30 May 2010

Lasker on Basic Opening Principles

After his discussion of basic opening principles, outlined in my post Knights before Bishops?, Lasker gave 64 pages of specific opening variations. He summarized these as follows (p.106, abridged again):-
  1. It is of great value for either side to dominate points.

  2. He who dominates central squares is better off than the ruler over wing squares.

  3. He will have gained the advantage in the opening who first succeeds in bringing Pawns and pieces to dominate the extended center.

  4. To fix the exchange value of the Pawns and pieces and the move... (see my post on Lasker's Table of Opening Values).

With the possible exception of that fourth rule, Lasker's considerations apply to all chess960 start positions. What can be learned from other authors of chess primers when they introduced the subject of chess openings?

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