Pandolfini’s Ultimate Guide to Chess

by Bruce Pandolfini

  Student: So White can attack first?

  Teacher: By virtue of going first, White starts the game with a slight but expected initiative. A chessplayer has the initiative when he or she can force the action and direct the flow of play Having the initiative confers an advantage in time, as I’ve already mentioned. Strategically, White tries to maintain this opening advantage, looking for every opportunity to increase it and eventually convert it into something concrete by gaining positional dominance, winning material, or forcing checkmate.

  Student: I don’t suppose Black just creeps off into some chessic sunset?

  Teacher: Black initially is the defender. Still, that shouldn’t stop him from making every attempt to squelch opposing onslaughts. Naturally, when warding off enemy assaults, every effort should be made to seize the initiative with a timely counterattack. So White needs to watch it, as does Black. To err is human, but it can cost you, especially if you overextend yourself trying to win. True, the attacker has a built-in advantage, inasmuch as he or she can often make a mistake and still not lose because the defender may be mentally unprepared to launch a counteroffensive on a moment’s notice. Defenders naturally focus on responding to an attack rather than a mistake, so they sometimes allow their opponents to play erroneously with impunity. A mistake by the defender, on the other hand, is more likely to be fatal, since attackers are usually more attuned to the possibility of such lapses, having already factored them into their plans. Attackers generally have some sense what they aim to do ahead of time, whereas defenders aren’t quite as sure what may hit until it happens.

  Student: I guess you’re right.

  Teacher: A player who ignores the initiative is like a boxer who allows his opponent a free swing. Humorist Artemus Ward once rewrote Shakespeare to make the same point: “Thrice is he armed that hath his quarrel just—And four times he who gets his fist in fust.” Using the initiative, White should strive to achieve two fundamental aims during the opening stages of the game: to develop friendly forces and to play for the center.

  Student: Can I conclude that Black should try to do exactly the same thing?

  Teacher: Unless Black enjoys watching his chess sun go down in ignominious defeat, that’s right. What’s good for the goose’s development is good for the gander’s.

  Student: What does development actually mean?

  Teacher: Let’s develop our ideas further. A fundamental aim of the opening is mobilization of your forces for action. You should develop them, which means increase their scope and power. You do this by moving a few pawns out of the way and then transferring the pieces on the back rank from their original squares to more useful ones, especially toward the center. Remember, chess terminology distinguishes between pawns—the units occupying each player’s second rank at the start—and pieces—kings, queens, rooks, bishops, and knights.

  Student: I know. Every kind of chess figure is called a piece except for the pawn.

  Teacher: You have a better chance of accomplishing your aims if you attack with all your pieces, not just one or two. A rule of thumb is to develop a different piece on each turn so that you can try to assemble a mounting assault with numerous forces. Intelligently developed pieces work together, attacking and defending simultaneously and harmoniously, building the foundation for a concerted and effective offensive. So don’t attack aimlessly with the same pieces, particularly your queen. Such unfocused and sporadic flurries are likely to be repulsed by a careful opponent’s coordinated efforts, and it gets worse if your opponent actually looks at your moves.

  Student: It almost sounds as if you shouldn’t attack before you’ve started developing your game. Is that true?

  Teacher: It’s largely true, but not absolutely so, as is the case with so much of chess advice. If your plan is to attack by developing your queenside forces, and your opponent blunders on the kingside, allowing you to win in one move, I think you’ll forget about the queenside plan and go with the mate. But as a rule, once you’re mobilized or developed, you can advance into enemy territory with greater authority. On the other hand, you have to be careful not to develop pointlessly, merely for development’s sake. Aim to develop and threaten at the same time. Try to limit your opponent’s freedom of action, hindering efforts to bring his forces to their ideal squares, where they might attack or threaten you.

  Student: Could you clarify something for me? Aren’t attacks and threats the same thing?

  Teacher: Not really. You’re attacking something if you’re in position to capture it, even if it’s not desirable to do so. You’re threatening something if you’re in position to capture or exploit it to your explicit advantage. Indeed, a threat is an attempt to gain advantage, generally by inflicting some immediate harm on the enemy position. Most commonly, a threat is designed to win material, either by capturing for nothing or by surrendering less force than you gain. So an attack can be good, but not all the time. A threat is always good, unless it’s a false threat that enables the opponent to respond in a way that improves his situation.

  Student: Like giving up a pawn to capture a knight, which is worth three pawns?

  Teacher: Yes, but there can be more serious threats, and these usually involve danger to the king. Less important threats may hinge on dominating certain squares or creating weaknesses in your opponent’s camp. As a rule, you shouldn’t ignore threats. Whenever it seems you’re being threatened, you should determine if the threat is real. If it is, you should always do something about it. You should aim to defend against it, produce a more immediate or serious threat of your own, or respond with a simultaneous defense and attack. The last is usually most prudent, as it affords an opportunity to seize the initiative while taking care of chessic business.

  Student: To me, it always seems that the best players act as if they have White all the time, actively pursuing their opponent I right from the start. How does this happen?

  Teacher: Some experienced competitors generally handle the Black side of the opening phase by playing precisely but aggressively, so that every move is fraught with threat and tension. Usually, from turn to turn, such contentious contestants seek the move that causes their opponents the greatest problems, sometimes even at risk to their own game. This has led some grandmasters to subject opening moves to extremely profound analysis, hoping to find the minutest advantage and the single saving move, which has enriched the theory of the game immeasurably.

  Student: It’s also resulted in some of the most massive tomes ever seen.

  Teacher: Generally I try to keep my own books under five hundred pages, so that students have the illusion they can get through them quickly and easily. But even in the thinnest ones I usually say something about the center.

  Student: The center: Is there that much to be said about it?

  Teacher: To be centered is where it’s at. The most important squares on the chessboard are in the middle.

  Student: What do you mean by the center?

  Diagram 122. The center.

  Teacher: The center is the portion of the board consisting of the squares d4, d5, e4, and e5, as outlined in diagram 122. In many discussions, the central region is augmented to include the squares immediately surrounding the center: c3, c4, c5, c6, d6, e6, f6, f5, f4, f3, e3, and d3. This expanded area is known as the enlarged or big center and is also represented in the diagram. Pieces sitting on these squares generally enjoy greater mobility, which means they tend to have more possible moves and greater flexibility. This busy central district is habitually the key to the shifting fortunes of battle.

  Student: Why is that?

  Teacher: A piece stationed there, on a relatively unimpeded board, can usually move in any direction with little trouble. Such a piece has greater mobility and options, meaning it has potential access to more squares, which also implies it can be a real pain for the other side.

  Student: What about pieces placed on the edge?

  Teacher: Pieces positioned away from the center generally, though not entirely
, enjoy less mobility and influence less space. Pieces placed near the edge of the board usually aren’t as flexible, and seldom are as potent, although there are exceptions here too. But let me say this: Even if the center isn’t totally blocked or guarded, you can’t count on being able to maneuver an out-of-the-way piece from one side to the other when you suddenly find you have to. It may not be an easy thing to do.

  Student: But in an earlier statement, you seemed to be implying that some pieces don’t automatically do that badly when off to the side.

  Teacher: Obviously, all the line-pieces can effectively strike from far away. But in the main, only the rook can be as mobile on the wing as in the center—that is, on an otherwise empty board. On a board with no piece or pawn impediments, a rook can move to any of fourteen different squares no matter where it’s placed. Every other piece, including the king, attacks more squares from the center than from anywhere else. For this reason, it becomes less necessary to place a rook in the center. In fact, positioned in the actual center, a rook may be easier to harass than if it were far away on an unblocked file that leads straight to the enemy heartland.

  Student: Could you show more certainly how pieces fare in the center compared to elsewhere?

  Teacher: Take a look at the raw numbers. Let’s place each piece in turn on various squares in the center and on the wings of an otherwise empty chessboard and see what possibilities there are. As the following chart illustrates, the center is the place to be.

  Squares a Piece Can Move to When On …

  Piece

  e4

  f6

  b2

  h1

  Total Mobility

  Queen

  27

  25

  23

  21

  1456

  Rook

  14

  14

  14

  14

  896

  Bishop

  13

  11

  9

  7

  560

  Knight

  8

  8

  4

  2

  336

  King

  8

  8

  8

  3

  420

  Total Mobility = total number of squares a piece can move to from all the squares on the board added together.

  Student: So I guess it’s a wise thing to try to control the center?

  Teacher: Most certainly. By controlling the center you might be able to drive a wedge into the enemy’s position, splitting the opposing army in two. You thereby prevent and/or discourage your opponent from coordinating or pulling together his forces effectively Lack of free and easy movement and its resulting diminished options should cause your adversary plenty of problems. If you can do so fruitfully, you want to control the center, occupy it, and influence it in any meaningful way you can.

  Student: When do I get my chance to play for the center?

  Teacher: As soon as you’re ready for the next lesson. I’ll even give you the White pieces.

  LESSON 5

  OPENING PRINCIPLES AND THE FIRST MOVE

  Teacher: Every move, like every lesson, should have a purpose. During this next session you’ll learn some essential opening principles. Keep in mind that all principles are subject to change. Every move creates a new world on the board. Nevertheless, with each move in the opening, you should try to do one or more of the following: (1) develop a new piece or clear lines for future development; (2) fight for the center by occupying, attacking, or influencing it; (3) gain space and increase overall mobility; (4) strengthen your position while avoiding weaknesses; (5) pose at least one threat, if not multiple ones; and (6) meet all enemy threats. If you can more or less follow this program, you should be in good shape. At least you’re not likely to get mated in four moves.

  Student: Whew! That’s a heavy intellectual regime. But what do I do for a first move?

  Teacher: Your first move is to think about setting up two boards side by side. As we proceed with our actual game, it’s inevitable that we’ll find ourselves exploring variations, options, and choices we might make, but don’t in the end. So why don’t we use one chess set and board for playing the actual moves, and another set and board for considering possible moves? That way, we’ll always be able to get back to where we were before we go on to what may be.

  Student: Seems like a little extra work, but it makes sense.

  Teacher: I’ve got lots of diagrams here to help make the process easier. Now, back to your question. I recommend that most newcomers begin with 1. e4.

  Student: Why?

  Teacher: There are a number of reasons for this opening move. For one, it places a pawn right in the center, immediately staking White’s claim to the sector. In addition to the key central square d5, White zeroes in on and snatches control of another salient point, f5. A knight positioned here later on can often inflict great damage if Black is castled kingside. The thrust 1. e4 is an assertive start. It contributes powerfully to rapid development, because White can now bring out his queen and light-square bishop. Advancing the e-pawn has opened diagonals for both of these pieces.

  Student: Doesn’t moving the e-pawn one square also work?

  Teacher: Very true. For the same two pieces—the queen and king-bishop—you can also open up diagonals for development with 1. e3, a push of only one square. But this move doesn’t gain as much space as advancing the e-pawn two squares, to e4, nor does it seriously pressure the center. Too, by going only one square, White places another obstacle before his own dark-square bishop, making it harder to develop it along the cl-h6 diagonal. Generally, moving a central pawn only one square on the first move for White is unnecessarily timid. Of course, one can play such a move with purpose and intelligence. But if it’s done for lack of know-how, a seasoned opponent might detect that fact and exploit this information to play aggressively—even rashly—without fear of retribution.

  Student: So moving two squares gives me more area.

  Teacher: Quite right. Moving two squares instead of one seizes more space. Usually, the more advanced your pawns, the more space or room you have behind the lines. When we get further into our lesson, you’ll see that the placement of pawns is paramount to the nature and course of the game. Another reason I recommend the king-pawn opening of 1. e4 is that it tends to produce positions that are more open and direct. The less complicated the situation, the easier it is to find a good plan. Blocked positions, on the other hand, especially those with interlocked central pawns, are ordinarily more subtle than open positions, and determining a reasonable course of action in such situations can be significantly more difficult for the apprentice. But we’ll have to discuss that some other time.

  Student: Isn’t moving the queen’s pawn just as good to start the game?

  Teacher: Yes, but before I respond to your question more concretely, I’d like to address something else. In chess parlance, we tend to drop many of the possessives of ordinary conversation. So instead of saying queen’s pawn, we’ll say queen-pawn. This is especially helpful, because a series of chess terms could otherwise be loaded with several cumbersome possessives. Just imagine spitting out the phrase “king’s bishop’s pawn’s.”

  Student: How about if I just repeat my question about moving the queen-pawn first? Or is it the d-pawn?

  Teacher: Queen-pawn, d-pawn—it’s all the same thing. You’ll get the hang of it, I promise. Now, let’s address your question. It’s perfectly plausible for White to start the game this way, though moving the d-pawn two squares on the first move tends to lead to slightly more sophisticated positions that require greater experience to be played well. It’s true that the advance 1. d4 attacks e5 and occupies d4, both central squares. It also enables the queen to enter the fray; not via the d1-h5 diagonal, as with 1. e4, but frontally along the file. Although the dark-square bishop has the c1-h6 diagonal on which to move after the opener 1. d4, the queen must esca
pe up along the d-file, to either d2 or d3, neither of which tends to be that promising. So after 1. d4, the queen usually waits for other, later opportunities to get activated. But the queen’s placement does offer the d-pawn what the king’s placement doesn’t offer the e-pawn: ready-made support for an advance.

  Student: I hadn’t thought about that. Having protection for a possible advance might be important.

  Teacher: That’s right. And because the king-pawn doesn’t start with a natural backup, it’s harder, at a later point, to play the king-pawn two squares than it is to play the queen-pawn two squares. This means that central exchanges are slightly less likely to take place in queen-pawn openings than they are in king-pawn openings. The move 1. d4, instead of 1. e4, lends itself to producing a somewhat slower, obstacle-ridden game that can manufacture real problems for a novice trying to find his way. Therefore, though 1. e4 and 1. d4 are equally attractive opening moves for veteran players, it makes more sense for newcomers to begin with the slightly less labyrinthine king-pawn opener, at least until they’ve learned how to be more comfortable over a chessboard.

  Student: Are there any other good first moves for White?

  Teacher: There are several levelheaded first moves for White in addition to moving either center pawn two squares. They include 1. Nf3, 1. g3,1. c4, and 1. b3. But to play them purposefully, and to understand how they can be used winningly, requires a much more informed approach than most newcomers have. Such moves as 1. a3, 1. b4, 1. f4, and 1. Nc3 have also been essayed successfully. Even a risky “spike” such as 1. g4 can’t be ignored. Yet none of these moves, either reasonable or unreasonable, offer as much for the novice as 1. e4 or 1. d4. The latter two achieve essential goals more quickly and efficiently than the others, controlling the center and paving the road for the rapid development of pieces in ways that beginning players can grasp quickly and practically.