How Not to Play Chess

To complement my chess manual, I checked How Not to Play Chess by Eugene Znosko-Borovsky out of the library. This book contains only general chess advice, and though it's explained through examples, the advice stands on its own well-enough that I thought I'd post it here:

How Not to Play Chess

• Do not make mistakes; instead, understand that a cramped king can lead to loss of material or mate.
• Do not memorize opening variations; instead, understand the ideas behind the main lines of play.
• Do not believe all that you are told; instead, hold fast to the logic of fundamental rules without applying them illogically.
• Do not abandon the center to your adversary; instead, develop your game centrally to increase the strength of your pieces.
• Do not give up open lines; instead, seize them and hold them with your bishops, rooks, and queen.
• Do not create weak points for the enemy to seize; instead, establish a pawn skeleton that secures squares near your opponent's base without leaving holes near yours.
• Do not leave any piece where it has no range of action or is out of touch with your other pieces; instead, concentrate on co-ordinating your forces.
• Do not lose time; instead, complete your development earlier and press home your attack quicker than your opponent, without exchanging well-developed pieces for poorly-developed ones.
• Do not play too quickly; instead, fathom the peculiarities of the weaknesses, threats, and chances on either side.
• Do not be content with attacking an existing weakness; instead always seek to create others.
• Do not fail to analyze the position; instead, note everything on the board, which pieces are well- or ill-placed, and the strengths and weaknesses of the squares; if you have the advantage, attack; if your opponent has the advantage, defend; if either's advantage is small, play circumspectly.
• Do not seek the best move; instead, seek a realizable plan which will give you orientation.
• Do not think too soon about what your opponent can do; instead, first get clear what you want to do.
• Do not entangle yourself in a maze of calculations; instead, whenever your opponent's moves are not forced, ask yourself what plan your opponent may form to counter yours.
• Do not lose sight of your idea, however thick the fight; instead, have confidence in your judgment.
• Do not relax in the hour of victory; instead, beware of carelessness once the end game is reached.
• Do not omit to blockade an enemy passed pawn; instead, mechanically stop its advance with a piece, the less valuable the better.
  
  -- Eugene Znosko-Borovsky