Introduction

At the start of a chess game, white's and black's pieces are placed on opposite sides of the board, not doing a lot except blocking each other's way.

Here's an example of how white would like to setup his pieces in the opening:

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

a1

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

White is completely winning!

Full control over the center. Castled king.

Large space advantage. All pieces developed on great squares.

Try this position against Noctie

The tricky part, of course, is that your opponent is also trying to do all these things, which makes your job a delicate balance between fulfilling your own plans and disrupting your opponent's.

Opening Names

The merits of different sequences of opening moves have been studied for hundreds of years. Most of the commonly reoccurring lines have received names, often based either on the name of the first master that studied or played it extensively (Ruy Lopez, Réti Opening, Englund Gambit), or a geographical location where it was played one or more times (London System, Vienna Gambit).

Below, let's take a quick look at the first few moves in one of the oldest and most popular chess openings, the Ruy Lopez opening.