The Beginner's Guide: Where to Develop the Pieces

In today’s post, I want to talk about the opening and more specifically about piece development in the opening stage of the game. Many a time, before the start of the game a beginner player would cast a look over the board, adjust the pieces, look around to see where his friends are playing, and then make his first move by pushing a central pawn twice. So far, so good! But the trouble starts just after this first Grandmaster move that most of us do play in our games to keep equal chances for a win right from the start. 

Today, I want to focus on where and how pieces are to be developed in the opening, so that we preserve our slight advantage, as white, or have the best shot for equalizing as soon as possible if playing black. Things like move order, piece value, and target pawn structure are to be considered when aiming at placing one’s pieces at their optimal squares without the need of moving them twice or breaking any other important opening principles due to our opponent’s threats during the opening. I believe this video will be quite instructive for any beginner player on Chess.com:

Enjoy!