Chess for beginners
What order should I learn openings?
Beginners should start with 1.e4. It helps teach the principles of tactics better than the second most popular opening move, 1.d4. Once you have some experience with 1.e4 under your belt, you can try 1.d4 and then decide which better suits your style.
For black, the symmetrical responses to 1.e4 and 1.d4 should be your main moves, i.e. 1.e5, 1.d5. Again, these moves help teach chess principles, such as fighting for direct control of the center, and allow for easier piece development.
Openings arising from 1.e4 tend to be more aggressive, though this does not apply to all 1.e4 openings. The reason is 1.d4 is considered to be more “positional” in nature.
The Sicilian Defense (1.e4 c5) is thought to be an aggressive opening. It is considered a more tactical opening than 1…e5, meaning that it has a tendency to get quite “sharp”, i.e. there are many possibilities available and accurate play is required by both players.
Within the Sicilian Defense, the Accelerated Dragon (1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6) is thought to be particularly aggressive.
Gambits are usually aggressive. A gambit involves one player sacrificing material to gain a positional advantage. Some more aggressive gambits include the King’s Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.f4) and the Stafford Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 Nc6).
Not all gambits are aggressive, however; for example, the Queen’s Gambit is not considered overly aggressive.
This will also depend on your level. Beginner to intermediate level players would do well to know two openings for both White and Black. Master-level players and higher will often know significantly more.
It is common for beginners to face opening moves they have never seen before; rather than prioritize knowing what the theoretical response is, it is more important to know the ideas behind your opponent’s move. Beginners often abandon theory very soon into a game, so memorizing lines is often not very useful.
The best way to learn chess openings are firstly, trying them out and playing them. This will give you a good idea of if they are a good fit for your style of chess.
To delve deeper into the theory, there are many good books, videos, and courses on pawn openings. These range from beginner-friendly materials, which teach the fundamental ideas of opening play, to highly advanced theory for master-level players, which examines specific lines of a specific opening.
Additionally, it is a good idea to study games of masters to see how they play openings and to try to understand the reasoning behind them.
The most popular first move in chess. This move was described by Bobby Fischer, one of the greatest players to ever play the game, as “best by test”.
Popular at all levels, everyone has played 1.e4 at some point in their chess career. It has been the most popular first move for centuries.
Though it may be a severe generalization, King’s Pawn games are often considered more tactical and attacking than Queen’s Pawn games.
King’s Pawn games are further divided into open games, in which Black plays the symmetrical move 1…e5 and Semi-Open games, in which Black plays anything other than 1…e5.
One of the strangest ways to begin a game is this opening, fighting for queenside space rather than the traditional way of fighting for the center.
This opening goes by many different names, perhaps the most entertaining of them is the Orangutan Opening. Legend has it that before a game played at the Bronx Zoon in 1904 between Geza Maroczy and Savielly Tartakower, Tartakower consulted an Orangutan, who
