As the Boy Scout motto goes, be prepared. After all, your opponent isn’t going to play an opening that your comfortable with because they’re trying to win as well. Of course, if you want to be a good chess player, you have to play openings of all four types, or at least understand them enough should you face one of them. Semi-closed openings include the Indian Defenses (such as the King’s Indian) the Benoni Defense and the Dutch Defense. While mobility can be limited, lines can open up quickly. Knights and Bishops both play important roles in semi-closed games. In semi-closed games, black often lets white gain control of the center opting for a more defensive position. d4, black responds asymmetrically, making a move such as 1…Nf6. d4, black makes a response other than 1…d5. Closed game openings include the Queen’s Gambit (declined or accepted), the Slav Defense and the London System. You have to be extremely patient when playing closed positions. Closed games require more long term strategic planning.

Due to decreased piece mobility, the potential for tactics is reduced. Because the Knight has the ability to jump over pawns and pieces, the Knight doesn’t need much space in which to operate. There is one pieces that does extremely well in closed games and that’s the Knight. This creates fewer open lines which means the Bishops, Rooks and Queen lose mobility. In closed games, the pawns and pieces can become locked into the defense of one another in and around the center of the board. Openings leading to semi-open games include the Sicilian Defense, the Caro Kann Defense, the French Defense, the Pirc Defense and the Modern Defense.Ĭlosed games typically start with 1. Semi-open games can lead to positions that are open or closed. This move attacks d4, while still maintaining the d7 and e7 pawns for further centralized play. e4 is the Sicilian Defense in which black plays 1…c5. One of the most popular openings for black against 1. However, black doesn’t counter with 1…e5. In semi-open games, white starts off with 1.

Some of the more popular openings that lead to an open game are the Ruy Lopez (Spanish Opening), the Giuoco Piano (Italian Opening), the Scotch Game, the Four Knights Game, the Two Knights Defense, the Evan’s Gambit, the King’s Gambit and Petroff’s Defense. The Bishops, Rooks and Queen, have more mobility because there’s more room to move. In open games, pieces gain access to the board quickly due to the advancement of the of the “e” pawns. The term open game refers to openings that start off with 1.

All chess openings fall into one of these four categories. However, if you didn’t know what defines an opening, you might end up learning an opening that doesn’t suit your attacking style. If your an attacking player, you’ll avoid closed openings and concentrate on openings that allow more combat on the board, the open games. It’s important to know the four types of openings because they give you an indication as to the type of game you’ll end up playing. This is how we categorize openings into types of openings. I’m talking about groups of openings that are defined by their first move, for both white and black. When I say “types,” I’m not talking about specific openings, such as the Ruy Lopez or King’s Indian Defense. However, trying to determine what opening suits you best can’t be accomplished unless you know what the four types of openings are. As we develop our chess skills, we tend to gravitate towards openings that suit our style of play. Beginners are often confused when it comes to classifying openings and the type of game they lead to.

Chess openings