One of the general opening rules is Knights before Bishops... We've all heard it... But I'm not too sure of its reasoning. Anyone care to enlighten me on this guideline?!

I think it is down to piece value, Knights are seen as better in the opening and  middle game it's believed that they contribute more to the position when things are tight. Bishops are seen as better in the endgame when the material reduces down and there is more space. 

Well i believe its to do with controling the center knights can control more sqaures sooner and dont have to wait for the pawn structure to be right to be effective. Wheres the biships do in the intitual phase of the game.....

I understood that it is because it is easier to decide where to place your knights ...

 

Yeah, it's basically that knights are easy to place.  Their best squares are Nc3/Nc6 and Nf3/Nf6 (with some exceptions depending on the opening)  Here they exert force on the center. Bishops are developed a little later because they are not as easy as knights to place.

It could also be because the knights need more moves in order to reach the other end of the board as well as the center, while bishops can control both the center and the other end from the edge of the board. So the knights are less active in the start position compared with the bishops. Therefore get them out fast.

Furthermore, bishops can be chased around the board if brought out too early and too far. Knights are limited to rank 3 (rank 6 for black) at most near the start, so they are not chased around.

Moving the bishops means moving pawns. Knights don't require so much commitment to a certain pawn structure.

Bishops have more money, so the poor Knights have to go directly to the Front.

BlueKnightShade wrote: It could also be because the knights need more moves in order to reach the other end of the board as well as the center, while bishops can control both the center and the other end from the edge of the board. So the knights are less active in the start position compared with the bishops. Therefore get them out fast.

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Exactly!

1. A Knight can move without first moving pawns.

2. Knight moves are ambiguous since they have only certain squares that make sense and such moves a general with most openings. A Bishop's landing square telegraph's the player's intentions. So, moving Knight's first is a way of not showing your cards too soon.

3. By the same token, often the Bishop's best square can be better determined once the other player has committed himself to some plan. Generally, with the Knight's the choice of squares is limited anyway.

the general rule to follow is, knight are better on a closed board while bishops are better on an open board!.....in any case i prefer bishops, but the value of each fluctuates