Earlville Public Library District

Openings

When teaching students about the various openings in chess, I start with a basic concept many chess players use. It's called The Father Lopez Opening.  Father Lopez was a monk in the 1700's and his opening is still used successfully today. The following openings are for both white and black.

Before I begin, let me give you the key so you will know what the movements stand for.

 

Remember the chess board has 64 squares and each square has a title. Ex. e4, b6, etc. The chess pieces also have an abbreviation for each of them:

This is the key for the chess pieces:

K - King                                                

Q - Queen

B - Bishop

N - Knight

R - Rook

 

 

 

Small letters followed by a number represent the pawns' movements.  Example: e4 = King's pawn would jump out to this space - meaning the pawn standing in front of the White King would move 2 spaces forward to land on e4. Another example for Black: c5 - this means the pawn in front of the Bishop would step 2 spaces forward to land on c5. Have your students practice moving the pawns to various postions to familarize the many movements available.

 

Making a Grid:

I used brown craft paper, 1 inch wider on all 4 sides of our chess board.

Mark into 1 inch squares on each side to line up with the board. 

White: files or ranks (looking vertical): ABCDEFGH;

Rows (horizontal) are: 12345678 (all read left to right)

 

Black: files or ranks (looking vertical): HGFEDCBA;

Rows(horizontal) are: 87654321 (all read right to left)

This helps students learn the name of each squre and if they play on-line, this set up

helps them know where to move by calling the squares by their proper name.

We have a dozen boards at our library and we have made a grid for each board. I store them separtely and then simply place the boards on top the grids when we play Chess.

 

FATHER LOPEZ OPENING

White Movements                  Black Movements

e4   (King's pawn to move)                    e5   (King's pawn to move)

Nf3 (Knight to f3)                                    Nf6 (Knight to f6)

Bb5 (Bishop to b5)                                 Bb4 (Bishop to b4)

0-0 (castling)                                           0-0 (Castling) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                                      FATHER LOPEZ' OPENING FROM WHITE'S POINT OF VIEW

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

            FATHER LOPEZ' OPENING FROM BLACK'S POINT OF VIEW

 

*Castling: when the King moves 2 spaces toward the rook, and the rook swings to the left of the White King, or swings to the right of the Black King. (see pictures) 

              White King: moves to g1, Rook moves to f1

              Black King: moves to g8, Rook moves to f8

 

Castling is a strategic move to protect the King. It is always wise to move the King to a safe position. I always warn my students to also leave an escape route open to the king, which means moving at least one of the pawns in front of the King so he has a way to move away from an attack. Castling may never take place if the King is in check.

 

I generally have my beginners use this opening for one complete season. The idea is to memorize the movements and have a well planned opening. Chess is about taking up space in the center of the board and Father Lopez Opening does a good job for implementing this process. 

 

Once your students are able to use Father Lopez' Opening wihtout assistance, they may be ready for other options. Below are a few I have taught to my kids. I let them explore on their own and we try to see if we can recognize the oenings our opponents use. This does a few good things for beginners:

- they learn to watch the entire board and see what the opponent is doing.

- recognizing opponents openings is a good way to learn what to do to counter possible attacks.

 

 

Two Knight Defense: (a good opening for black)

White                   Black

e4                        e5

Nf3                     Nc6

Bc4                     Nf6

 

Queen's Gambit Declined:

(this opening helps Black retain some of the center of the board)

White                 Black

d4                       d5

c4                       e6

Nc3                    Nf6 

(don't fall for the bait when White plays c4 -

instead decline the bait and move to e6 and build a defense!!)

 

If you are interested in other openings, here's a few you might explore:

- Queen's Gambit Accepted - not recommended for beginners!

- Blackburne Gambit Opening - good opening for Black

- Hippopotamus Defense Opening - not recommended for beginners!

- Sicilian Defense Opening - so many variables it's difficult to explain to beginners - but worth looking into!