I would Fix numbers 1 and 2. 1. Be mindful of your opponent's attacking moves toward your king early in the game and be mindful of a pawnstorm. 2. Don't copy your opponent's moves unless you have a good reason.
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1. Don't always be in a rush to castle early, or you may face a devastating pawn storm and early attack. In this instance, your opponent may make knight and bishop sacrifices you don't see or plan for, because the game may never get to an "endgame scenario" at all (early checkmate or resignation from desperate defensive sacrifices)
2. If you don't have great book knowledge (like me!), mirroring a superior opponents moves can often keep you from getting quickly destroyed!
3. The best non-forking check move (i.e. a check that doesn't win you a piece), is the double check! When you pull off a discovered check from two of your pieces attacking the opponents king simultaneously! In this scenario, your opponent cannot simply block your check and must move their king, keeping your attack tempo and maybe moving the opponent's king into a worsening position.
4. Knights move in a weird, non-intuitive fashion. I often spend more time considering knight moves and defending against them than with other pieces. If I lose a queen or rook and must resign a game early, it's almost always from a knight. It's easy to see a knight fork maybe one or two moves in advance, but where there is a series of attacks and moves, a knight fork can seemingly pop up out of nowhere! (basically, the knight can often be the piece that capitalizes on moving your opponent around).
5. Knights are better early, because they can "hook attack" in a busy crowded board. Bishops are better in defending a pawnrace endgame, knights take too long to get anywhere and sometimes ya gotta move two or three times just to hit a square that is very close to where you started! Sucks a lot of moves up and often you don't have the time
6. If you sacrifice a piece for an early or midgame attack, watch extra hard to avoid a forced queen trade. I find the queen nearly essential to pull off an early or midgame checkmate. If you lose your queen, the sacrificed piece will likely cost you the game, rather than winning it (which was your original intention).
7. Don't go out of your way to avoid piece trades...often if you decline a trade, it can permanently worsen your position and cost you the game. If you're not sure it's safer to trade.
8. You don't need to castle to win OR link your rooks or your rook and queen together. Often a king move 1 move north will pull this off, and a central king position can be great for defending pieces and winning pawnraces in the endgame.
9. As the number of pieces on the board declines, the better and more useful your king becomes! It's like a mini-queen in movement!
10. The best pawn trade, is when your capture or recapture immediately attacks one of your opponents major pieces (knight, bishop and up). Then your opponent has to react and you basically get to move again right away, stay on the attack!