Ducks of the first order
There are two sitting ducks that are around from the get go: The center The King While hunting down these ducks, sitting ducks from the second order might well land on your position: Outpost square Weak pawn Invasion square Promotion square Let's focus on the center and the king From the opening on we focus on the center (d5, e5 for white and e4, d4 for black). We pile up our pieces behind the pawns. We are loading the spring, as it were. During development, we focus on the tempo battle piece movement must have a purpose. Usually that means adding to the domination of the center. piece movement with gain of tempo is preferred piece movement which adds a pin is preferred a development square where the piece cannot be kicked away is preferred a development square where the piece doesn't enter a pin is preferred Pieces that have no effect on the center are pseudo developed. Spring into action Once the center is dominated and all pieces are developed, the central pawns start to ro