1. Look at your opponent's move.

2. Make the best possible move. 

3. Have a plan.

4. Know what the pieces are worth.

5. Develop quickly and well.

6. Control the center.

7. Keep your king safe.

8. Know when to trade pieces.

9. Think about the endgame.

10. Always be alert.

Thanx for the tips I lov'em

I find this list to be very superficial.

1. Look at your opponent's move.

Just as important, look at your opponent's next possible moves!

 -- Is my opponent threatening any of my pieces

 -- Is my opponent threatening a fork, skewer, etc.

 -- Did my opponent's last move uncover a discovered attack

 -- Did my opponent weaken any part of their position or hang material

 

2. Make the best possible move

Did this really even have to be said? I think better is to expect your opponent to make the best possible move! This means, don't threaten mate if the only reason to make that move is to threaten mate. Your opponent will defend against the mate threat and then what have you gotten yourself?

 

3. Have a plan

Know what a plan is and what a plan isn't. "On this move I plan to improve the position of my bishop." is not a plan. "I plan to attack this piece so my opponent has to move it." is not a plan. A plan means a long term goal. You want to increase an advantage you have in either material, space, mobility, square control, etc.

 

4. Know what the pieces are worth

Without further information, pawn = 1, knight,  bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9 is a rough guideline. knight = 3 .15, bishop = 3.25, rook = 4.5 are reasonable adjustments.  But each piece should be regarded according to the current position. Good bishops are better than bad bishops, the bishop pair is better than two other minor pieces by about 0.5, knights are best on advanced posts that can't be controlled by enemy pawns, passed pawns are more valuable especially when they are protected, doubled and isolated pawns are less valuable, etc.

 

5. Develop quickly and well

Some pawn moves are necessary, some pawn moves are not. Make no more pawn moves than necessary. Get all your pieces in the game. Don't leave your king in the center. Make your pieces coordinate with each other. For example, If you aim to get your knight to an outpost, you can use your bishops, pawns, and other knight to remove defenders of that post.

 

6. Control the center.

You can occupy the center with pawns, or you can undermine your opponent's pawn center.  Your pieces should be near the center because this is where they have the most influence and flexibility.

 

7. Keep your king safe.

Castle early, but not too early! Make sure you castle to a safe side of the board. Anytime you push pawns in front of your king you create weaknesses the opponent can attack.

 

8. Know when to trade pieces

Generally, don't trade pieces unless it improves your position in some way. If you are being attacked you can diffuse the attack by trading pieces. If you are ahead in material you can make an eventual pawn promotion simpler by trading pieces (but don't trade pawns!).

 

9. Think about the endgame

Weaknesses in the endgame include pawn islands, isolated pawns, passive rooks, inactive king. As the endgame approaches, prepare for these things! If your opponent is better prepared for an endgame, don't willfully trade pieces.

 

10. Always be alert.

What does this mean? don't sleep during your games?

_Patel> 8. Know when to trade pieces

Loomis> Generally, don't trade pieces unless it improves your position in some way. If you are being attacked you can diffuse the attack by trading pieces. If you are ahead in material you can make an eventual pawn promotion simpler by trading pieces (but don't trade pawns!).

Good tips. For more on when to trade pieces, a couple resources:

The Art of Exchanging Pieces - A fee-based course exploring exchanging to create favorable minor piece imbalances.

Strategy of 'My System' lessons 2 and 3 - A free course based on My System exploring exchanging to gain time or avoid losing time.

Good resources, likesforests. Another example is in my blog post on knight vs. bishop where you can see an example of exchanging pieces to highlight a minor piece imbalance (good knight vs. bad bishop).

Thanks guys for posting comments here I appreciate it.

Those are 10 basic tips and I found very intresting so I posted here so we all player could share each others view here. Thank you for all to posted comments here and talk on topic. Please keep writing about your view so other player could understand about it better ways.

This thread looks like it'll really help my playing. It goes thoroughly into my Bookmarks!

for beginers and people like me who r trying to get past the 1200 mark

yep ... GREAT TOP TIPS :) THANX

_Patel wrote:

1. Look at your opponent's move.

2. Make the best possible move. 

3. Have a plan.

4. Know what the pieces are worth.

5. Develop quickly and well.

6. Control the center.

7. Keep your king safe.

8. Know when to trade pieces.

9. Think about the endgame.

10. Always be alert.

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I belive everything will be fine if you stick to your second point ;)

always be alert is kinda stupid, but the others are nice, not that any human can master them (thats why they call masters masters, cos they master.)

they are all good tips ... definatley going 2 keep them in mind when playin