The early advance moves and how best to tackle them!

Hello Forum, 

I am still quite new to the game but have been trying hard to improve. I have a couple of beginner questions for which I have not been able to find a satisfactory answer on Youtube and chess help articles yet. 

I have now gotten a streak of about 20 Game Wins on the trot, but I am frustrated because all the wins came against opponents who blunder their games away despite my always feeling that I have much inferior poor defensive positions. I still somehow, keep winning.

The first question (from the point of view of me playing as White) is the (Opening principles breaking) move by my opponents advancing their Knights from c6 and f6 to either b4 or g4 towards my side of the board. 

Now this keeps happening in many of my games so there is no specific game example I can give here. 

I am very suspect of playing a3 or h3 Pawn moves to defend this attack for they can lead to ugly Double pawn positions and open up the corners on my side which I find uncomfortable. (I have learned in YouTube videos that double pawns are mostly a bad idea)

So I usually ignore these double knight moves early in the game but about 60% of the times, Those knights end up hitting me really hard by their aggressive positioning and when they get help from their Bishop or Queen, they threaten Mate in no time. My pieces are almost left Defending close to back- ranks all the time and they remain too cramped for space to be able to develop. Often, I don't even get a chance to develop because I am constantly defending the attack. 

Second question is about my opponent using either the Queen/Knight or the Queen/Bishop combination to threaten Mate to my Castled king, again very early in the games. Now, Castling is supposed to get my king to safety, But I am petrified of the move, because Aggressive opponents bring their Queen/Knight/Bishop combinations early close to my castled king and under pressure, I find that my other pieces can't participate on the king side to defend. Either of the 3 Pawns in front of my castled king are often forced to move to prevent mate and that leaves my king open without protection in a corner for more attacks by usually the opponent Queen assisted with 1 other piece. 

Now this may sound really silly, Since I have my own pieces to fight, But I find that my development keeps happening around the Queen side and therefore my pieces aren't able to Rush to the king's defense in time. 

My honest apologies if these questions are extremely basic to be asked here, But i honestly tried finding a proper approach to address the problem, but just couldn't find one. 

I would sincerely appreciate some help or pointers by kind senior members here.  

Without an example of what your are referring to, its going to be hard to give you an answer.  Much will depend on the position.

Please note: My comments are simply suggestions. I cannot be held liable for any loss of data, life or marbles due to following my instructions.

These are situations many of us find ourselves in when we are learning. We know early attacks are often premature, yet we find ourselves unable to defend against them.

A few basic things to reconsider...

First, don’t be afraid of defensive wing-pawn moves. a3 can support b4 to gain valuable space and pressure c5. h3 can provide breathing room for your king (assuming a kingside castle). h3 is also a juicy target for the c8 bishop so consider the openness of that diagonal. Wing pawns also create flanking counter play during the middle game. And they protect you from adventurous knights. But don’t spent to many moves on them early. Most early attacks come right up the middle and target f2/f7.

From the sounds of it, you are still struggling to control the center, and you are possibly blocking your pieces with your own pieces. (Nd2/Ne2 should be avoided if they block bishops and won’t/can’t be moved to better squares soon.) This leaves a lot of open spaces or undefended material on say d3 or e3 for knights to hop and fork things. Control the center, the enemy has nothing to gain and much to lose by attacking early. Knights, bishops and especially queens are easily repelled by judicious pawn and minor piece play in the center. My practice is to open with 1-2 pawns and 2-3 minor pieces and leave the big guns in support until I’ve opened up a line of attack.

And by all means castle! Yes, you must defend the castle, but it’s a lot easier than defending his majesty in the middle of the board. And it connects your major pieces for the fight on open files later on. Now, it’s not necessary to run to the castle immediately, but don’t delay with an aggressive opponent. Keep 2-3 pieces in the vicinity (one defender per attacker) and have replacements in position for recapture. When the attack is stalled you are in position to counter-attack.

These are general opening ideas. Easier said than done. Keep practicing, but also go over your early losses and find a better defensive move, or a better opening move that allows you more flexibility. Did you bring your pieces out in a coordinated way, controlling the same key squares? Or did you just bring them out randomly to “open with 2-3 pieces”? Throw some examples out here and see if someone has advice.

I’m sure the answers will start coming to you soon.