Chess Principles of Play, #101
21 Jun '12 08:482 editsChess Principles of Play, #101
1) In the beginning, seek out games with stronger opponents (how else will you ever learn); 2) As you progress, play opponents with similar ratings; 3) Once you're winning (and drawing) more games than you're losing, return to Principle 1); 4) Make it a point to successfully learn a few opening lines and defenses, before getting too fancy and experimental; 5) With E4-E6, as black, it's usually prudent to play E7-E6 and A7-A6 as early as possible; 6) Think twice before moving too many pawns (remember that once moved those foot soldiers can never retreat or get back home);
7) Get the knights and bishops off their pleasant seats and into the fray before even thinking about allowing rooks and her majesty across the great divide of the center board; 8) When in doubt, castle (early and often whenever possible); 9) Look for or attempt to create the opportunity to swap queens against stronger opponents (those gals are far more dangerous in a stronger opponents hands than yours); 10) Use the RHP 'Flip Board' feature to see the battlefield from the opposing general's eyes, before entering your predetermind move (you'll be surprised at how many times you'll trash the original move in favor of a new one; 11) Don't be afraid of doubled pawns, providing you've still got at least one bishop in play; 12) By the same token, strive to eliminate at least one bishop from your opponents arsenal; 13) Against all opponents, adhere to the principle of simplifying when ahead and complicating when behind; 14) When you're grappling between several possible moves and aren't quite sure which one to go with walk away, sleep on it, save the decision for another day; 15) Don't be reluctant to employ the psychological warfare ploy of making high risk/reward openings and defenses for the sake of momentary shock value;
16) Try to avoid wide open, slashing attack and counter-attack openings against far superior players, by fortifying your humble real estate with closed, hedgerow type positions; 17) If and whenever a game is clearly lost, give it it up by resigning gracefully and inviting a new one; 18) Before engaging first time opponents do a little homework, by studying his or her style of play in recent games; 19) You're a permanent student of the game, so read and acquire a modest library of chess books beginning with MCO; 20) Consider keeping a casual chess diary to note new observations, insights and possible answers to unanswered questions; 21 Best kept secret, even among friends, is that often the correct course of action is no action, i.e., making what an early mentor, E.M. Reubens of the Boylton Chess Club in Boston referred to as "a high class waiting move". Thanks for reading this far. I'm looking forward to reading your own'Chess Principles of Play'. -gb
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1) In the beginning, seek out games with stronger opponents (how else will you ever learn); 2) As you progress, play opponents with similar ratings; 3) Once you're winning (and drawing) more games than you're losing, return to Principle 1); 4) Make it a point to successfully learn a few opening lines and defenses, before getting too fancy and experimental; 5) With E4-E6, as black, it's usually prudent to play E7-E6 and A7-A6 as early as possible; 6) Think twice before moving too many pawns (remember that once moved those foot soldiers can never retreat or get back home);
7) Get the knights and bishops off their pleasant seats and into the fray before even thinking about allowing rooks and her majesty across the great divide of the center board; 8) When in doubt, castle (early and often whenever possible); 9) Look for or attempt to create the opportunity to swap queens against stronger opponents (those gals are far more dangerous in a stronger opponents hands than yours); 10) Use the RHP 'Flip Board' feature to see the battlefield from the opposing general's eyes, before entering your predetermind move (you'll be surprised at how many times you'll trash the original move in favor of a new one; 11) Don't be afraid of doubled pawns, providing you've still got at least one bishop in play; 12) By the same token, strive to eliminate at least one bishop from your opponents arsenal; 13) Against all opponents, adhere to the principle of simplifying when ahead and complicating when behind; 14) When you're grappling between several possible moves and aren't quite sure which one to go with walk away, sleep on it, save the decision for another day; 15) Don't be reluctant to employ the psychological warfare ploy of making high risk/reward openings and defenses for the sake of momentary shock value;
16) Try to avoid wide open, slashing attack and counter-attack openings against far superior players, by fortifying your humble real estate with closed, hedgerow type positions; 17) If and whenever a game is clearly lost, give it it up by resigning gracefully and inviting a new one; 18) Before engaging first time opponents do a little homework, by studying his or her style of play in recent games; 19) You're a permanent student of the game, so read and acquire a modest library of chess books beginning with MCO; 20) Consider keeping a casual chess diary to note new observations, insights and possible answers to unanswered questions; 21 Best kept secret, even among friends, is that often the correct course of action is no action, i.e., making what an early mentor, E.M. Reubens of the Boylton Chess Club in Boston referred to as "a high class waiting move". Thanks for reading this far. I'm looking forward to reading your own'Chess Principles of Play'. -gb
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