There are no hard and fast "rules" of opening play. You will find that the following principles are often violated, but in general it is best to try to follow them.
Let's look at a few common opening move sequences to see these principles at work. Get out your chess set and follow along.
Four Knights Game. This is the opening at its most basic (and some would say boring) level. 1. e4 e5 Both sides have placed pawns in the center, and both sides have opened lines to allow the development of other pieces. The f1 and f8 bishops can now come out, as can the queens. The objective of rapid mobilization is being met. 2. Nf3 Nc6 White could have played 2. Nc3 or 2. Bc4, and both of these are acceptable opening moves, but neither really does anything except get a piece into play. White's 2. Nf3 not only gets a piece into play but also attacks black's center pawn. Black must find a way to defend it, and so his play is somewhat constrained and dictated by what white has done. Notice that black defended by developing a piece. Also possible were 2...d6, acceptable but passive and blocks the f8 bishop's path into the game, and 2...Bd6, terrible as it blocks black's d-pawn and makes it difficult to get the c8 bishop into play. 3. Nc3 Nf6 Neither side is quite sure yet where to place the bishops, so they bring out the remaining knights. Why didn't white play 3. Na3? The knight on a3 is rather impotent. It has fewer moves (less mobility) than the knight on c3, and it exerts no pressure on the center. 4. Bb5 Bb4 Both sides continue mobilizing as rapidly as possible. You can't win a war by leaving your troops at home! 4...Nd4 5. Ba4 is Rubinstein's variation, which is sometimes played here. It's more active but also riskier. Moving the knight a second time would seem like a violation of opening principles, but it does not lose time as white's attacked bishop is obliged to move again as well. 5. O-O O-O The kings are whisked away to safe havens and the king's rooks are brought into play. 6. d3 d6 Both sides now prepare to mobilize the remaining bishops. 7. Bg5 Bxc3 It is unwise to copy your opponent's moves for too long, and black stops at this point. 7...Bg4? 8. Nd5 is considered to be very strong for white. 8. bxc3 Qe7 9. Re1 Nd8 Black begins maneuvering before developing his last piece. There is a point, however. He wants to put the knight where it will have maximum influence on the center, and he also wants to give the white bishop on g5 a little kick. 10. d4 Ne6 White has achieved two pawns abreast in the center, but black's position is well developed and solid.
Ruy Lopez. 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 White varies at move three, playing the most aggressive move available in the position. Black's c6 knight is defending his center pawn, so white threatens to do it in. At one time black would have played 3...d6 to defend the center pawn again, but as it turns out this is unnecessary. 3...a6 is a very subtle move but probably best. White can follow through with his threat now by playing 4. Bxc6, and if black responds 4...bxc6, capturing towards the center as the general principle says, he will lose the center pawn. This is one of those cases where tactics dictate a violation of principle. Thus, 4. Bxc6 dxc6! 5. Nxe5 Qd4 chases away the white knight and gets the pawn back. 4. Ba4 Nf6 Black is still not worried about losing his pawn, and for the same reason, so he launches a counterattack against white's center pawn and develops a piece at the same time. 5. O-O Be7 White ignores the counterattack and gets his king to safety. He dares black to take the e4 pawn, thereby opening a line through the center towards black's uncastled king. Black can get away with 5...Nxe4 6. d4 b5 7. Bb3 d5 8. dxe5 Be6 9. c3, but it's risky and he has to play exactly right to save his skin. So instead he plays 5...Be7, which prepares for castling. 6. Re1 b5 Now that black is ready to castle, he really does threaten the e4 pawn, so white defends it by bringing a rook onto a strong central file. Also possible and good is 6. Nc3, but white has something else in mind, as we'll see. Now that white's e4 pawn is protected, he also genuinely threatens black's e5 pawn, so black prevents the exchange on c6. 7. Bb3 d6 White retreats the bishop from attack, and black prepares to go after it with ...Na5, but first he defends his e5 pawn and also opens a line for his other bishop to get into the game. 8. c3 Na5 White has prepared a hole for his bishop to hide in, but he has also prepared to put the d-pawn on d4, thus achieving the ideal center. Black goes after the bishop, but his real intention here is to try to discourage white from playing the d-pawn to d4. 9. Bc2 c5 And here's how. He hits the d4 square with another pawn. White is not discouraged, however. 10. d4 Qc7 White gets his sought after pawn center. Black's e5 pawn was twice attacked, so he defended it again by developing his queen. 11. h3 O-O White's move seems mysterious, but harsh experience has shown that he cannot allow black to play a bishop to g4, and so he prevents it. Black brings his king to safety and gets his rook out. 12. Nbd2 Nc6 White brings out his remaining knight, while black returns his to a square where it influences the center. This is one of the most intensively studied openings in chess, and there are many long, complicated variations.
Sicilian Defense. 1. e4 c5 This move marks the Sicilian defense, the most commonly played response to 1. e4. Rather than submitting to a passive symmetry, black immediately goes for an asymmetrical pawn structure, thus declaring his intention to turn the game into a brawl. His pawn on c5 is not as good as one on e5, but it still influences the center. It doesn't open any lines for his bishops, however, so black is going to have a tougher time getting his pieces developed. 2. Nf3 d6 White shrugs it off and brings out his knight to a strong square. Black takes control of the e5 square with a pawn, and he also prepares to bring out his bishop. 3. d4 cxd4 Experience has shown that black cannot avoid the pawn exchange here. Afterwards, his influence in the center is seriously reduced. On the other hand, he gets to exchange a wing pawn for white's center pawn. Chess is a trade-off: you give a little to get a little. If you get a little more than you give, eventually you win the game. 4. Nxd4 Nf6 White wastes no time recapturing the pawn before black can defend it. The last thing white wants is a well defended black pawn in his own territory. Black, on the other hand, wastes no time getting his knight out in a way that threatens white's undefended center pawn. 5. Nc3 g6 White defends his valuable pawn and gets another piece into play at the same time. Black opts for the dragon variation of the Sicilian defense--very tricky! His plan is to put a bishop on g7 where its influence will be felt powerfully all the way along the longest diagonal on the board. 6. Be3 Bg7 White prepares for the placement of the black bishop by bolstering his d4 knight. Black carries through with his planned bishop placement. 7. f3 Nc6 White has a nasty surprise in store for black. He is planning an all out assault against black's castled king. In preparation for this, he supports his valuable center pawn. This will not weaken white's castled king because, as we'll see, white is going to the queenside with his king. Black sees what is coming and continues getting his army mobilized as fast as possible. 8. Qd2 O-O White prepares to whisk his king to safety on the queenside. He also establishes a powerful one-two punch with the bishop and queen against black's castled position. It is rather like the old days when they moved the battering ram into place to batter down the castle door. Given this, it might seem unwise of black to put his king on the kingside, but his judgment is that he can get to white's king first by operating on the half open c-file. It's going to be a knockdown dragout fight. 9. Bc4 Bd7 Both sides continue to mobilize and avoid a premature attack. White aims his pieces directly at black's king, while black prepares to bring the heavy artillery to the c-file. 10. O-O-O Rc8 The gauntlets are down. Now it's a matter of who can break through first with a winning attack. 11. Bb3 Ne5 White takes the precaution of getting his bishop out of harm's way before attacking. Black opens operations on the c-file. 12. h4 Qa5 White begins his assault, while black prepares to batter the c3 knight.
Queen's Gambit. 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 White has opened with the other center pawn this time. It doesn't allow for as rapid a mobilization, but it is also somewhat more secure because the pawn is defended by the queen. Black responds in kind. Now white sees little point in attacking black's center pawn with his knight, because black's queen defends his center pawn, too. So white hits it with a pawn instead. White is offering a wing pawn in order to draw black's center pawn out of the center. This is called a gambit. Black has declined the gambit because experience has shown that white easily gets the pawn back with a good position. However, black cannot defend his center pawn with a piece in this case, like he did in the king pawn opening. For example, 2...Nf6 3. cxd5 Nxd5 4. e4, and white has achieved the much desired pawn center with very little effort. So black defends with a pawn instead, which allows him to maintain a pawn in the center after 3. cxd5 exd5. He could also have played 2...c6, which has the advantage of not blocking in the c8 bishop. Now black will have a problem getting this bishop developed. Nevertheless, experience has shown that 2...e6 is the more solid of the two alternatives. 3. Nc3 Nf6 White continues to pile pressure on black's center pawn, and black continues to defend, in both cases by bringing out pieces. 4. Bg5 Be7 White attacks and immobilizes black's defender. If black were to move his f6 knight now, he would lose his queen. So he defends his knight and blocks the path to his queen. His knight is now free to move again. 5. e3 O-O White decides to bring his bishop to the defense of the c4 pawn before black snaps it off after all. He also opens a line to get the bishop into play. Black brings his king to safety and gets a rook into play. 6. Nf3 Nbd7 Both sides mobilize another knight. Experience has shown that black cannot put the knight on c6 in this sort of opening, because he must keep his c7 pawn mobile and ready to leap to the defense of his center at a moment's notice, or possibly to smash away at white's center. So he does the next best thing and brings the knight to d7. 7. Rc1 c6 Both sides are playing a bit of a waiting game here. White sees that the c-file will eventually open, so he puts a rook on it in anticipation. He is trying to hold back developing his bishop until black takes the c4 pawn. This will allow him to recapture without moving the bishop twice. Black catches on and decides to outwait white. 8. Bd3 dxc4 White can't wait much longer. He needs to prepare to castle. Black has won the waiting game and now makes the pawn exchange. 9. Bxc4 Nd5 White recaptures the only way he can. Black has little time to bask in the glory of winning this little skirmish, however. He sees that his position is terribly cramped. In particular, his queenside bishop is so badly blocked in that one wonders how it will ever get into play. Black decides to solve his problem with some exchanges, a common way of alleviating a cramped position. 10. Bxe7 Qxe7 Rather than wasting time on a retreat, white consents to the exchange. 11. O-O Nxc3 White rather belatedly brings his king to safety, but he was in no real danger as there were no lines open through the center. That may not be true much longer, however, so now is the time to castle. Black continues his policy of exchanging to try to relieve his cramped position. 12. Rxc3 e5 White has gone to the trouble of putting a rook on the c-file, so he keeps the file half open and captures with the rook rather than with a pawn. Black, on the other hand, has prepared well to batter white's center and open a line for his laggard bishop. The game is about even at this point, and the players are ready to advance into the middlegame.
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