Bringing every piece off the back rank, once each, before starting anything else.
Why it matters
Development is getting pieces off the back rank onto squares where they do something. The side that finishes first usually gets to attack, because attacks need pieces and the opponent's are still at home.
Speed is measured in moves, not intentions. Every pawn move that does not help a piece come out, and every piece moved twice, is a move the opponent spends developing.
See it on a board
Seven moves, and White has two pieces out, the king safe and the rook already off the corner. Nothing clever happened: everything simply came out once.
Checked: the position really has the feature described.
How to play it
- Knights before bishops, towards the centre.
- Castle early — it develops a rook and takes the king out of the middle in one move.
- Do not bring the queen out early, and do not move the same piece twice unless there is a concrete reason.
At each level
The same idea, said the way it is taught at each age.
Pawn · ages 3–6
Get your knights and bishops out early. Then castle. Try not to move the same piece twice.
Knight · ages 4–6
Count the developed pieces after ten moves — yours and theirs. If you are two behind, you should be defending, not attacking.
What goes wrong
- Making three or four pawn moves in the opening while the pieces stay at home.
- Developing a piece to a square where it will be attacked and have to move again.
Questions people ask
- How many moves should development take?
- Roughly the first ten. If you are castled with both knights and both bishops out by move ten, you have done the opening properly whatever the position looks like.