Everyone starts somewhere. Some start earlier than others. But it is never too late to learn. In this blog, I cover useful tactics, tips and tricks in the opening to help you up your game. All of these are useful to improve your play.
Opening strategy and examples:
The opening is probably the easiest phase of the game to master. Even so, messing up early in the game can be extremely hard to turn back. The key is to develop, control the center, protect your king and start setting up your attacks.
Openings like e4 and d4 are common and solid, immediately grabbing the center and allowing pieces to develop. This doesn't mean that you have to play those to win your games, uncommon openings can mess your opponent up. The best way to counterattack ambitious and risky openings such as the King's gambit is to defend and continue developing.
Here, instead of taking the pawn on f4, black simply defends its pawn on e5. Now white the weak f2 square is open, which is risky for white. Usually after this black's position will be better, but if it takes the bait then it may allow your opponent to gain the advantage.
Here are examples of solid variations after e4:
The Italian game's Fried liver and Giuoco Piano Main Line:
The Fried Liver attack seems scary, but it is easily defended by Black. To see the strategy and the aim of white's aggressive Ng5, read this blog: Fried Liver Brilliant - Chess.com
The Giuoco Piano Game Main Line is a structured opening, with strong attacks from both sides. Here is the Analysis of this variation:
The Sicilian Najorf\Dragon\Classical:
g6 is the Dragon, preparing the fianchetto the bishop on g7. a6 is the Najorf, blocking a potential Bb5. Nc6 is the classical variation, leading to a more even position.
The Caro-Kann is also a decent opening, a favorite of Gotham Chess:
It is usually a more even game, with good strategies and structures from both sides.
The Four knights' game is common but boring as both sides are pretty much the same:
It can go in the favour of either side as both sides follow the concept of developing, protecting the king and setting up attacks.
e4 openings tend to be more even and safe, while d4 openings have more attacks and strategies.
Here are some examples of solid variations after d4:
The Queen's gambit:
You probably know this opening from Walter Tevis's Queen's Gambit novel. In the Queen's gambit declined variation, black plays e6, protecting its pawn on d5. The position is good for both sides in that case. The Queen's Gambit declined however gives the advantage to white, after dxc4, white plays e4, snatching the center and opening up the light-squared bishop.
The King's Indian:
The idea for black is to fianchetto the bishop to control the h8 a1 diagonal. This idea is strong and attacking, but white compensates by controlling the queenside with c4 and d4.
The Nimzo-Indian:
Black's incentive here is to weaken white's queenside pawns by taking the pinned knight, but white can play Qc2 which gets rid of the threat.
The Dutch Defense:
The Dutch defense looks like the reverse version of the Sicilian, but the lines are quite different. There are a few traps that appear in this opening, but the idea for both sides is pretty solid.
Opening Traps:
You may have fallen for an opening trap before, which usually involves checkmate, exposing the king and winning material. As a beginner, we have probably all fallen for the common Scholar's mate:
This is not in fact the fastest checkmate trap, the Fool's mate finishes the victim off in two moves:
Of course, once you have gained some experience, you are unlikely to fall for these traps again. However, some traps are much sneakier.
Checkmate traps:
The Dutch Trap:
It is a similar concept to the fool's mate, which shows why you should always keep your kingside safe in the opening.
Caro-Kann Smothered mate:
Many traps include inaccuracies and can actually lead to a worse positon for you if your opponent does not fall for the trap. In this case, Qe2 is an inaccuracy as it blocks the light-squared bishop from developing.
Englund Gambit Mate:
This is an incredibly risky trap. If white does not fall for the trap and instead plays Nc3 instead of Bc3, the pawn on c7 is lost:
Material Winning Traps:
Rosen Queen Trap:
This variation of the Englund gambit baits white into losing a queen. However, if white does not fall for this trap, black ends up with less pawns.
Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Trap:
I covered this opening trap in my other blog.
Attacking f7 and f2:
This is one of the most important opening principles. The f7 and f2 squares are extremely weak, because they are only defended by the king. If you set up an attack and target those squares, checkmate could be right around the corner. That is why it is important to protect your king by castling early, making sure that the f7 and f2 squares are not a major weakness.
Always think ahead and prepare for your future attacks, keeping an eye out for all of your opponent's weaknesses. Think in your opponent's perspective and block their attacks.
Thank you for reading this blog, any questions will be answered in the comment section.
