If you’re an experienced chess player, you have likely heard of these before.

Opening principles that have been passed on from chess generation to chess generation until today.

Little has changed over the centuries regarding these principles (but also some has changed indeed and I will add something extra at the end).

1. Develop your pieces quickly

Get your pieces out as soon as possible. This doesn’t mean you should be hasty though. You need to try and secure good squares for your pieces. There is little point in developing your piece into a bad square only to spend another move or two in order to move it into a better one. You have to start thinking about your plan in the middlegame when developing your pieces.

2. Castle early

King safety is of paramount importance and what ultimately counts the most. If you’re about to get checkmated, it doesn’t matter if you have an extra queen. Take care of your King and get the corresponding Rook into active play. If your King is out of the way, this is a target less for your opponent to focus on.

3. Control the centre

Fight for the centre and aim to seize the initiative. This can be achieved either with pawns or with pieces. Control of the centre is necessary before even thinking of launching an attack at the flanks. It is well known, but often underappreciated, that a strike at the centre is the best strategy to stop an enemy attack and start a counter-attack yourself.

4. Keep an eye on your opponent

This is one of the commonest advice beginners fail to take. Too many players rush their moves in an automatic manner during the opening. But once in a while, your opponent may not respond in an automatic manner. He may make a couple of ‘strange’ moves and you need to be alert. In such a case there may be two explanations: Either he has a plan and you have to stop him early or he has made a mistake and you should take the opportunity and punish him for it.

All the above is true and helpful, but the principles mentioned are not written in stone, they’re just guidelines.

There are always exceptions to every rule and you can easily find examples where one or more of the above principles have not been followed during the opening by strong GMs.

This does not mean that the principles don’t work.

It just means that if you understand the rules well, you’re then permitted to break them and get away with it! 🙂