rules, tactics, strategies and history

King's Pawn Openings

The two principles mentioned--namely the development of the pieces without unnecessary Pawn moves or other loss of time and the maintenance of a Pawn in the center--are a perfectly sufficient guidance in all King's Pawn openings, as no particular difficulty exists for any piece to be developed to a favorable square. Even if Black tries to avoid the well-known openings which result from the reply (1) ..., P-e5 by playing (1) ..., P- e6 for instance, or (1) ..., P-c5;, or, in fact, any other of the twenty possible first moves, White will find the right way to mobilize its pieces if he strictly adheres to those two principles and resists the temptation to institute an early attack. A few examples will show how simple the application of the principle is.