The Worth of Sound Principles

It may not be totally obvious at certain times but it is always true that every good and superb move we make in a game of chess is always guided by correct principles. Consequently, we judge poor and rather bad moves in chess accordingly if these do not adhere to such principles. Thus, we say that a move is either good or bad if it either follows or goes against well-established chess principles to attain victory.

We can therefore come to a conclusion that the moves we make are built on the background of or by the construction through solid well-established principles in the game of chess. The moves we make only represent the ideas or principles we adhere to, whether they are sound or not. These principles are no more important than that for chess openings. The principles stand for the theory of the game in the opening and the moves we make stand for the action in application of that theory.

The opening is a very important stage in the game of chess and it defines how the rest of the game will go. As it is very easy to go wrong right from the start of a chess game, players should pay special attention to the opening and thus establish a well founded game from the very start.

There are two approaches we would like to present. The first one is to learn the principles behind the many different openings, thus understanding how each move is integrated with the other moves and the goal to which such moves contrive. Second is to just memorize by rote whatever moves are required to achieve any opening in the game of chess.

Given these two alternatives, we can readily say that the first one is much preferable and much more profitable to any player than the second, which only leans toward memorizing chess moves. An analogy we can draw from would be the same for building a house.

The workman who knows the how and the why certain steps or procedures are necessary for building a house has the advantage over the other who only knows the how. The workman who understands the principles behind house building can tap into creative faculties and innovate and achieve things far better.

The same holds true for chess players and the opening. Chess players who understand the principles behind chess openings have the advantage of creativity and innovation to achieve the basic goals of the opening. We therefore recommend that players should learn the solid principles for the opening and add to their advantage.