The First Move in Chess

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What should your first move be?

White moves first, then the players take turns. Start with a pawn in the middle of the board, bring out your knights and bishops, then castle to put your king somewhere safer. You don’t need to memorize a string of moves.

The first few moves have two jobs: get your pieces into the game quickly and get your king safe. When you’re learning, a few principles help more than memorized sequences of moves, because they work against whatever the other player does.

Center, development and castling cover most of what you need at the start.

Term	Meaning
Center	The four squares in the middle of the board.
Development	Moving knights and bishops out so they can take part.
Castling	One move of your king and a rook together.

How do you read the board?

Each square has a letter and a number. From White’s side, the columns, called files, run from a to h, left to right. The rows, called ranks, run from 1 to 8, going away from White. Set it down so each player has a light square in the near right corner.

Pieces use K for king, Q for queen, R for rook, B for bishop and N for knight. A pawn move is written as the square it lands on. Moves are numbered with White first, so 1.e4 e5 means White’s pawn goes to e4, then Black’s pawn goes to e5. Black’s move alone is 1…e5. An x means a capture, and # means checkmate.

01 Center

Field	Text
Identify by	The four middle squares, d4, d5, e4 and e5.
What	The center is the four squares in the middle of the board. Start by moving the pawn in front of your king or queen two squares into it.
So what	A center pawn move frees your queen and a bishop to move. The center usually opens first, because center pawns often capture each other.

Field marks

Field	Short answer
When	On your first move
Aim	A pawn in the middle
Mistake	Too many pawn moves

Confused with: Pawn moves

One or two center pawn moves help your pieces get out. Too many early pawn moves leave your knights and bishops at home.

02 Development

Field	Text
Identify by	Knights and bishops leaving their starting squares.
What	Development is moving your knights and bishops out so they can take part. Try to move each piece once before moving it again.
So what	A lead in development gives you more pieces in the game than your opponent. Your opponent is trying to bring pieces out too.

Field marks

Field	Short answer
When	After a center pawn
Aim	Knights and bishops out
Mistake	Moving one piece twice

Confused with: Bringing out the queen

Bring your queen out after your knights and bishops. An early queen can be chased by knights and bishops that your opponent wanted to develop anyway.

03 Castling

Field	Text
Identify by	The king moves two squares and a rook moves past it.
What	Castling is one move of the king and a rook, written 0-0 on the king’s side or 0-0-0 on the queen’s side. The king moves two squares toward the rook, then the rook lands on the square the king crossed.
So what	Castling moves your king away from the center and brings a rook toward it. Castle early, after moving the pieces between your king and rook.

Field marks

Field	Short answer
When	Early in the game
Aim	A safer king
Mistake	Waiting too long

Confused with: Moving the king

An ordinary king move goes one square. To castle, neither the king nor that rook may have moved, and no piece can stand between them. The king can’t castle out of check, and it can’t cross or land on a square an enemy piece attacks. Move the king first, then the rook.

What do you play, as White or Black?

Pick the row for your color and the last move played.

Move	Why
1.e4	As White. The e-pawn moves two squares and frees the queen and a bishop to move.
1.d4	As White. The same idea with the d-pawn.
1…e5	As Black, after 1.e4. The e-pawn moves two squares, blocks White’s e-pawn and frees the queen and a bishop to move.
1…d5	As Black, after 1.d4. The same idea with the d-pawn.
2.Nf3 Nc6	White’s knight goes to f3 and Black’s knight goes to c6. Bishops come next. Each move brings one piece into the game.
0-0	Castle on the king’s side once the knight and bishop between king and rook have moved.

Caution

White’s queen and bishop can both attack f7, which only Black’s king defends at the start. The game 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.Qh5 Nf6 4.Qxf7# ends in checkmate. As Black, when White’s queen and bishop both aim at f7, defend f7 on your next move. Here, 3…Qe7 does it.

Then keep bringing out pieces you haven’t moved yet.

Openings for White

Each board shows the position after both players have made four moves.

Openings for Black

Each board shows four moves by each player, drawn from Black’s side.

Sources

These public sources were checked on 22 October 2026.

Source	Date	Address
FIDE, Laws of Chess	January 2023	handbook.fide.com/chapter/E012023
FIDE, Curriculum: Chess for Refugees	October 2023	fide.com/docs/presentations/Curriculum%20Chess%20for%20Refugees.pdf
US Chess, Guide to Scholastic Chess, 11th edition	June 2021	new.uschess.org/sites/default/files/media/documents/11th-edition-guide-to-scholastic-chess-6-29-21.pdf
Wikipedia, List of ECO codes and each opening’s article	October 2026	en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ECO_codes
Lichess, opening explorer	October 2026	lichess.org/opening