opening
avoid opening the center when behind in development.
Rules for the player who owns a passed pawn
Rules for the player who owns a passed pawn: 1) Control the square directly in front of the pawn; 2) Trade all the minor pieces so that a Knight or Bishop can't block the pawn; 3) Keep the Queens on so the opponent's King won't feel comfortable ru...
Forced moves
I recommended that my students look for all captures and checks and especially capture checks when examining a sharp position. The point is that even if the capture or check is not useful immediately, it may help determine your best strategy so th...
Facing an unepected move in opening
In general, the best way to deal with any unexpected move in the opening is to simply fall back on the four opening guidelines: place a pawn or two in the center, castle, connect the Rooks, and then aim the Rooks. If you do those things you are gu...
Chess trap - Lasker
Playing against two bishops
if someone owns two Bishops you should trade one off.
Passed Pawns
A passed pawn is only useful if it is playing an active part in the game or if its owner has play elsewhere and intends to use it for endgame insurance. Most importantly, whoever controls the square directly in front of this pawn is doing well sin...
SHould I trade a rook for a bishop and knight?
Such a trade almost always favors the side with the two pieces. White is now winning the game. Don't forget: two pieces are much better than a rook!
X-ray Vision Defined
To apply X-Ray-Vision in chess means, that you never look at the chess pieces but to their energy lines. If you see a knight then you visualize the squares in your mind that are controlled by this knight.
Defending against knight
Steinitz always said that the way to beat Knights is to take away all their advanced squares.
Trading pawns
One of the most important principles of defending (and drawing) an inferior endgame is to trade pawns. Especially in minor piece endgames (endgames involving only bishops and knights) it is an important strategy, since - unlike rooks and queens - ...
Space
In general, if an opponent has more space, you should trade some pieces off (giving you more room to move about in), create your own spatial plus in another sector of the board, or use pawns to break open lines so your pieces can penetrate, or wea...
Transposition
To conclude our answer, pawn structures are the key to understanding transpositions. The more openings pawn formations you know, the more time you save over the board by not trying to figure out new plans in new positions
Queen's Gambit
The Queen's Gambit is a chess opening that starts with the moves: 1. d4 d52. c4 With 2.c4, White threatens to exchange a wing pawn (the c-pawn) for a center pawn (Black's d-pawn) and dominate the center with e2–e4. This is not a true gambit, as ...
Position of Rook
One of the monster rules of Rook endgames states that you should always place your Rooks behind passed pawns. It doesn't matter who's passed pawn it is, just place your Rook behind it
Where to place the king vrs knight
The general rule is to place the king on the color of the square on which the oppponent's knight stands.
Rules for passed pawns
Rules for the player who owns a passed pawn: 1) Control the square directly in front of the pawn; 2) Trade all the minor pieces so that a Knight or Bishop can't block the pawn; 3) Keep the Queens on so the opponent's King won't feel comfortable ru...
Bishops of opposite colors
In endings of bishops of opposite colors, it is important to understand that you should push your pawns to squares of the color of your opponent's bishop. If you advance them to the color of your bishop, you will surrender all control of the squar...
Passed pawns
The principles which are applicable are: 1.Passed pawns must be pushed. and 2.When you are better, advance your pawns
End game - King Pawn
A very important rule of an ending consisting of king and pawn versus king is that if the king gets to the 6th rank ahead of the pawn, it's a win.
Keep castle options open in Queens Gambit declined
With the flexible 9.Nge2 White keeps Black guessing. Will you castle long and then begin a kingside pawn assault? Castle short and play for e3
Prevent king from escaping
Before you bring up the heavy pieces for the final assault, you need to prevent the king's escape from the zone of operations. One all too often sees a novice player make a series of checks, chasing the opponent's king all over the board until it ...
