Opening principles, and five openings worth knowing
Published
You do not need to memorise openings to play well in the first ten moves. You need four habits, and then a couple of openings you understand well enough to play on purpose. This article gives the habits first, then five openings that suit someone moving from beginner to club level. Every move order here was checked for legality before it was published, and each one ends with a diagram so you can set it up on the board and look at it yourself.
The four habits
1. Put a pawn in the centre. The squares d4, e4, d5 and e5 matter most because pieces placed near them reach more of the board. A knight on f3 controls eight squares; a knight on h3 controls four. Your first move should usually be e4 or d4 as White, and a pawn move that contests the centre as Black.
2. Bring out knights and bishops before anything else. Each move in the opening should ideally put a new piece into play. Knights usually go to f3 and c3 (f6 and c6 for Black). Bishops go to squares where they look at the centre or pin an enemy knight. Moving the same piece twice is a waste unless it is chasing something or being chased.
3. Castle early. The king in the middle is exposed once the centre pawns start to trade. Castling tucks it behind pawns and brings a rook toward the middle at the same time. Most solid openings castle somewhere between moves 4 and 10.
4. Keep the queen home for now. An early queen can be chased by minor pieces, and every time she retreats your opponent gains a developing move for free. There are exceptions, but they are exceptions, not a plan.
A good test after about ten moves: count how many of your four minor pieces have left the back rank, whether your king has castled, and whether your rooks can see each other. If all four minors are out, the king is castled and the rooks are connected, the opening has done its job no matter which name it had.
The Italian Game
This is the most natural opening there is, and it follows all four habits. White attacks the e5 pawn with a knight, then points a bishop at f7, the square next to Black's king that only the king defends.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.O-O O-O
The move 4.c3 prepares d2-d4 later, which would kick the bishop on c5 and build a big centre. The slower 5.d3 keeps the e4 pawn protected and avoids early trades. In this structure White often plays a2-a4 to give the bishop a retreat square, then Re1 and Nbd2-f1-g3 to bring the queen's knight to the king's side. Black's normal plan is ...a6, ...Ba7 so the bishop cannot be trapped by b2-b4 and d3-d4, and a well-timed ...d5 to free the position.
What to watch for as Black: the knight on f3 can jump to g5 and attack f7 together with the bishop. With the black king castled and a knight on f6, that attack is usually harmless, but it is the reason Black should not leave f7 defended by the king alone.
The Ruy Lopez
Also called the Spanish Opening, after the sixteenth-century priest who wrote about it. Instead of aiming at f7, the white bishop pressures the knight that defends e5.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 O-O
A detail beginners often miss: after 3...a6, taking the knight with 4.Bxc6 dxc6 does not win the e5 pawn straight away, because if 5.Nxe5 Black replies 5...Qd4, hitting the knight and the pawn on e4 at once. That is why most players retreat with 4.Ba4 and keep the pressure. The Ruy Lopez is slow and deep; it rewards patience more than memory, and the plans (c3 and d4 in the centre, rook to e1, knight from b1 to d2, f1 and g3) are similar to the Italian.
The Queen's Gambit
For players who prefer to open with the queen's pawn. White offers the c-pawn to pull Black's d-pawn away from the centre.
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.e3 O-O 6.Nf3
It is called a gambit, but it is not a real sacrifice. If Black takes with 2...dxc4, White can usually win the pawn back with e2-e3 and Bxc4, and gains central space in the process. Declining with 2...e6 is the classical answer. The pin with 4.Bg5 is a typical idea: the knight on f6 cannot move freely without exposing the queen behind it, which slows down Black's play against the centre. Black's main freeing ideas are ...c5 or ...dxc4 followed by ...c5, and ...b6 with ...Bb7 to give the light-squared bishop a diagonal, since it is shut in by the pawn on e6.
The Sicilian Defence
The most popular reply to 1.e4 at master level. Black answers with a pawn from the side, which creates an unbalanced position where both players have chances.
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6
After the pawn trade on d4, Black has two central pawns against White's one and a half-open c-file to attack along. White has more space and quicker development. That trade-off is the whole Sicilian in one sentence. It is an excellent opening, but it asks Black to know some theory, because White's attacks can come fast. If you are newer to chess, try it against the computer on Normal and see how often White's pieces arrive near your king before you are ready.
The London System
A setup more than an opening. White plays the same moves against almost anything, which makes it popular with people who do not want to study a lot of lines.
1.d4 d5 2.Bf4 Nf6 3.e3 e6 4.Nf3 c5 5.c3 Nc6 6.Nbd2 Bd6 7.Bg3 O-O 8.Bd3
The key point is the order: the dark-squared bishop goes to f4 before e2-e3, so it is not locked behind its own pawns. After that White builds the pyramid c3-d4-e3, puts the knights on f3 and d2, the other bishop on d3, and castles. Later White can attack the king's side with a knight on e5 and the f-pawn. The risk is playing on autopilot: if Black plays ...Qb6 early, the b2 pawn needs defending, usually with Qb3 or Qc2.
A trap that tests the principles
Many new players meet this one early. White brings the queen out on move three, hoping Black misses the attack on f7.
1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nc6 3.Qh5 Nf6 4.Qxf7#
The defence is simple once you see the threat: 3...g6 blocks the queen's attack on f7 while hitting her with a pawn, and after 4.Qf3 Nf6 Black has defended and developed. White's queen has now moved twice and is in the way of the knight on g1. That is habit four in action: the early queen did not win anything, and it cost White time.
1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nc6 3.Qh5 g6 4.Qf3 Nf6
How to practise these
Pick one opening as White and one answer to 1.e4 and 1.d4 as Black, no more. Play ten games with them against the computer on this site, then look at where your pieces stand after move ten. If the same piece is always stuck, the problem is usually a move order, not the opening itself. The strategy guide explains what to aim for once the opening is over, and common beginner mistakes lists the habits that lose games in the first fifteen moves.