Opening

Good chess openings allow the player to control the middle of the board. A chess opening is a set of starting movements in a game of chess (the "opening moves"). Openings are recognized sequences of opening movements that have been given names such as the Ruy Lopez or Sicilian Defense. They're listed in encyclopedias like the Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings. There are many of distinct openings, ranging from quiet positional play (the Réti Opening, for example) to very aggressive play (the Latvian Gambit). The exact sequence considered optimum for both sides has been worked out to more than 30 moves in some beginning lines. Professional players study openings for years and continue to do so throughout their careers as opening theory evolves.

Most openings have similar underlying strategic goals:

• development: This is the technique of placing the pieces (particularly bishops and knights) on useful squares where they will have an optimal impact on the game.
• control of the center: Control of the central squares allows pieces to be moved to any part of the board relatively easily, and can also have a cramping effect on the opponent.
• king safety: It is critical to keep the king safe from dangerous possibilities. A correctly timed castling can often enhance this.
• pawn structure: Players strive to avoid the creation of pawn weaknesses such as isolated, doubled, or backward pawns, and pawn islands – and to force such weaknesses in the opponent's position

By virtue of the initial move, most players and theoreticians believe White has a slight edge to begin the game. This provides White the upper hand at first. [25] In an uneven position, Black normally tries to offset White's advantage and reach equality, or produce dramatic counterplay. recognized

Middle Game

The middlegame is the section of the game that follows the opener. Although there is no apparent distinction between the opening and the middlegame, the middlegame usually begins when the majority of the pieces have been established. (In a similar vein, there is no apparent transition from the middlegame to the endgame; see the beginning of the endgame.) Because the opening theory is no longer valid, players must devise strategies based on the position's characteristics while also considering the position's tactical options. The middlegame is when the majority of the combos happen. Combinations are a set of tactical moves used to obtain an advantage. Combinations in the middlegame are frequently linked to an attack on the opponent's king. The Boden's Mate or the Lasker–Bauer combo are two examples of common patterns with their own names.

Distinct ideas or strategic motifs will frequently emerge from specific groupings of openings, resulting in a specific pawn arrangement. The minority assault, for example, is a pawn attack on the queenside against an opponent with more pawns on the queenside. The formulation of strategies that are typical of the subsequent middlegames is thus linked to the analysis of openings.

Another crucial strategic decision in the middlegame is whether and how to reduce material and go into the endgame (i.e. simplify). In most cases, minor material advantages can only be converted into victory in the endgame, therefore the stronger side must find an appropriate strategy to reach a conclusion. Not every material reduction is suitable for this purpose; for example, if one side retains a light-squared bishop and the opponent retains a dark-squared bishop, the transformation into a bishops and pawns ending is usually beneficial only to the weaker side, because an endgame with bishops of opposite colors is almost always a draw, even with a pawn advantage, and occasionally even with a two-pawn advantage.

Endgame

The endgame (also end game or ending) is the stage of the game when there are few pieces left on the board. There are three main strategic differences between earlier stages of the game and the endgame:

1. Pawns become more important. Endgames often revolve around endeavors to promote a pawn by advancing it to the furthest rank.
2. The king, which requires safeguarding from attack during the middlegame, emerges as a strong piece in the endgame. It is often brought to the center where it can protect its own pawns, attack enemy pawns, and hinder moves of the opponent's king.
3. Zugzwang, a situation in which the player who is to move is forced to incur a disadvantage, is often a factor in endgames but rarely in other stages of the game.

Endgames are distinguished by the sort of pieces that remain on the board. Basic checkmates occur when one side has only a king and the other side has one or two pieces that can checkmate the opposing king, with the pieces cooperating with their king. In king and pawn endgames, for example, there are only kings and pawns on one or both sides, and the stronger side must promote one of the pawns. Other more intricate endings, such as "rook and pawn versus rook" endgames, are classified by pieces on the board other than kings.

Check and Checkmate

A king is considered to be in check when he is under direct attack. A move in response to a check is legal only if it leads to the king no longer being in check. Capturing the checking piece, interposing a piece between the checking piece and the king (which is only viable if the attacking piece is a queen, rook, or bishop and there is a square between it and the king), or relocating the king to a square where it is not under attack are all possibilities. Castling is not an acceptable check response.

The goal of the game is to checkmate your opponent's king, which occurs when it is in check and there is no legal way to get it out. It is never lawful for a player to play a move that checks or unchecks his or her own king. When putting the opponent's king in check, it's common to say "check" in casual games, but it's not required by the rules of chess and isn't usually done in tournaments.