- Develop your pieces quickly.
- Control the centre.
- Put your pieces on squares that give them maximum space.
- Try to develop your knights towards the center.
- A knight on the rim is dim.
- Don’t take unnecessary chances.
- Play aggressive.
- Calculate forced moves first.
- Always ask yourself, “Can he put me in check or win a piece?”
- Have a plan. Every move should have a purpose.
- Assume your opponent’s move is his best move.
- Ask yourself, “Why did he move there?” after each move.
- Play for the initiative and controlling the board.
- If you must lose a piece, get something for it if you can.
- When behind, exchange pawns.When ahead, exchange pieces.
- If you are losing, don’t give up fighting. Look for counter-play.
- Don’t play unsound moves unless you are losing badly.
- Don’t sacrifice a piece without good reason.
- If you are in doubt of an opponent’s sacrifice, accept it.
- Attack with more that just one or two pieces.
- Do not make careless pawn moves. They cannot move back.
- Do not block in your bishops.
- Bishops of opposite colours have the greatest chance of drawing.
- Try not to move the same piece twice or more times in a row.
- Exchange pieces if it helps your development.
- Don’t bring your queen out early.
- Castle soon to protect your king and develop your rook.
- Develop rooks to open files.
- Put rooks behind passed pawns.
- Study rook endgames.They are the most common endgames.
- Don’t let your king get caught in the center.
- Don’t castle if it brings your king into greater danger.
- After castling, keep a good pawn formation around your king.
- If you only have one bishop, put your pawns on its opposite colour.
- Trade pawns pieces when ahead in material or when under attack.
- If cramped, free your game by exchanging material.
- If your opponent is cramped, don’t let him get any freeing exchanges.
- Study openings you are comfortable with.
- Play over entire games, not just the opening.
- Blitz chess is helpful in recognizing chess patterns. Play often.
- Study annotated games and try to guess each move.
- Stick with just a few openings with White, and a few openings with Black.
- Record your games and go over them, especially the games you lost.
- Show your games to higher rated opponents and get feedback from them.
- Use chess computers and databases to help you study and play more.
- Everyone blunders. The champions just blunder less often.
- When it is not your move, look for tactics and combinations.
- Try to double rooks or double rook and queen on open files.
- Always ask yourself, “Does my next move overlook something simple?”
- Don’t make your own plans without the exclusion of the opponent’s threats.
- Watch out for captures by retreat of an opponent’s piece.
- Do not focus on one sector of the board. View the whole board.
- Write down your move first before making that move if it helps.
- Try to solve chess puzzles with diagrams from books and magazines.
- It is less likely that an opponent is prepared for off-beat openings.
- Recognize transposition of moves from main-line play.
- Watch your time and avoid time trouble.
- Bishops are worth more than knights except when they are pinned in.
- A knight works better with a bishop than another knight.
- It is usually a good idea to trade down into a pawn up endgame.
- Have confidence in your game.
- Play in as many rated events as you can.
- Try not to look at your opponent’s rating until after the game.
- Always play for a win.
- Always take the en passant no matter what.
Chess Principles
