Must Know Opening Moves for the Game of Chess

Chess is often viewed as a game for the intelligent people, and it is somehow true. The game of chess is simply not a game - it involves strategy, quick thinking and an unreadable game play. You wouldn't want your opponent to guess every move you'd make, right?

The opening moves in the game of chess pretty much spells out how the entire game will be played as well as its results. These opening moves are the first few moves that a chess player makes wherein they place the pieces into useful and strategic places on the board which will help them out later. This strategic opening move aim to avoid being checkmated and also aims to avoid losing valuable chess pieces during the game.

Here are some chess opening moves that chess players should know by heart so as not to lose any important chess pieces during the game.

Ruy Lopez. This chess opening is named after the Spanish priest who made an analysis of the game back in 1561. The Ruy Lopez opening is achieved with the moves 1. E4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5. There are other variations of the Ruy Lopez opening that leads to over sub-variations like the Morphy Defense, Steinitz Defense, and the Berlin Defense.

Italian Game. This type of chess opening was developed back in the 1600s and is achieved with the moves 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4. This opening provides a fun play due to the open positions and aggressive moves chess players can take advantage of. Other variations of the Italian game are the Two Knights Defense, Giuoco Piano, and the Hungarian Defense.

Réti Opening. The Reti Opening was named after Richard Reti, a great chess master. This opening is characterized by 1. Nf3. Similar to moves like 1. d4 and 1. c4, these opening moves often leads to more closed positions.

Sicilian Defense. The Sicilian Defense is an opening move favoring Black. This opening move is characterized by 1. e4 c5 and allows Black to make a move for the center and attack d4. Usually, this opening move opens doors for both sides to create different styles of plays at winning.

As the saying goes, practice is the best teacher. But having knowledge of these opening moves allows you to open the game properly and to your advantage. Constant chess play with different players opens you to different play styles and strategies and also helps you form strategies of your own.

Article Resource: Leslie Bautista