Chess Strategy

In the beginning of the game, Knights are the only pieces that are able to move. The other pieces are worthless until pawn moves create openings for them. The beginner should try to keep in mind that the purpose of these pawn moves is to open lines for their fellow pieces or to block lines of opposing men. The winning player always has a superior force at his disposal where the actual fight is going on. In some cases, he can even sacrifice some of his pieces and still have enough left for the final onslaught against the King. This is also true for combinations where lesser objects than the King are fought for. The player who has more pieces ready to take part in the action will emerge victorious, and the player who attacks with less pieces than the opponent has on the spot for defense can not hope to succeed.

The important point is to place the pieces so that they will be ready to concentrate on whatever part of the board that they are needed. It will be important to place the pieces on such favorable squares in the shortest possible time in the least number of moves. Wasting moves on manuevers that do not further mobilize the pieces will give the opponent an opportunity to gather a superior force somewhere on the board and attack before reinforcements can be brought in.

With this in mind, the beginner can clearly see that which pawn moves are made in the opening are very important. The fact that a pawn moves opens an outlet for a piece is not enough. If possible, pawn moves will have to be made that enables the development of more than one piece because they will lead to an advantage in mobilization unless the opponent also hastens the development of his pieces by making equally good pawn moves. The only pawn moves that fit this description are moves with the King's or Queen's pawns because they open lines for the Queen and Bishop, while the other pawns can not open lines for more than one piece. Whether the move with the King's pawn or the Queen's pawn is better when beginning the game is impossible to say. In neither case can it be proved that White can obtain an advantage that is good enough to win the game. When both sides play correctly, it can only be White who gains an advantage because he has the first move and is therefore one move ahead of Black in development as long as he does not waste any time on moves that do not increase the mobility of his pieces.

The mobility of a piece is the number of squares that are accessible to it. A Bishop or Rook that stands in an unblocked file is worth more than one whose path is blocked. This does not mean that a Bishop or Knight that only has three or four squares accessible to it at the moment is more valuable than a Rook that can only go to one or two squares at that same moment. A few moves later, the Rook might be in possession of his full freedom while the action of the Bishop or Knight might be hampered. Therefore, it is best to value the pieces according to the strength that is likely to show in the ending after all temporary obstructions have been removed. It is not advisable to give up a minor piece for three Pawns or two minor pieces for a Rook and one Pawn as long as Queens and minor pieces are on the board because with a piece ahead, the opponent usually succeeds in winning through a direct attack against the King before the superiority of pawns becomes dangerous.

Trying to place the pieces on squares where they have as much mobility as possible depends on the moves of the opponent. However, it is possible to give a few rules which common sense tells us must be true in the majority of games if both players play well. If a player makes moves in the opening that do not aim at a speedy mobilization of all pieces, then the opponent may have a chance to win the game with moves that do not follow those common sense rules either, but which force an immediate issue with moves that are characteristic of the middle game. Cases occur in which a move may win, but at the same time violate the general principles of chess strategy. Even a chess master once said, "Generalities are of no use in Chess and that it is necessary to figure out every move in all variations to which it may lead to make sure that the move is good." Take the following example:
1. f3 e5
2. g4

Should Black not give checkmate with Q-h4 because it is against the general principles to bring out the Queen at an early stage of the game? The reason for the general rule about bringing the Queen out early is that she is liable to be attacked by the minor pieces of the opponent and forced to move again and again, and time is lost that could be used for the development of the other pieces. But if the opponent fails to develop his pieces, the Queen may come out without danger and do harm before she is driven away.

It is assumed that bother players will follow the general strategical principles of play, and it is taken for granted that if one player deviates from these principles and weakens himself at some point, the other player is expected to exact the full penalty for this deviation with any means at his disposal. These means will always be indicated by the general principles if their meaning is intelligently applied to the position in question.

As stated earlier, the most important point in the opening is to develop pieces to squares where they have as much mobility as possible without making any move that slows this development. There are different ways that development may be slowed, and these must be avoided. For example:

No pawn move should be made that is not necessary to open a line for a piece.
No piece should move twice as long as there are pieces that have not yet moved at all.
No piece should be developed to a square from which the opponent can drive it away while at the same time furthering his own development.
The right to castle should not be waived by moving the King or any other way, because castling develops a Rook and moves the King to safety in 1 move. More moves are required to do this if castling is not possible.

The beginner who understands these principles of development has made the most difficult step on the way to mastership. What distinguishes the master from the average player is the understanding of the far reaching influence of the mobility of the pieces in the opening upon the further development of the whole game.

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