When you're playing a game of chess it's REALLY, REALLY IMPORTANT to get the first moves right. If you can do that it makes the rest of the game so much easier. There are THREE BASIC RULES to help you.

RULE NUMBER 1: DEVELOP YOUR PIECES. Imagine you're the manager of a football (soccer) team. The guys at the back are your players. You've got to get them onto the playing field. And the first pieces you bring out are KNIGHTS AND BISHOPS.

RULE NUMBER 2: OCCUPY (OR CONTROL) THE CENTER. In chess, as in football, the side that controls the MIDFIELD usually wins. So play in the MIDDLE OF THE BOARD, NOT on the edges.

RULE NUMBER 3: GET YOUR KING SAFE. Think of the King as the goal. Unlike in football, in chess you can choose where you put your goal. And the best place is near the corner. Leaving your King in the center is far too dangerous. That means you should usually aim to CASTLE quickly on the KING-SIDE.. Try to keep THREE UNMOVED PAWNS in front of your King early on in the game.

Some more advice for you. Start by moving the Pawn in front of your King TWO SQUARES. This helps to CONTROL THE CENTER and OPENS LINES for your Bishop and Queen. Other moves are equally good, but the openings starting with these moves are easiest for beginners to understand.

DON'T BRING YOUR QUEEN OUT TOO SOON WITHOUT A GOOD REASON. She's far too valuable and will get chased round the board by weaker enemy pieces.

Don't bring your Rooks out along the third rank. Again, they are too valuable and will get chased by enemy Bishops and Knights. Rooks are usually the LAST pieces to come out. They move along the BACK RANK to find FILES without Pawns. This is another reason why you should usually CASTLE quickly.

Don't move Pawns on the side without a good reason. In this position, Black can get CHECKMATE by moving his Queen out as far as she will go. That WOULD be a good reason for bringing your Queen out early! This is called FOOL'S MATE. Only a fool would play like this with White.

Don't move pieces twice in the opening without a good reason, as White has done here. Try to move all your pieces once before you start moving something a second time. The player who gets ALL his pieces out first will be able to start his attack first.

Try not to develop pieces in front of other pieces. Here, both players have made that mistake. White has stuck his Bishop in front of the Pawn he wants to move to get his other Bishop out. Black has stuck his Queen in front of his Bishop so that he can no longer develop that piece.

Don't forget that all these rules are only guildelines to help you survive the first few moves. There are MANY occasions where you will want to break these rules, perhaps to win a piece, or even to get checkmate. But it's important that you learn the rules first, before you learn the exceptions.

One last point. For the past 500 years or more, the best players in the world have studied the best ways of starting the game. These experts have written THOUSANDS of books to help you. Most of those books will be far too hard for you at present. But if you look round this site you'll find a lot of information to help you on your way. DON'T TRY TO MAKE THINGS UP YOURSELF - LISTEN TO THE EXPERTS!

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