chess.com rules of thumb

when ever your opponent moves look at the squares that have been freed for new opportunities                               

If your attacking your opponents king, and you dont know exacly where to put the queen, put it on a square that is the same colour as the square your opponents king is standing on.

If your opponent has a knight on example f4, that you cant remove from the great post, put a biscop on f1.

Both are from the legend Bent Larsen.

Don't move the pawns in front of your castled King without good reason in the middlegame.

Don't move pawns anytime without a good reason.  But, I agree, it seems beginners move the castle- pawns not thinking of their need to remain there to form the castled King's protection. 

i don't understand the logic of the queen being on the same color as the king ?

see post 173

all i can figure is to avoid stalemate, but i am not sure if that works. 

The idea is that a queen on dark squares is better able to attack on the dark squares.  It may not seem so because her range of movement is so great, but because of the diagonals her ability to attack along one color or another changes depending on where she stands.

I mean, the tip sounds a little far fetched especially coming form someone as strong as Larsen.  Often strong players have a lot of unspoken qualifiers where in real games they wouldn't follow these tips and always have a good reason not to.

But that's the idea behind it anyway.

thanks orangehonda it seems like the best tactical moves come when you have you pieces stacked or clustered are their any rules about this?

Undefended pieces and or a weakened king position points to the possibility of a tactic.  Pieces that have little protection are also often targets.  One of the first things a player starts learning to recognize after doing many tactical puzzles (even if they don't realize it) is undefended pieces and a loose king position.  These are the conditions for good tactical moves.

As for stacked or clustered pieces, there are batteries (lining up a rook and rook, rook and queen, or queen and bishop) which can be useful in attacking.  When thinking about a mating attack, you can count the number of attackers and defenders available to both sides.  In very general terms, for a successful attack you usually need 2 more attackers than your opponent has defenders.

chess.com rules of thumb

when a thread has been hijacked with waffle pictures, don't try to bring the subject back on topic but comment on how you like your waffles

-Never play ChessNetwork in bullet chess for money.

-Never pull the mask off Batgirl, then ask her about Morphy's shoes, then ask her for a quick game of chess to see if she plays like Morphy.

-Never swear at Kohai when she is trying to help you or anyone else.

-Never tell Jeremy Siman he has octopus eyes or question his avatar.

-Never try to play blitz chess at chess.com on your kindle.

-Never offer a draw when you are 3 pieces down, including your Queen and and you have 10 seconds left to your opponents 3 minutes, and your opponent is rated 1,000 points more than you, and you are about to be checkmated in 3 moves (happens a lot with me).

-Never tell a chess author you have all his books when you don't, or ask for all his books (he gave away his extra copies a long time ago).  Check with the publisher.

-Never tell a player he just played a stupid opening, especially if you lost to it 8 times in a row.

-Never post a game position that you are still playing an ongoing game and ask for help or advice.  You might actually lose because of it.

-Never put opening analysis in the Endgame Study forum and expect it to be analyzed to the endgame.

-Never start trash talking players if you don't know them, or you may get trashed yourself.  However, if they have diabled chat, trash them all you want.

-Never try to translate your chess moves with someone you are playing in Finalnd.  You will never Finnish.

-Never try to beat Crazychessplaya in the Endless Quiz unless you have lots of time available and can answer 65,535 questions without missing a single question and skip most of Bill Wall's questions if they are too hard.

-Never take up chess boxing with the chess.com computers.  You will get knocked out in the chess part and the boxing part.

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-Never complain about the quality of the audio in the chess.com videos when you have muted your sound and don't know how to turn on your speakers.

-Never exercise with chess.com's computerworkout without first consulting your doctor.   You may have Alzheimer's disease.  Start slow and at your own pace.  Then work up to a longer endurance.

-Never panic if your opponent plays the Bongcloud or Hammerschlag opening unless he is rated 1,000 points more than you.  He will know the opening and you won't.  Wait for 500 Bongcloud/Hammerschlag Miniatures, coming out soon in epub and Kindle format.

-In the endgame, never place both of your bishops on the same color.

-Never get upset if someone calls you a cheater (unless you are a cheater).  Never post personal chats to forums to get even.  Just eat a plate of waffles to calm you down.

-Never apologize for your poor English when you are from Bulgaria.  Your worst English is better than our best Bulgarian.

If you have an idea for a new chess variant, please post it. The world needs new chess variants as chess hasn't stood the test of time.

It hasn't stood the test of time!?? It was invented in a recognizable form around 600 A.D.!! Still, heres one that I wish were an official rule.

If your username is jtt96 and you are down a queen or more, you can claim a win. :)

For real -
Either player can claim a win if they are a queen or more behind.

If you want existing variants that should be added to chess.com, I would suggest:
King and Pawn games (good for learning and for 30 sec. blitz.)
Alice Chess
Shogi and Xiangqui
Balanced Marsaliese Chess

This is just to start. Sorry for the spelling errors.

it seems like   bill wall  is famous. thanks for commenting although I'm not sure what all your comments mean. maybe this is a bad topic .Is that book your holding up any good? lev alburt is my favorite chess author.

I'm wondering are there  any general rules for getting a draw when playing a higher rated player?

Yes. Play well, achieving a better position then offer a draw.

don't offer a draw when clearly losing

kco this is a good point but i was thinking of trading queens early or closing the position.

to a higher rated player ? keep playing.

TEN OPENING RULES

1. OPEN with a CENTER PAWN.
2. DEVELOP with threats.
3. KNIGHTS before BISHOPS.
4. DON'T move the same piece twice.
5. Make as FEW PAWN MOVES as possible in the opening.
6. DON'T bring out your QUEEN too early.
7. CASTLE as soon as possible, preferably on the KING SIDE.
8. ALWAYS PLAY TO GAIN CONTROL OF THE CENTER.
9. Try to maintain at least ONE PAWN in the center.
10. DON'T SACRIFICE without a clear and adequate reason.

For a sacrificed pawn you must:
a) GAIN THREE TEMPI,
b) DEFLECT the enemy QUEEN,
c) PREVENT CASTLING,
d) BUILD UP a strong attack.

TEN MIDDLEGAME RULES

1. Have all your moves fit into definite plans.
   Rules of Planing:

      a) A plan MUST be suggested by SOME FEATURE IN THE POSITION.
      b) A plan MUST be based on SOUND STRATEGIC PRINCIPLES.
      c) A plan MUST be FLEXIBLE,
      d) CONCRETE, and
      e) SHORT.

   Evaluating a Position:

      1) MATERIAL,
      2) PAWN STRUCTURE,
      3) PIECE MOBILITY,
      4) KING SAFETY,
      5) ENEMY THREATS

    

2. When you are material AHEAD, EXCHANGE as many pieces as possible, especiallyQUEENS.
3. AVOID serious pawn WEAKNESSES.
4. In CRAMPED POSITIONS free yourself by EXCHANGING.
5. DON'T bring your KING out with your OPPONENT'S QUEEN on the board.
6. All COMBINATIONS are based on DOUBLE ATTACK.
7. If your opponent has ONE or MORE pieces EXPOSED, look for a COMBINATION.
8. IN SUPERIOR POSITIONS, to ATTACK the ENEMY KING, you must OPEN a file (or less often a diagonal) for your HEAVY PIECES (QUEEN and ROOKS).
9. IN EVEN POSITIONS, CENTRALIZE the action of ALL your PIECES.
10. IN INFERIOR POSITIONS, the best DEFENSE is COUNTER-ATTACK, if possible.

TEN ENDGAMES RULES

1. To win WITHOUT PAWNS, you must be at least a ROOK or TWO MINOR PIECESahead (two knight excepted).
2. The KING must be ACTIVE in the ENDING.
3. PASSED PAWNS must be PUSHED (PPMBP).
4. The EASIEST endings to win are PURE PAWN endings.
5. If you are ONLY ONE PAWN ahead, EXCHANGE PIECES, not pawns.
6. DON'T place your PAWNS on the SAME COLOR SQUARES as your BISHOP.
7. BISHOPS are BETTER than KNIGHTS in all but BLOCKED pawn positions.
8. It is usually worth GIVING UP A PAWN to get a ROOK ON THE SEVENTH RANK.
9. ROOKS belong BEHIND PASSED PAWNS (RBBPP).
10. BLOCKADE PASSED PAWNS with the KING.