Why Are the First Moves Already Known? Memorised Territory at the Start of a Game

The opening is the phase in which both sides develop their pieces from their starting squares, secure the king and contest the centre, and the moves that achieve those aims efficiently have been analysed exhaustively for over a century. An opening in the named sense is a recognised sequence with an established body of analysis behind it, stating which continuations are sound, which lead to advantage and which lose. Playing into one means entering territory where the consequences are documented, which is an advantage if you know them and a danger if your opponent knows them better. The purpose is not to win in the opening, which is rare between competent players, but to reach a middlegame of a type you understand better than your opponent does.

Behind the memorised lines sit a handful of ideas that explain most of them:

• •Control the centre, since pieces placed there reach more squares and restrict the opponent
• •Develop pieces towards useful squares rather than moving the same piece repeatedly
• •Get the king to safety, usually by castling, before opening lines
• •Do not bring the queen out early, where it is exposed to attack by lesser pieces
• •Avoid unnecessary pawn moves, which cannot be undone and create permanent weaknesses
• •Connect the rooks, meaning clear the back rank so they support each other

Opening study shifted from general guidance to specific preparation over the twentieth century and then changed character again with computers. Players once prepared by studying published games and analysis, which was available to everyone with access to the literature. Engines now analyse positions far beyond human capacity, so preparation involves finding a move deep in a known line that the opponent has not examined, which can produce a decisive advantage before either player has thought independently. Databases contain millions of games including nearly everything an opponent has played, so preparation is directed at specific individuals. The consequence is an arms race in which top players spend more time on preparation than on play, employ assistants, and deliberately choose unusual lines to escape the territory their opponent has mapped.

A player must decide what to play, and the decision involves more than which lines are strongest. A repertoire has to cover every reply the opponent can make, which means the work scales badly if the chosen systems are sharp and forcing, since each branch must be known accurately. Systems that aim for a particular structure regardless of what the opponent does reduce the memorisation enormously at some cost in objective ambition, which is why they are recommended to improving players. Style matters, since a line leading to locked positions suits a different player from one leading to open tactical ones. Changing repertoire is expensive in time and is done anyway when an opponent has prepared against the usual choice. And below master level, understanding the resulting positions is worth far more than knowing additional moves, which nearly every teacher says and nearly every student ignores.

The depth of preparation has had effects that the sport has responded to. Games between elite players sometimes follow known analysis to a drawn conclusion without either player producing an original idea, which is unsatisfying to watch and has increased draw rates in some formats. Formats that reduce the value of preparation have grown in popularity, including faster time controls where memory helps less, and a variant that randomises the starting arrangement of the back rank, which eliminates opening theory entirely and has been adopted for major events. Some players deliberately choose objectively inferior lines that lead to unfamiliar positions, trading a small theoretical disadvantage for a practical one in their favour. The underlying tension is between a game solved in part and a contest that is supposed to be between people.

The opening develops pieces, secures the king and contests the centre, and named sequences carry documented analysis of what follows. The aim is not to win early but to reach a middlegame you understand better than your opponent. Engines and databases turned preparation into a search for a move deep in a known line that a specific opponent has not examined.