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A Collection of Chess Wisdom
General Principles and Guidelines
“Chess is a game of understanding, not memory.”
Eugene Znosko-Borovsky
In chess, knowing what to do is half the battle; knowing
when to do it is the other half. –Unknown
The Center – Play for the center. Occupy, guard and influence it. Drive away
enemy pieces that control it.
The Initiative – White, having the first move, starts with the initiative.
Don’t waste time or moves. Be aggressive. Try to attack in ways that build
your game. Combine defense with counterattack. Don’t be afraid to gambit a
pawn for an opening attack, but don’t sacrifice without sound reasons. Don’t
waste time capturing wing pawns at the expense of development. Use the
initiative to apply pressure against your opponent's position.
Development – Use all your pieces. Make only necessary pawn moves to develop
pieces. Aim to develop a different piece on each turn. Move out minor pieces
quickly. Castle early. Don’t move the same piece twice without a good
reason. Develop with threats.
Castling – Prepare to castle early in the game, especially if the center is
open. Avoid moving pawns in front of your castled king and creating
weaknesses there. Castle for defensive and offensive reasons - to safeguard
your king and to connect & activate your rooks.
Pawns – In general, make only two pawn moves in the opening, usually the
center pawns. Move them one or two squares ahead, preferably two if
possible. Bad pawn moves create weak squares and unnecessary pawn moves
waste time that could be better used to develop pieces. Don’t block center
pawns by moving bishops in front of them. Don’t move pawns in front of the
castled king position. Trade pawns to avoid loss of material, to open lines,
or to save time.
Knights – Develop knights toward the center. White’s to f3 and c3 or d2, and
Black’s to f6 and c6 or d7. Develop them elsewhere only if absolutely
necessary or for a specific purpose. In general, you should develop knights
before bishops, since it’s usually much clearer early in the opening where
the knights should go, but you usually have to see how the position develops
to know where the bishops should go. Avoid getting knights pinned to your
king or queen by bishops, and by rooks on the e or d file.
Bishops – Place bishops on open diagonals. Use them to guard center squares,
pin enemy knights or defensively to break pins. Flank them if part of a plan
to control squares of one color. Avoid unnecessary exchanges with knights.
Rooks – Put them on open files, half-open files, files that are likely to be
opened, or behind advanced passed pawns. Double them, so that they support
each other. Use them to attack the uncastled enemy king along the e-file.
Place them on the 7th rank, using them to attack pawns still on the
opponent's second rank and to limit the enemy king to the back row. Use them
to cut off the enemy king. In the endgame, it's often better to sacrifice a
pawn and activate your rooks than to tie them down to passive defense.
The Queen – Don’t move the queen out too early in the game - she is too
easily attacked with tempo. Avoid developing it where it can be attacked.
Don’t use it if weaker pieces would suffice. Don't use the queen to go
chasing pawns when it takes her away from the scene of the real action. Use
it to set up multiple attacks, alone or in combination with other pieces.
Don’t be afraid to exchange queens to gain some type of advantage, or avoid
some type of problem
Analysis – Evaluate the major elements: material, pawn structure, mobility,
time, space, and king safety. Look for information about the position by
asking yourself questions about each of these factors.
Planning – Plan early. Don’t change plans without good reason, but be
flexible. Modify your plan if desirable or necessary, as the position
changes. Base your plan on a thorough and honest analysis and evaluation of
the position, noting strengths and weakness for both sides, and accounting
for all threats. Assess the imbalances and all other factors in the position
and form your plan based on these factors.
The Endgame – Threaten to make new queens by advancing passed pawns. Force
your opponent to surrender material trying to stop you. Activate the king as
soon as you safely can. Trade pieces, not pawns, when ahead in material.
Place rooks actively behind enemy pawns. Place them on the 7th rank. Keep
them active and don’t tie them down to defense. After queening a pawn, use
it to force mate. |
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