Chess Notes –Sekolah Kebangsaan Bukit Jalil

Daily Chess Notes

Basic Opening Principles.
Basic chess principles which will pay off big in the short term and for the rest of your chess playing career!

What are some of those principles? You might have already heard some of them even though you are
relatively new to the game.

• Control the centre in the opening

• Develop your pieces quickly and get castled
• Avoid moving the same piece twice in the opening
• Don‘t bring your queen out too early
• Do not develop your knights to the edge of the board (a knight on the rim is dim!)

This last principle is really important - even some of the best players in history have played for violating this
basic rule.

Here former World Champion Anatoly Karpov has placed his knight on the h5 square which is indeed "on the
rim" or on the edge of the board.

Not only does the knight have less mobility there, it is also undefended.

With the white pieces, US Grandmaster Larry Christiansen moved his queen back to the d1 square where it
simultaneously attacked the aforementioned Knight AND the undefended bishop on the d6 square.

This kind of forcing move is often called a tactic. The above example demonstrates a tactic is classified as a
double attack.

Tactics often result from an opponent ignoring one or more basic chess principles (ex. "a knight on the rim is
dim" or a more advanced principle would be to "try to avoid have undefended pieces" or "coordinate your
pieces to defend each other")

Even the best chess players in the world make mistakes and violate basic chess principles so you always need
to pay attention and capitalize on any chances!

Source: Susan Polgar Chess Daily News - https://www.ichess.net/shop/volume-1-winning-chess-the-

easy-way-the-basic-principles-of-
chess/?inf_contact_key=369b211f2ba779083e86160a84a7a0bfafd9254b490c4a4f7e75cf00f212533c

Masha Naizli