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  • Lesson 27 of 32
  • Opening principles
  • 4 min

How to Develop Your Pieces in the Chess Opening

Developing a piece means bringing it off the back rank to a square where it does something. In the opening every move should help with that: the side that develops faster is ready to attack while the other is still getting its pieces out.

Step 1 of 5

  1. What good development looks like

    Four moves each: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.O-O Nf6. Both sides have a pawn in the centre and knights and bishops on active squares. White has already castled, so the king is safe and the rook on f1 is ready to join in. Nobody has moved a piece twice, and both queens are still at home. That is good development.

  2. Knights first

    A good rule of thumb is knights before bishops. You usually know where a knight belongs, on f3 or c3, before you know which diagonal a bishop wants.

    Your move

    Develop a knight or a bishop.

  3. Why not the queen?

    The queen is your strongest piece. So why do good players keep her at home in the first few moves?

    Question

  4. Then the bishops

    Your knight is out. Now bring out another piece, ideally to a square where it does something: a bishop on c4 aims at f7, and a bishop on b5 puts pressure on the knight that guards e5.

    Your move

    Develop another piece, without moving one that's already out.

  5. Castle early

    Both sides have two pieces out. Now tuck your king away: castling puts it behind a wall of pawns and brings the rook towards the middle.

    Your move

    Castle.

What you learned

  • Develop your knights and bishops first, towards the centre.
  • Move each piece once in the opening, unless there's a good reason not to.
  • Usually keep the queen at home until your knights and bishops are out.
  • Castle early to make your king safe and bring a rook into play.

In this course

Unit 1The pieces

  1. The Chessboard and How to Set Up the Pieces
  2. How the Rook Moves in Chess
  3. How the Bishop Moves in Chess
  4. How the Queen Moves in Chess
  5. How the King Moves in Chess
  6. How the Knight Moves in Chess
  7. How Pawns Move and Capture in Chess
  8. Chess Piece Values: What Each Piece Is Worth

Unit 2Special moves

  1. What Is Check in Chess, and How to Get Out of It
  2. How to Castle in Chess: Kingside and Queenside
  3. En Passant in Chess, Explained on the Board
  4. Pawn Promotion in Chess: Turning a Pawn Into a Queen

Unit 3Winning the game

  1. What Is Checkmate? Learn to Mate in One
  2. Stalemate in Chess: Why It's a Draw
  3. How to Checkmate With a King and Queen

Unit 4Your first tactics

  1. The Fork: Attack Two Pieces at Once
  2. The Pin in Chess: Freeze a Piece in Place
  3. The Skewer in Chess: Attack Through a Piece

Unit 5Checkmate patterns

  1. Back-Rank Mate in Chess: Spot It and Stop It
  2. Smothered Mate in Chess: The Knight's Checkmate
  3. The Ladder Mate: Checkmate With Two Rooks
  4. How to Checkmate With a King and Rook

Unit 6More tactics

  1. Discovered Attack in Chess: Unmask a Hidden Attacker
  2. Double Check in Chess: Two Checks at Once
  3. Removing the Defender in Chess: Take the Guard

Unit 7Opening principles

  1. Control the Centre: A Chess Opening Principle
  2. How to Develop Your Pieces in the Chess Opening
  3. Scholar's Mate: How It Works and How to Stop It
  4. Fool's Mate: The Fastest Checkmate in Chess

Unit 8Endgame basics

  1. The Rule of the Square in Chess Endgames
  2. The Opposition in Chess: King Endgame Basics
  3. King and Pawn vs King: How to Win the Ending

Lessons for every game

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