Chess players from beginners to intermediate level come across many delusions during a chess game and which is why most of them do not progress any further.
That is because they lack the most important opening principles of chess despite spending so much time in chess games.
Without wasting more time, let’s talk about the seven most important opening principles that will help you win many games and polish your tactical skills to progress faster.
Opening Principle 1 – Only Move Pawns When Needed
Avoid moving your pawns randomly for development because pawns play a significant role in the end games.
One bad pawn move can give another side to control the center squares or plan for a strategic threat.
As shown in the picture, white has a great advantage because of the development and control at central squares while black has underdeveloped pieces.
Here, white can easily think about other tactical moves while black has left with no choice but to defend themselves.
The best practice for beginners is to maintain at least one pawn at the center squares and develop other pieces.
Opening Principle 2 – Open with Center Pawn
The best practice in chess is considered the central pawn opening also known as King’s Pawn opening.
Most players try a different opening randomly in every game which leads to the development of a bad piece and they fail to control the central squares that give another side a significant advantage.
As shown in the picture, white after opening with e4 not only tries to control one of the central squares but also opens two diagonals for the bishop and queen.
However, after black defends it with e5, you always have the advantage to plan the next move by Kf3 threat to e4 and also to consume more central squares while black will always defend it. Once you become consistent with this opening principle, you can dominate the game.
Opening Principle 3 – Castle Early
Castling is the best way to protect your King from unnecessary threats and be helpful in the end games.
As seen in the second picture, not casting at the right time will also weaken your f7 pawn which is crucial for King's safety to avoid Knight-Bishop attacks.
Opening Principle 4 – Knights Before Bishops
Knight's development is always better over bishops since it covers the most important squares of the board as well as restricts the opponent's pieces to develop.
There are other reasons as well, such as bishops can do exceptionally best staying in their territory while knights need to get into the opponent's territory or at least around central squares to make an impact.
Opening Principle 5 – Never Bring Queen Out Early
Queen is considered one of the most valuable pieces in chess.
When the queen gets out of its territory early, it becomes easy for your opponent to trap it.
Your opponent can threaten your queen just as shown in the picture with the knight attacking the queen. The queen will have only two options, stay in the same territory and move aside, or go back to the start position.
Many people with the queen out will try to keep the queen nearby which will allow white to threaten the queen further.
Here, white is an advantage because every time queen will be threatened, the white will have a new piece developed which will allow him to control the center squares.
Therefore, a queen is considered powerful only when the middle game has begun.
Opening Principle 6 – Trade Pieces for Better Position
One of the most important opening principles for chess players is to know when pieces should be traded.
Trading helps a player to get rid of the pressure to stop checkmate threats, however, should only be done if the player is at an advantage. Even if your opponent is one point ahead (a pawn), trading will only help the player already at the advantage. In chess openings, trading should be avoided except you know about the positional structure is better after trading.
As shown in the picture, after a four-knight game, white moves from Bf1 to Bb5, threatening the knight.
Here, Knight is pinned down because of the King.
White decides to capture the knight with Bxc6+, leaving the queen with a check. Black has no chance but to capture the bishop with a b7 pawn.
So overall, it gave the white side a slight advantage since now black's pawns are doubled, and leaving b7 square blank is considered a bad pawn structure.
Opening Principle 7 – Do Not Block Your Pieces
Another important opening principle is to stay alert in the development process if you are blocking pieces in your territory. For example, if you have developed important pieces but later on are threatened, you will always have reachable pieces.
As discussed in the Knights before Bishops, you should be careful not to block bishop diagonals as it might help in restricting the opponent's castling in some cases. The only good case to block your pieces is when doing it intentionally such as protecting the King with the pawns after castling.
To avoid blocking your pieces in openings, you must follow the following steps:
When pieces are developed, do not forget to castle.
Always think before each time you develop a piece if it is blocking others.
When attacking your opponent, always have a backup plan with necessary pins i.e. Bishop supporting Knight from behind as a pin.
Trading your pieces will have less chance of you getting your pieces blocked.
Focus on developing those pieces that will open up diagonals for the bishops and the queen.
Conclusion
The most experienced chess players always guide the beginners to learn as much important chess principles as possible because if your opponent knows more, you will have a hard time defending your pieces and eventually get trapped in tactical moves within no time.
Therefore, you must be familiar with the most important opening principles to dominate the game.
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