1. Simplifying isn't always good. Important to trade the right pieces to prevent counterplay. be careful esp when there are imbalances. suppose you have a knight for two pawns, if you trade down to N vs 2 p you can't win
2. idk but I guess tactics are the most important
3, 4. Depends on the opening. Sometimes your opponent is in an aggressive mood and wants opposite sides castling, then you may want a calm game, sometimes delaying castling is better.
5. yeah usually
6. bishop pair is definitely better than knight pair in endgame, when position is open
7. when it enters endgame phase then probably should activate king
Well, really tell me if I'm wrong. I am not a pro but I have certain thoughts and I want to see if these thoughts are 'correct' or not. Anyway, let's start.
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1. Simplifying games are mostly very good under material advantage / in equal material without giving up too much positional advantage.
Well, I tend to trade pieces quickly. I don't want to get squeezed by an attack that comes out of nowhere. Fewer pieces mean less danger to me. That's good, is that?
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2. Middlegames and Endgames are more important than Openings to beginners.
Middlegames and endgames are probably the longest part before the results. We have to trade carefully and build attacks or a solid position for a win / a draw. Endgames are important as promotion is often involved when a pawn is the difference between two sides. Openings are usually less fatal (although there can be opening traps like Halloween gambit etc.). Did I misunderstand the importance of opening or this is actually on the right track to me?
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3. Castling early is better than not castling at an early stage under most circumstances, provided that the pawn structures are not damaged.
By early stage, I mean around move 5 to move 10. If there is nothing emergency with things in the middle of the board, I guess castling makes sense?
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4. In general, kingside castle is better than queenside castle.
I come to this thought, and there are some reasons behind this.
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5. To prevent loss in opposite castling battles, I should take the initiative to attack the opponent king.
Recently quite some games I played involved opposite castling battles. I tried to use a defensive approach to deal with the incoming attack, and find it almost impossible to lose pawns / a piece, not to say holding a draw. Then, I realized that attacking quickly may be a good way for me to win, which is true for most opposite castling games I played in the past weeks.
Let's assume it is something similar to the above. To attack queenside quickly, I usually first push for b2-b4, followed by b4-b5 / a2-a4 / c2-c4 (Ne2 before c4 in the above position). Is that the correct way to attack? If inaccurate, what are the improvements in the attack?
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6. If you have knights and your opponent have bishops, simplify it into an endgame, or vice versa.
Well, the bishop pair can do really a lot in the middlegame once it finds a hole in your pawn structure. On the other hand, knights are very versatile that can attack quickly, especially when there aren't many pieces left. Knights may find many good moves in endgames, so it is better to trade off the opponent's knights before entering endgames. Of course, the bishop pair is strong in endgames, but it is weaker than the knight pairs (or not I'm not sure?).
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7. Castling when both sides don't have many pieces (without queens) is still meaningful.
What I think is that king safety is always the most important thing. It is probably not a good idea to let my opponent develop with tempo like king checks, especially when my opponents have annoying knights. Is this correct, or something more helpful (eg. pawn push, piece development) should be done?
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Please give me an idea of these thoughts, whether there are flaws that are not negligible, or how these thoughts should be more deeply enforced in my mind. I would be very grateful if you could spend a few minutes answering one / two of my thoughts on chess. Trophies will be sent if you could provide useful answers or replies. Thank you for your time reading the post and thanks for your reply in advance!
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EDIT: COMPULSORY QUESTION
This is a question, not a theory or a thought I generated.
I find myself in constant trouble facing the Queen's Pawn Opening. Can anyone recommend a book opening for me to deal with Queen's Pawn Opening? I don't want to get +1.5 as black in just 10 moves. Its too much pressure for me. QGD then what? Or other openings you think are 'better'? Or openings with a bit less theory? Thanks.