A common mistake among beginners is to spend too much time studying one specific opening. This often leads to the player's skills becoming unbalanced and leaves the player unable to cope when an opponent uses an opening she or he is not accustomed to. To remedy this, beginners should simply stick to a group of "Opening Do's and Don'ts" and focus more on their endgame.

Opening Do's

• Take control of the center and take it quickly
• Develop knights before bishops and bishops before rooks
• Castle early, it may be the only chance you get
• Have a plan of attack, aim for the opponent's weak spot
• Make moves that develop your pieces and threaten your opponent at the same time
• Beware the scholar's mate!

Opening Don'ts

• Don't develop your queen too early, it allows your opponent to develop pieces while harassing your queen
• Don't attack pieces that your opponent was planning on moving anyway
• Don't move the same piece more than once
• Don't move more that two Pawns

Remember that there are exceptions to all these rules; use them as a guideline only!