When your knights are blocking your c and f pawns in the opening.......

Has anyone here ever wondered that maybe if the c and f pawns were able to press forward with your d and e pawns that you would be able to get a better and good attacking force? But it's to my utter understanding that getting your knights out and into play that that's a good thing. But what are you suppose to do once you've DONE that and end up blocking those c and f pawns?? I think they would be good if they were open to play; to play on the-side kind of thing to support your e and d pawn (if your lucky enough to have both those pawns up two spaces in the begining, or even one of them)

My question to all of you is, in your past games, where have your knights gone to allow the pawns behind them to move forward? Is there some strategy that you must follow so everything flows smoothly? I hate getting cramped and then those c and f pawns are useless if you can't get your knights out to another position. Can an experianced player tell me which squares to look out for so I can press my knights forward please? I don't want to move it to just any square. But a good square. Something that is better than having "that" knight staying on f3 and c3 (or f6 and c6 if your black)

Can someone give me examples of the kind of oppurtunities one should look out for to move his knights to different squares? Squares that will be safe for the knights to give the c and f pawns some space to move forward? I know that moving your knights behind the pawns depending on the game itself is sometimes a possibility and PERFECTLY acceptable. I'm sorry if my question seems a bit confusing to answer or understand. I just thought that if I could get an example or two of how a good opening should play out, at least in the beginning.......that I could really have "a grasp" of things ;) So my game could improve :)

Many thanks to you all :)

I can see what you are asking but there is not really an answer to your question.  

That isn't helpful, so I will explain a bit.

You are 100% right the c and f pawns are often excellent tool to fight for control of the center.

Where white opens with 1 d4, N f3 or c4 the c pawn usually goes to c4 often occampanied by and early d4.  The strategy in the queens gambit for white is to challenge black's center immediately with 2c4.

Whites strategy in the Kings Gambit is also to challenge black's center immediately.  But this really is a gambit and f4 weakens whites own king position, so its a riskier and less popular opening.

There are openings where white plays all of c4, d4, f4 and e4 early.  The 4 pawns attack in the kings indian and the advance variation in the alekhines defence for example.  This creates a massive center early, but involves a lot of pawn moves, so white may well be behind in development and that center muct be protected.  So its an agressive double edged strategy.

Now your question seems to be about white in a position like-

1e4 d6

2 d4 Nf6

3 Nc3 g6

4 Nf3 Bg7

But this can arise in many different forms and openings.  If you don't know the exact or even approximate position nobody can say where you should move a N to free up a c or f pawn.  The right move in one position will be wrong or illegal in others.

There are many openings where you push your c or f pawns before developing your knights. There are also a number of openings where the b knights develop in front of the queen, or the g knights develop in front of the king. It's not always been found that developing knights to their classical position is best for a given opening or pawn skeleton. However, that said, the classical position is classical because it really is a strong position with many possibilities.

All that said, if you have an opening you think would benefit from not blocking those pawns, try it out. Play a bunch of games like that. Only then can you understand what the benefits and difficulties are.

This is actually a valid question, but unfortunately the answer will the usual boring "it depends". Oftentimes the advice like "1. d4 d5 2. Nc3 is a mistake as it blocks in the c-pawn" is given, without explaining the whole story. (Incidentally 1. d4 d5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Bg5 has a semi-OK reputation, but isn't a mainstream choice.)

The standard answer is "it depends"; you'll have to do some examination of your openings or middlegame positions to determine exactly what a position calls for. I'll try to give some ideas below, but the exact opening sequences you should read up on yourself (my theory is outdated and inadequate.)

Usually you would develop knights classically to f3/f6/c3/c6 if completely stumped. Sometimes it's better to develop them to d2/e2/d7/e7 precisely to avoid blocking the pawns (e.g. QGD Orthodox, black's ...Nbd7) or if they intend to go manoeuvering around slowly (e.g. Ruy Lopez, white's Nbd2-f1-g3, or QGD black's ...Nbd7-f8-g6 ideas.)

If your knights are already developed classically, and you find that the natural plan is to push that blocked bishop pawn, moving them aside is usually good; but to where? It depends on what the position demands. Notable examples include the Dutch/Bird Stonewall (usually Ne5/...Ne4 followed with f3/...f6 to counter the Stonewall's own knight post), Ruy Lopez Tschigorin/Breyer variations (After 9. h3 in the Closed Spanish, since black wants ...c5, the older move 9...Na5 immediately plans queenside play, while 9...Nb8 has the same idea, with the knight rerouted to d7, protecting e5 and c5), the Modern Benoni non-f4 lines (white playing Nf3 instead of f4 early, and after more development plays the Nd2-c4 manoeuvre and guns for f4-e5 pushing) and the King's Indian Mar del Plata (after 8 moves of the mainline, now both white and black play 9. Nd2/Ne1 Nd7/Ne8, with white's intention to move the knight to the queenside while preparing the defensive f3, and black planning ...f5 followed by kingside attack.)

In all the above, it depends heavily on the specifics of the position. However, note that freeing the pawn is often not the only consideration; equally important is asking "where does my knight want to be?" Even if your pawn push is the only means of play in the position, you still should ask this question. Getting the knight to a nice spot hitting nice squares is the main concern most of the time.

Also, a few words regarding the apparently silly 1. d5 d4 2. Nc3 and 1. d4 d5 2. c4 Nc6; the first is actually very aggressive, intending the e4 break instead of c4, so it doesn't really block the intended pawn push (the Veresov is not really a normal opening though) while the second is the Tschigorin QGD, which has a decent reputation, based on playing energetically in the centre with rapid development and aggressive play to induce pawn weaknesses. Neither is the sort of classical opening intending a quick c4/...c5 push, instead seeking alternative means to challenge the centre.

tl;dr: IT DEPENDS ON THE POSITION. The stock answer, but it's right.

If you plan to castle on the King side, don't move your f pawn. In many openings, however, you can consider moving your c pawn up 2 squares and then place your night behind it.

Knight!

"If you plan to castle on the King side, don't move your f pawn." Not always true - that f-pawn with the rook behind it can be a powerful weapon. For example, in the Dutch, Black usually castles kingside after having played f5, and often plays for a kingside attack. 

You are right. 

The real advice IMO should be: if you castle on the king's side, don't forget to watch carefully the a7-g1 diagonal (playing white)". This is why moves like Rh1 can be useful. 

I assume you meant Kh1.  But that is not always good as you abandon f2.  Even if the White pawn advanced, getting a protected knight there could mean a royal fork and a win of the exchange as White will be forced to play Rook takes.

Advancing the f-pawn and c-pawn is not automatic.  You typically do not want to block your c-pawn in Queen pawn openings, but it is not unusual to do it in a king pawn opening, like in White's case in the Sicilian.