kind of problem. Imagine you just learned an opening line by rote without delving into the logic of the position. Now you blitz 15 moves and end up in a position which is completely alien to you. Sometimes it is better to take it a bit slower, spend some more minutes in order to feel the position, grow into it or even – become the position. 😉
