Hey All,

Would you help me create a checklist of some general rules of thumb to abide by? 

Here are my thoughts:

-My knowledge of openings is somewhat limited, and I can sometimes be caught with my pants down. However, in my openings (and throughout games) I've learned to avoid isolating and doubling up pawns (and instead try to ruin pawn formation for an opponent)

- Unless you can create a pass pawn

- while at the same time at least equaling material.

- Also, I prevent stripping pawns from either side of the board in order to allow for castle, and try my hardest to maintain them on the first line until much later

- Clear the back row (rank?) for both rooks.

- Control the center to increase maneuverability.

Limited checklist (to reflect my limited knowledge) to start off with.

Knights should be in the centre, bishops should be on long diagonals (either the a1-h8 or ones next to it). If you're heading into an endgame try and preserve pawns on the edges (easier to queen). Rooks should be on open files or half open files (either no or only 1 pawn on the column).

If you're going into an endgame with less material than your opponent try and leave them with a bishop or knight and concentrate on killing their pawns. Checkmate with bishop and knight is very difficult, but every pawn is a potential queen.

Garromark -- My knowledge of openings is somewhat limited, and I can sometimes be caught with my pants down. However, in my openings (and throughout games) I've learned to avoid isolating and doubling up pawns (and instead try to ruin pawn formation for an opponent)...

As one improves at chess one "passes thru" many ideas.  Strategies that work at one level of the game sometimes need to be modified, or even dropped altogether. 

You are absolutely right there are advantages to avoiding isolated or doubled up pawns and by inflicting bad pawn structure on your opponent you can win games.  But, there can also be costs and penalites to avoiding isolated or doubled pawns. One might lose initiative, or be forced to allow a well-posted minor piece to be exchanged, in order to preserve pawn structure -- and that might be too dear a price. One can also "gambit" pawn structure rather like the gambiting of a pawn -- sacrifice sturdy pawn structure (and the superior endgame such structure generally provides) for initiative, development, and chances in the middlegame.

There is a great deal of theory around one particular powerful isolated pawn in particular, the isolated Queen's pawn. This isolated d-file pawn comes up in many lines of the Queen's Gambit opening.

Here's a web page http://members.aol.com/manusfealy2/ch47.htm with an  excellent beginning discussion of the isolated d-pawn and a superbly chosen and annotated game that shows with great clarity how the Soviet Grand Master Paul Keres uses his isolated d-pawn to secure the win.

novagold wrote:

If you're heading into an endgame try and preserve pawns on the edges (easier to queen).

Is this true?  In my experience it has been the other way around but I guess it depends on the situation.