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June 15, 2006

A word about openings

In case you're a little fuzzy about chess openings, you have to remember that openings have to do with pawn structure. For example, the Spanish opening (also known as the "Ruy Lopez") begins with: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5, White grabs the opportunity to develop the knight and bishop immediately in order to castle on the king's wing. What I like most about the Spanish is its simplicity. Bobby Fischer's used it to tremendous effect during his career and even contributed a great deal to opening theory.

In the above example, a pawn at e4 square controls the d5 and f5 squares. Conversely, Black's e5 pawn square controls d4 and f4 squares.

Each chess opening varies in degree, not in kind. And each opening has its own purpose - whether it's a defense for Black or a system for White - to control the center, equalize, defend or attack.

Any King's Pawn opening (1. e4) is considered an Open Game and any Queen's Pawn opening (1. d4) is a Closed Game. Please dont' ask me why!

Posted by rene on 12:10 PM | Comments (0)