![]() Often kids move a piece out quickly, but to a square that isn’t very effective. ‘Effective’ is a big word that means ‘able to do things’. There are three things to master: what it means exactly to get pieces into action and how to do it quickly, and what makes a move effective. It takes practice and study to learn how to consistently get your pieces into action quickly and effectively. Sounds easy, right? But anyone who has played a few games knows that good chess ideas are more complicated than they seem. The main goal of the opening can be boiled down to one sentence: Get your pieces into action quickly and effectively! Unfortunately, the plan often has nothing to do with good opening play. They make one move here and another there, and may tell you they have a new ‘plan’ each turn. This is a great question, because most kids have only a vague idea what they’re aiming for at the start of a game. A good opening gives you much better chances to win the game, so learning the basics of strong opening play is extremely important. A player may fail to prepare his forces, or make a terrible mistake and get checkmated right away! Although there are three possible phases of a chess game, many battles never get beyond the opening stage. Here’s something unique about chess – while the opening starts the game, sometimes it’s also the end! In this case we say that one side never made it out of the opening. Then the battle often includes trying to promote a pawn into a queen, and use the extra queen for a checkmating attack. ![]() The endgame is a phase in which many pieces have been traded, so the king is in less danger of checkmate. When both sides are fully prepared, the next stage is the middlegame, when plans of attack are devised, to achieve an advantage of position or ‘material’ (having more men), with the ultimate goal of checkmating the enemy king. Using this metaphor, the opening is the phase in which you prepare your army for battle. In fact, the chessmen represent typical combatants during the Middle Ages (the years 400-1500 AD), when the modern rules of the game were established. ![]() Sometimes it’s useful to think of chess as a battle between two opposing armies. In chess it’s not so simple! The opening does mark the start of a chess game, but it means much more. Most activities have a beginning, a middle, and an end. Only then will we take a closer look at some opening variations, so that kids who want to study further can begin to learn more about using these ideas to understand the goals of specific openings. First, you will learn how to find a strong move for each piece in many different opening situations, and how to get your pieces and pawns working together as an effective team. ![]() In this book, chess-loving children will be introduced to the names and basic ideas of many important chess openings, but for a different reason: to illustrate the basic principles of strong opening play. Kids who absorb these guiding ideas, will learn how to get a strong opening position without having to name or memorize specific variations. Instead, the first step should be learning the goals and priorities of opening play, and how each piece can best be used to meet these goals. Memorizing is important for advanced tournament play, but not useful or necessary for kids who are just starting out. ![]() Unfortunately, most kids’ opening books copy this approach. These are sequences of moves that have been tested in master games. Opening books for adults stress memorizing opening variations. Without this knowledge, kids flounder and make whatever move comes to mind, with no clear purpose. Masters have a grasp of key ideas at this stage, which makes it almost easy to find strong moves. One important area that children are very interested in is how to begin the game. Having been a chess coach for over four decades, I have taught hundreds of kids, from beginners to strong tournament players, how to sharpen their chess skills. ![]()
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