Hello all,

I'm new to chess and enjoying the game immensely. I've been devouring
as many FAQs/internet resources as possible and seem to be doing well,
all things considered... I can play my Chess app (Sigma Chess
6.1/hiarcs, OS X) at about 1200 and hold my own (winning about 50% of
the time).

Fundamentally, I know very little in terms of opening/mid/end games. I
seem to do ok tactically... my overall strategy has been 'don't screw
up', don't hang pieces, wait for an opponent's misstep and pray.

Until I get a hold of a few chess books, I have a few questions I hope
someone can address:

1. Is it generally a good rule of thumb for a beginner to castle early
on?

2. I seem to have more success developing my knights before my
bishops... is there a reason for this, or is this merely a coincidence?

Any tips, pointers, recommended resources are appreciated. Thanks!

"Knights before bishops" has long been a general recommendation in the
openings. I can't remember the web address, but there is a great site
for beginners run by "Dr. Dave" in the UK. A google search should find
it for you.

Again, in general, early castling provides king safety, but this is not
always the case. That one you will learn with more experience.
Certainly getting your pieces out so you *can* castle is important, but
sometimes a tactical opportunity might present itself that outweighs
early castling, to give just one example of many.

Thanks! This looks like the site you're referring to:

http://chessb.demonweb.co.uk/chessweb/coaching.html

Jay wrote:
Hello all,

I'm new to chess and enjoying the game immensely. I've been devouring
as many FAQs/internet resources as possible and seem to be doing well,
all things considered... I can play my Chess app (Sigma Chess
6.1/hiarcs, OS X) at about 1200 and hold my own (winning about 50% of
the time).

Fundamentally, I know very little in terms of opening/mid/end games. I
seem to do ok tactically... my overall strategy has been 'don't screw
up', don't hang pieces, wait for an opponent's misstep and pray.

Until I get a hold of a few chess books, I have a few questions I hope
someone can address:

1. Is it generally a good rule of thumb for a beginner to castle early
on?

Generally speaking, it is good to castle early (whether you are
a beginner or not).


2. I seem to have more success developing my knights before my
bishops... is there a reason for this, or is this merely a coincidence?

Yes there is a reason. Knights have less mobility (fewer squares
that they can go to) than Bishops hence, you typically know where
you want to put the knights before you know where you want to put
the bishops.

For example, suppose you are white and the first moves were 1.e4
e5. Consider where you can move the f1-bishop and the g1-knight.
The knight can go to e2, f3, or h3. N-e2 blocks the bishop so
that you have to make another move to get the bishop out. N-h3
moves the knight to the edge instead of towards the center which
is generally bad -- the center is the strategic "high ground." A
knight in the center attacks/defends 8 squares while a knight on
the edge attacks/defends only 4 squares, so it like half a knight.
Furthermore, unlike a piece on the edge, the influence of a piece
in the center radiates outwards in all directions and can potentially
move quickly to any area of the board as required. The development
of the knight to h3 is almost always bad. About the only time you
would want to do that is if you wanted to move the knight a second
time to another square such as f2 (f4 is not safe here). There
doesn't seem to be any good reason to get this knight to f2.
Furthermore, you would have to spend three moves to do it -- f3,
N-h3, and N-f2 -- which puts you behind in development. The other
choice for the knight is f3. In one move, the knight goes to a good
square towards the center and there is no drawback to Nf3.
Furthermore, Nf3 attacks the e5 pawn which forces your opponent to
do something about it. So right away you know that the g1 knight
should go to f3. Now where should the f1 bishop go? It could go
to b5, c4, or e2 (d3 blocks the d-pawn. If you first move the
d-pawn to d4, then you can consider Bd3). Which is best? It's hard
to say. Any of them might be good places for your bishop depending
on what happens later. If you move the bishop now, the square you
choose might turn out to be a bad choice depending on the further
play. Hence, it makes sense to play the knight first and delay the
decision on where to move the bishop until you have a better idea
of where it should go.

I disagree with the post below. You should always castle as soon as you can
unless of course the position is such that you are castling into a mate!

Also it is a good idea to try and stop your opponent castling or at least
delay it, that way you keep his king in the centre for as long as possible
where it is easier to attack.

Sure, there may be a tactical opportunity that outweighs early castling but
how many tactical opportunities are there so early in the game? we are
probably talking about the first 6 moves here. If you think you see
something, unless you can actually calculate it down to winning a piece and
not getting nailed by no castling then go for it but if it justs looks good
then resist the tempation, castle first, then go for your tactical idea next
move (assuming it is stil on!). If your chance has gone, don't worry, you
shouldn't expect to win chess games in the first 6 moves!

Also it is a good idea to try and stop your opponent castling or at least
delay it, that way you keep his king in the centre for as long as possible
where it is easier to attack. So once you are safely castled, if your
opponent hasn't then stopping him castling is one plan you might go for. You
will be putting your opponent under pressure, he will be doing what he can
to free himself and get castled but do you realise what is happening here?
You are on the offensive and your opponent is already playing defensively!
Advantage to you!


wrote in message
oups.com...
"Knights before bishops" has long been a general recommendation in the
openings. I can't remember the web address, but there is a great site
for beginners run by "Dr. Dave" in the UK. A google search should find
it for you.

Again, in general, early castling provides king safety, but this is not
always the case. That one you will learn with more experience.
Certainly getting your pieces out so you *can* castle is important, but
sometimes a tactical opportunity might present itself that outweighs
early castling, to give just one example of many.

Interesting to compare 19th century attitudes to castling. Morphy castles
at the first opportunity, as part of his rapid development. Staunton
frequently defers castling, until he is sure whether to go for king's side,
queen's side, or neither. Is it to keep his opponent guessing, or has he
simply placed little importance on it? But then his development is
generally more ponderous and he doesn't show Morphy's anxiety to get on with
it.

Best wishes,

John Townsend
Howard Staunton research project:
http://www.johntownsend.demon.co.uk/page7.html

You should always castle as soon as you can
unless of course the position is such that you are castling into a mate!

Who was it who said, "Castle when you should or you must, but not
simply because you can"? I always thought that was the wisest advice on
castling, and definitely precludes "as soon as you can."

On 1 Oct 2005 04:50:42 -0700, wrote:

Who was it who said, "Castle when you should or you must, but not
simply because you can"?

Bronstein?

M.

On 1 Oct 2005 04:50:42 -0700, "
wrote:

You should always castle as soon as you can
unless of course the position is such that you are castling into a mate!

Who was it who said, "Castle when you should or you must, but not
simply because you can"? I always thought that was the wisest advice on
castling, and definitely precludes "as soon as you can."

William Napier.

In article ,
Mike Murray wrote:

On 1 Oct 2005 04:50:42 -0700, "
wrote:

You should always castle as soon as you can
unless of course the position is such that you are castling into a mate!

Who was it who said, "Castle when you should or you must, but not
simply because you can"? I always thought that was the wisest advice on
castling, and definitely precludes "as soon as you can."

I like Weaver W Adams' comment, "Castling is not a ritual, but a move
like any other".


Except that you move two pieces at once, and the king gets to move twice
as far as usual, and the rook gets to jump over a piece, and you can't
make it if the king is in check, or if the king or the rook has moved.
Bu other than that, it's just like any other move. :-)

--Harold Buck


"I used to rock and roll all night,
and party every day.
Then it was every other day. . . ."
-Homer J. Simpson