Recently I completed a chess course on chess.com whose name was roots of positional understnading and i want to present some of the ideas mrntioned in that course for those who cant afford membership.So enjoy.
50 Golden Rules-
1.The side who have two bishops can try not to exchange one bishop because when we exchange any bishop then we already lose control over the colour complex of the bishop's colour.
2.Always try and find moves that accomplish as many goals as possible.
3.When the centre is closed or in your control then try to play on the wings too.
4.You should always be looking for the ways to imprvoe the positon of your pieces,and if this mean you have to take a backward step,then so be it.
5.When you have two obvious ways to capture a piece then try to calculate both of them because only one of themcan be obvious and other might be good.
6.When you have a passed pawn,don't let your opponent to blockade it.If he does,you must find a way to break that blockade.
7.When your opponent is passive because of the activeness of your pieces then we should try to make our position more active and we should try to stop any kind of simple counterplay of our opponent.
8.If there is any weak squares in opponent's camp then try to exploit it.Like in Ruy Lopez we have nice strong square on d5-f5 which white can try to exploit with his minor pieces and sometimes with major pieces too.
9.Try to exchange your own bad bishop from your opponent's good one.
10.Sometimes a little building move to push the opponent over the edge.(Atleast near to it).
11.Don't let your opponent's tactical displays pull your mind aways from the key positional issues.
12.Always check your opponent's last move's plans and ideas.And try to make a counterplan to stop your opponent's play.And if you are able to make it with a threat then its aweosome.
13.When your opponent is try to make threats against you,then try to think that is their threats are really harmful and if your analysis say that their threats are harmless then allow him to make his plan and go ahead.
14.If your faward move make our opponent's task tougher to develope then go ahead.
15.If your opponent have weak pan structure then try to make it more weak.
16.When you have the knights then try to close the position.Knights can jump wo they are best in close positions.
17.Bishops are the monsters in the open positions.Because they are long range pieces.If we wants to open up then board then sometimes pawn sacrifices in the centre are availabe.We have to look for these kind of scrifices in our games.
18.Knights needs advanced support points if they are going to prove their worth!Never hesitate to create such a square if you can.
19.The concept of trading one advantage for another one is really important.Like if we have a bishop pair advnatage and trade of one of the bishop give our opponent a long term weakness in the form of IQP then we can try to exchange our bishop then.
20.Many times if your opponent have the bishop pair then your plan is to close the position but sometimes when you are ahead in developement then it might be good for you to open up the position for active play.
21.Creating an artificial support points for your pieces is also a good idea.
22.For attack,you must first tighten up your grip in the centre,limit your enemy's counterplay and only then begin your own attack.
23.If you reach a position in which your pieces are stuck and your opponent's pieces are active then try to activate your pieces even in the cost of the pawn.But with wel calcualtions because pawn down might be crush you in the endgame.
24.Try to play on both wings.If you have good control over the one side of the board then try to control the other side of the board and try yo play for whole board's control .
25.Never let one of your pieces sit out of the action.Insist that it participates.
26.Multi-purpose moves are always pleasure to find.
27.It is really important to see what your opponent intends and if it will prove bothersome ,stop it in its track.
28.In and endgame your king can also join the battle.
29.When you are castlng on the opposite wings,then try to make a pawn storm as fast as you can.
30.Steinitz's advice: When started that the way to beat knights is to take all their advanced square away from them.
31.If you have an open file,then try to dominate it with your heavy pieces.
32.If you wants to attack any particular square in your enemy's camp then try to exchange the defenders of that square by exchanges or sacrifices.
33. Placing your pieces on multi-purpose squsres is always a good idea.
34.If you get tempos then get it .They are the most fabulous things in ches.Ex-Developement with tempos is always nice.
35.Sometimes its very important to first stop your's opponent''s play before continueing your own plans.
36.Don't leave your pieces unprotected.
37.The owner of the passed pawn wants to exchange minor pieces (so they can't be used to block the pawn),and he also wants to retain the queen or at least one rook over the board.
38.When a passed pawn exists,the most important square on the board is the one directly in fornt of the pawn.This means that both sides will fight hard to control that point.
39.Knights are the bad defender against the outside passed pawns.
40.In and endgame,do everything you can to bring your king to its most active post.
41.The ability to create holes for your knights to live on can't be overestimated.
42.Positional chess is important.But you never know when you will be called upon to save yourself with a display of tactical acumen.
43.Loosening up the bishop's diagonal.Sometimes a safe,simple move is all it takes to highlight your advantage.
44.Try and stop enemy threats by playing the moves you intended to play even if no threat existed.
45.You can only start a wing attack if you own the centre or if the centre is closed.and his pawns get to advance with gain of time.
46.When you have your opponent in the palm of your hand,don't hesitate to tighten things up before embarking on the final ,decisivve plan.
47.When you castles in the opposite sides then try to make your pieces active and then go for the pawn storm.Try to open up the lines against your enemy king even in the cost of the pawn.
48.Patience,and the ability to forsee and eliminating enemy play,are two of the most important skills you can have in chess.
49.When you have better developement then try to open up the centre .
50.When your opponent is playing on the flanks then you must do something active in the centre ,mean you have to play on the centre