In our first two lessons for beginners, I stressed the importance of not giving your pieces away. Now that you have wrapped your mind around that concept, we can take a step backwards to a very basic, often quoted rule:

DEVELOP ALL YOUR PIECES!

This sounds so simple, yet so few players live by it. Instead, beginners will often start an attack with just two or three men.

For example, after

1.e4

The most common move. It gains central space, controls the key central square on d5, and frees both the f1-Bishop and Queen.

1…e5

If it works for White, why not for Black? This mirrors the same virtues that were just listed for White’s 1.e4.

2.Bc4

Not bad. This develops a piece, adds to White’s control over d5, gets a step closer to castling, and also takes aim at the Black King.

2…Nc6

Like White, Black is trying to get his army out while simultaneously keeping an eye on the center. The Knight move adds to Black’s control over the d4-square and gives support to the pawn on e5.

3.Qf3?

And so it begins. White is tired of all this talk about getting all the men out! Why not quickly crush the enemy King and end the game with style? Alas, if chess was so easy, who would bother playing it?

Bringing out White’s so early shows several thinking flaws:

Though the Queen is the strongest piece, it is vulnerable to attack by weaker enemy units. If this happens, it will have to move here and there in an effort to save itself, while the enemy is able to get one piece after another into play with gain of time.

Never expect your opponent to overlook your threat. In the present case, White threatens immediate mate by 4.Qxf7 mate. This is NOT a subtle threat! He WILL notice it! And when he does defend against your one-mover, what was the point of your early Queen leap? It’s far better to make moves that improve your position no matter what the enemy does. That way, even if the opponent sees what you are up to, you are still building your forces for a future, united, effort.

It’s a good rule of thumb to get your Knights out pretty quickly (many sources even feel that you should bring at least one Knight out before moving any other piece!). Thus, 3.Nf3 would have made the most sense, countering Black’s control over d4, developing a new unit, and getting ready to castle on the kingside.

3…Nf6

The perfect response. Black stops White’s silly threat by doing just what he wanted to do anyway: develop!

4.Qb3?

After this, White is already lost! It seems that White feels that he must make threats, but by doing so he falls farther and farther behind in development.

4…Nd4!

Ignoring White’s threat of Bxf7+ and punishing the White Queen for coming out so early. Now the first player must worry about the attack on his Queen, his undefended pawn on e4 (which can be eaten by …Nxe4), and the attack against the pawn on c2 (that pesky d4-Knight is hitting both the Queen and the c2-pawn!).

5.Qd3

What happens if White chops on f7? Let’s take a look: 5.Bxf7+ Ke7 6.Qc4 (the only way to allow the Queen to defend the f7-Bishop) 6…b5 and, after the Queen moves to safety, Black will enjoy a meal of baked Bishop by 7…Kxf7, when the extra piece should ensure eventual victory.

5…d5!

Black wants White’s blood to flow over the board! The text attacks both the e4-pawn and the c4-Bishop and, with gain of time, frees the sleeping c8-Bishop.

6.exd5

It’s clear that 6.Bb5+ c6 is no improvement.

6…Bf5

Suddenly White is being taught why he shouldn’t bring his Queen out too early. Black now enjoys a nice lead in development and is gaining even more time since the White Queen is being attacked and, as a result, must continue to aimlessly wander the board.

7.Qg3

Throwing in 7.Bb5+ Nd7 isn’t any help to White.

7…Nxc2+

As a result of his faulty strategy, White now loses copious quantities of material.

8.Kf1 Bd6!

The Rook on a1 isn’t going away, so why not defend e5 AND develop another piece?

9.Qxg7

White just can’t resist. He just LOVES moving his Queen!

9…Rg8

Yes, yet another free developing move for Black.

A glance at this position will show us the utter misery of White’s situation. His Queen is being attacked, Black has an enormous advantage in development, and Black can eat the a1-Rook by …Nxa1 whenever he wants, giving him a winning material advantage. At this point, White should resign and start over!

This game showed us why a lead in development is so useful: In a fight with two men versus five, the larger army is obviously a HUGE favorite. In the previous diagram, White has two men out (Bishop and Queen) while Black has five (both Knights, both Bishops, and the g8-Rook).

As we have seen, a beginner will often go for the ring with just two or three men. However, more “advanced” players are not immune to this syndrome; they will often get almost all of their pieces out and then say to themselves, “Well, I’ve developed most of my army. Who wants to spend a few more moves getting those final two pieces out? Instead, I should go for the gusto right NOW!”

This mentality can sometimes lead to quick repercussions, or the effects of playing with less pieces can take a while to make themselves fully felt. The position in the next diagram (White to move) shows such a case.

Material is equal, so why does White’s position look so horrible? There are two reasons for this: the first is that Black has access to some holes in White’s camp (a4, b3, and d3 are all just a leap away from Black’s Knight). The second reason is even simpler--Black is playing with five men (Queen, Knight, Bishop, and two Rooks) while White is using only three (Bishop, Queen, and one Rook). In other words, White is outnumbered! Since 1.Rxd6 Qxd6 gives Black complete domination of the open d-file, and since 1.Nd2 Qd7 creates a horrifying pin along the d-file and forces the win of a piece, White’s future looks very, very bleak.

LESSONS:

* Develop all your pieces as quickly as possible.

* Expect your opponent to see your threats.

* Don’t bring your Queen out too early, since it’s vulnerable to attacks by inferior enemy units.

* Your Knights and Bishops are the first pieces that will be developed (the word “pieces” doesn’t refer to pawns). In general you want to gain a hold of some central space with a pawn(s), bring out your Knights and Bishops, castle, and only then crack open some files for your Rooks (this will be the subject of a future lesson).

* The side with more men out has an advantage in numbers and, as a result, an advantage in force.