Beginner frustrations – when should I move my bishops and pawns?

Hi everyone,

I’m a beginner in chess and I’ve been feeling really frustrated lately. I keep hearing about the “golden rules” of development, develop your pieces early, fight for the center but in practice, these don’t seem to work for me most of the time.

For example, sometimes I develop a bishop early in the game to pressure the king's side, but the system evaluation shows it as an inaccuracy or even a mistake. Sometimes it is marked as the favourite. The same happens when I move a pawn on the edge (like the a or h file); the engine really doesn’t seem to like that.

So my question is:
As a beginner, when should I move my bishops? When should I move pawns (especially the side pawns)?
I feel like I’m missing some basic understanding, and I would really appreciate if anyone could point me to a good lesson, video, or article about this.

Thanks in advance, and good luck with your games!

Hii☺️ Totally get how you’re feeling—chess can be frustrating at first, especially when the advice you hear doesn’t seem to match what actually works. The key thing to remember is that those “rules” (like developing pieces early or controlling the center) are more like helpful tips, not strict instructions. Try to bring out your bishops early to spots where they help with center control and let you castle safely—but be careful not to put them where they’ll get chased away. And those side pawns (like a or h)? Best to leave them alone early on unless you have a good reason. Just ask yourself, “Is this move helping my position?” That question alone will help a ton. If you want something easy to follow, check out John Bartholomew’s “Chess Fundamentals” on YouTube or try the practice lessons on Lichess—they’re both super beginner-friendly and will make things click😊 hope that helped!!

It's difficult to develop bishops in a way that will entirely avoid them being chased around a bit. Get them out as normal, but be prepared to move them.

Also, keep in mind that the bot is way more advanced than we could ever hope to be. Everyone has had numerous moments where they play an "inaccurate" move, and then they find that the "best" move appears to make no sense unless you can see 6+ moves ahead.

Moving the rook pawns can potentially be useful to prevent pieces from advancing quickly, but it's important to note that it wastes time and doesn't give you more power in the center. It's good to be well-defended, but if you have no time to mount an attack, be prepared to suffer.

Thank you both so much PumpkinPapillon and Fr3nchToastCrunch! 😊 Your words really helped me feel more at ease. I was getting a bit overwhelmed trying to follow all the "rules" and still making moves that engines dislike, so it's super comforting to know that even experienced players go through the same. I’ll definitely check out John Bartholomew’s videos your tips on bishop development and avoiding early side pawn moves make a lot of sense now.

Fr3nchToastCrunch, I also really appreciate your point about the bots. Sometimes I stare at the “best move” and wonder how anyone human is supposed to see that far ahead 😅. What you said about rook pawns and the importance of timing really stuck with me.

Thanks again to both of you for taking the time to share your advice…it means a lot!

 

 

This video may help explain how it isn't about moving bishops (or any other pieces) as much as it is about knowing when they are "best" positioned on that square. As for pushing pawns on the side, this usually takes away king safety if you castle to that side of the board, so you generally don't want to take away your own options and this other video will give you practice with knowing which side to castle:

If you stick to clear principles, play longer games (like 15+10 or 10+5), and review one or two games after each session (with or without an engine), your progress will compound fast.

As a beginner, you should move out at least one center Pawn before bringing out the pieces. 

At least one Knight should usually be next, before you move a Bishop.

The Queen shouldn't stray too far in the early game, it will just get kicked around.

Are you familiar with "The Opera Game"?

It was played in 1851 during an intermission in the Paris Opera's performance of "Norma". It is a textbook example of how to (and how NOT to) open a chess game.