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Beginner lesson 7/20
Opening principles
Build a healthy position in the first moves.
Learn this chess concept step by step, then practise it on the interactive ChessRivo board.
Open interactive lessonAbout this lesson
Good openings are less about memorizing moves and more about following strong principles.
Key ideas
- Control the center with pawns and pieces.
- Develop knights and bishops before repeated queen moves.
- Castle and connect your rooks.
Coach tip: Do not move the same piece repeatedly without a concrete reason.
Test yourself
Which is normally a good opening priority?
- Develop pieces
- Move the queen many times
- Push every rook pawn
Show answer
Correct answer: Develop pieces
Practise this lesson interactively
Open the ChessRivo Academy board exercise for this exact lesson. Your progress is saved when you are signed in.
Open interactive lessonHow to use this lesson in a real game
Turn the idea into a repeatable decision process.
- Before moving, name the position feature this lesson is about.
- Find one candidate move that follows the lesson idea and one alternative.
- After the game, return to the critical position and compare your choice with the lesson.