A Tutorial of the beginning.

Firstly

This is my dream position:

In this tutorial we are going to start with 1.e4 (pawn to e4). This looks like:

Why? There are 20 possible opening moves, lets look at the top 4.

e4 - In this move we accomplish plenty. We have lines for our queen to move, we have lines for our bishop on f1 to move, and we add control to the center.
d4 - This move also does lots. We have a line for bishop on c1 to move, and we add control to the center.
Nf3 (Knight to f3) - This move develops a knight. It brings you one move closer to castling. It attacks the center.
Nc3 - This move develops a knight. It attacks the center.

Any of the above are reasonable opening moves. At this point I am going to give black a totally retarded move, Na6. The point to blacks moves are to show by exaggeration, a bad opening strategy.

The next move we are going to do is 2.d4. This results is this:

Now both bishops can move. Just look at all the squares you now attack. Note: You could take the black knight in this case, but that is not inline with my tutorial. Black moves his knight back.

Next we are going to move Nf3. This looks like:

True this cuts off the queen a little bit. But we have developed a piece and are one step closer to castling. We could have developed our knight to the edge (h3), but a knight on the edge has no effect on the center. Furthermore a knight on the edge has half the possible moves. The knight does not belong on e2 since it cuts the bishop off. Remember we want to develop the bishop later, if we put the knight in the way that will take one more move to accomplish. THE OPENING IS A RACE. Black moves his knight back to A6.

Next we move Nc3. This looks like:

This finishes the development of both knights. Note the bishops are not cut off. Note how many enemy squares are attacked.

Why did I develop my knights before my bishop? Because usually the knights only have one good square in the opening. Since I had no other problems to deal with, the knights should be developed first. This does not give anything away to my opponent on plans or ideas, nor does it give him anything specific to attack.

ALTERNATIVELY, I could develop my f1 bishop, this will allow me to castle next turn. Castling is GOOD! Black moves his knight back.

Next we move Bc4 (Bishop to c4). This gives us:

Ok so now it is time to develop my bishops. Developing the f1 bishop allows you to castle next turn. That is why I picked that bishop first. But what square do I put it?

a6 - suicide, both the pawn and the knight can take it.
b5 - Too aggressive, black can just push a pawn and you have to move it again.
c4 - Very aggressive but black can't do anything about it for two turns.
d3 - Fine, but it removes a defender from the d4 pawn (cuts off the queen). In this position that is fine but d3 can be a mistake.
e2 - Very safe, this move is just as good as c4, but not as aggressive. Usually black will give you a reason to pick this one over c4 or vice versa.

Black moves his knight back to A6.

Time for Be3.

I could have castled here and that would be just fine. Instead I developed my last minor piece. (knights and bishops) Why did I go to e3?

h6 - Suicide.
g5 - Too aggressive.
f4 - Good, in this position perhaps best.
e3 - Very Safe, this time I moved to the safe square.
d2 - Cuts the queen off from the defense of the d4 pawn.

Black retreats his knight.

O-O Castle kingside.

Now I finish my opening. In this position black is back to his start. My king is safe from attack. All my minor pieces are ready to attack. Black, now hopelessly behind in development, will have difficulty surviving any attack.