A Collection of Chess Advices, Useful Chess Quotes (Part 2)


Pawns  

…pawns should help and not hinder the pieces. 

– Alexander Kotov 


The strength of a piece lies in its ability to co-operate with other pieces. 
This particularly counts for pawns, which alone are so enormously fragile. 
– Jacob Aagaard, Excelling At Chess 


Look after your Pawns 


Look after your Pawns and your pieces will look after themselves. 
– Michael Stean, Simple Chess 


Weak pawns
  

…a pawn is only weak if the enemy forces can get to it. 
– Jeremy Silman, How to Reassess Your Chess 

…active pieces often compensate for weak pawns. 
– Jeremy Silman, How to Reassess Your Chess  


If one piece stands badly – the whole position can be badly 


If one piece stands badly, the whole position stands badly.
– Siegbert Tarrasch 


Knights
  

The way to battle Knights is to take away all their advanced support points.
In this way the Knight would be relegated to the first few ranks, and, since it is not a long-range piece,
it would be ineffective.
– Jeremy Silman, How to Reassess Your Chess  


Rule of Knights
   

First rule of Kni
ghts
Knights need advanced support points to be effective. 

Knights on the first and second ranks are purely defensive and are usually on their way to greener pastures. 

A Knight on the third rank is useful for defense and is ready to take a more aggressive stance by jumping to the fifth. 

A Knight on the fourth rank is as good as a Bishop and is well poised for both attack and defense. 

A Knight on the fifth rank is often superior to a Bishop and constitutes a powerful attacking unit.  

A Knight on the sixth rank is often a winning advantage. It spreads disharmony in the enemy camp to such a degree that the opponent will sometimes feel compelled to give up material to rid himself of it. 


Second rule of Kni
ghts:
Knights are very useful pieces in closed positions. 


Third rule of Kni
ghts
Knights are the best blockaders of passed pawns. 


Fourth rule of Kni
ghts
Knights are usually superior to Bishops in endings with pawns on only one side of the board due to their ability to go to either color.
– Jeremy Silman, How to Reassess Your Chess 


Rule of Bishops
  

First rule of Bishops

a) Trade it for an enemy piece of equal or greater value. 

b) Make it good by getting your central pawns off its color (usually very difficult). 

c) Make it active by getting it outside the pawn chain (an important rule to keep in mind). 


Second rule of Bishops

Bishops are usually strongest in open positions. 


Third rule of Bishops

In an endgame, with passed pawns on both sides of the board, Bishops tend to beat out Knights.
(This rule highlights the Bishop's greatest strength: its long-range abilities.) 
– Jeremy Silman, How to Reassess Your Chess


Minor piece superiority


Games are often won or lost because of the superiority of a given minor piece.
 
It is what you do with a position, how you form it and its pawn structure, that makes one piece stronger than another. 

Minor piece imbalance 

Once a minor piece imbalance is established, you must play with great energy to make that imbalance favor you. 
– Jeremy Silman, The Amateur's Mind 


Bishop versus Knights


Bishops tend to be superior to Knights in open positions. 
…a closed, blocked position is more often than not going to see a Knight triumph over a Bishop. 

Many players are taught that Bishops tend to be somewhat stronger than Knights. 

The truth is that Bishops and Knights are of equal value until you look at the position on the board. 
In other words, either piece can dominate the other under the right conditions.  
– Jeremy Silman, How to Reassess Your Chess


Knights need advanced posts if they are going to win a battle against Bishops.
 
– Jeremy Silman, The Amateur's Mind 

The usual way to combat two Bishops 


…the usual way to combat two Bishops is to do one of these three things: 

1) Create a blocked position. 
2) Good support points for your Knights. 
3) Trade of a Knight for a Bishop leading to a favorable Knight versus Bishop situation. 
– Jeremy Silman, How to Reassess Your Chess  


Rooks 


Rooks need open files if they are to become a force in the game. 

– Jeremy Silman, How to Reassess Your Chess  


…putting one's Rooks on a file often just leads to the opponent doing the same, and a subsequent massive trade down this file would then be a typical result. Of course, trades are not to be spurned, especially if you have prevented the opponent from dominating a file that could lead to
an eventual unpleasant penetration. 

– Jeremy Silman, How to Reassess Your Chess 


Queen, Knight in general a better combination than Queen, Bishop 


In general, a Queen and Knight is a better combination of pieces than
a Queen and Bishop. This is because the Queen already has the powers of a bishop but the Knight is something completely new and tends to complement the Queen nicely. 
– Jeremy Silman, How to Reassess Your Chess 

Coordination, Cooperation between pieces and pawns, 
Activity of the pieces,
 

Pawn set-up 


Constantly look for ways to improve your pieces. Improve your position to its maximum.
 


The pieces must be able to coordinate with the Pawn structure. 

After all, what use is a body without a soul? 

– Michael Stean, Simple Chess 


One of the arts of chess strategy is to recognize which of your pieces fit in well with the Pawn structure, and to exchange off the ones that do not. 

– Michael Stean, Simple Chess 


Pawns are quite happy to defend pieces (outposts), yet pieces do not enjoy being tied to the defense of Pawns (weak Pawns). 

– Michael Stean, Simple Chess 


Avoid having lazy pieces

The most important single feature of a chess position is the activity of the pieces. 
– Michael Stean, Simple Chess 

The primary constraint on piece's activity is the Pawn structure.
– Michael Stean, Simple Chess 

The job of the chessplayer must therefore be to use his skill to create a Pawn set-up which will allow his own pieces the optimum freedom and stability, while denying his opponent's similar scope.
– Michael Stean, Simple Chess 

Only those pawn moves that are essential to the development of pieces should be made. 

– Irving Chernev, Logical Chess Move by Move
  

A masters pieces have to do something, not just look good 


Masters get more out of their pieces.
...they get theirs to work harder.
 

To make his pieces work harder, a master rearranges them.
He 'moves the furniture around', often with surprisingly strong effect.
– Andrew Soltis, What It Takes to Become a Chess Master
   

Active piece placement gives birth to tactics… 
– Martin Weteschnik 


Tactics will only come about when you activate your pieces. 

– Martin Weteschnik 


When you can't change the pawn structure favorably, 
you should make the most of your pieces. 
– Andrew Soltis, What It Takes to Become a Chess Master 


Pawns in the way of a bishop 

(Pawns on the same colour of a bishop) 


Most players, even quite strong and experienced players, have a simplistic view that just because there are a lot of pawns in the way of a bishop, that bishop is, by definition, bad. 


While placing all of one's pawns on the same colour as those controlled
by one's bishop clearly hampers a bishop, one should not overlook other properties (expansion potential, rigidity) of the pawn formation. 
– Jonathan Tisdall, Improve Your Chess Now 


The best square for a piece 


Sometimes, the best square for a piece is an unusual one. 

Always look for unusual ways to transfer a piece to a square,
as such an abnormal transfer may be the fastest and most
effective. 
– Daniel Naroditsky, Mastering Positional Chess  


Place your pawns and pieces as optimally active as possible.


Look after moves that controls all the squares of weight on the board. 

Sacrificing pawn/pawns,
piece/pieces may be required to control all the squares of weight on the board. 

If both you and your opponent are playing good enough the whole game, then none of you will be able to control enough important squares to win the game. The game will instead end with a draw.  


Think further than the end of your
nose. 
Follow a thought long enough to see where it leads before you decide what to play.
 

A move that involves a pawn lost, a piece lost, can a bit later in the game pay back with margin, so don
't be too quck to draw conclusions about a move and a game continuation. 

Play without prejudices – no "You can't play like that."
Analyze the move before you judge it out as bad, less good.
Have no principles that holds you back from playing a move, that afterwards would prove to be brilliant – although according to certain principles ought to be bad playing.
Remember: No rule and principle without exception. There are many exceptions…
 

Look for the unexpected moves. It is often among them the most brilliant and best continuations in a position will be found.


Disconnect the
'autopilot', who automatically wants to defend against a threat from the opponent – without even first looking if the threat is possible to ignore, and instead have time to execute your own bigger threat.

Increase your pattern recognition.
Learn how to play in as many different positions as possible. 

Question the true in any game analysis – even those by the world's strongest chess players. Good moves may have been overlooked.  

– Torbjörn Björklund  

Sometimes, the best move theoretically is not the best move practically. 

What you need to do is to play to put your opponent into positions that
they're not comfortable with AND you're comfortable with. 
– Internet 


Play the move that forces the win in the simplest way. 

Leave the brilliancies to Alekhine, Keres and Tal. 

– Irving Chernev 


The simplest and the shortest way of winning is the best. 

– Baron Tassilo von Heydebrand und der Lasa 


Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler. 

– Albert Einstein  


Don't try to be brave, when it is enough to be intelligent.

– Paulo Coelho  


Strategic Planning: Have long-term goals 


If you play without long-term goals your decisions will become purely reactive and you'll be playing your opponent's game, not your own. As you jump from one new thing to the next you will be pulled off course, caught up in what's right in front of you instead of what you need to achieve.

– Garry Kasparov, How Life Imitates Chess  

Strategic Planning: The future of the decisions you make in the present 


The strategist starts with a goal in the distant future and works backwards to the present. 

A Grandmaster makes the best moves because they are based on what
he wants the board to look like ten or twenty moves in the future. This doesn't require the calculation of countless twenty-move variations. He evaluates where his fortunes lie in the position and establishes objectives. Then he works out the step-by-step moves to accomplish those aims. 
– Garry Kasparov, How Life Imitates Chess 


Too often we set a goal and head straight for it without considering all the steps that will be required to
achieve it. 


What conditions must be true for our strategy to succeed?
What sacrifices will be required?  

What must change and what can we do to induce or enable those changes? 


My instincts or analysis tell me that in a given position there is potential for me to attack my opponent's king. 

Next, instead of throwing my forces at the king, I search for objectives
I must achieve in order to do this successfully, for example, to weaken the protection around the opponent's king by exchanging a key defending
piece. 
I first must understand which strategic objectives will help me accomplish my goal of attacking the king and only then do I begin to plan exactly how to achieve them and to look at the specific moves that will lead to
successful implementation. Failing to do this leads to simplistic, single-minded plans with little hope of success. 
– Garry Kasparov, How Life Imitates Chess 


Tactics 


While strategy is abstract and based on long-term goals, tactics are concrete and based on finding the best move right now. 

– Garry Kasparov, How Life Imitates Chess 


If you don't immediately exploit a tactical opportunity the game will almost certainly turn against you. 

– Garry Kasparov, How Life Imitates Chess 


Tactics involve calculations that are very hard for the human brain, but when you boil them down they are the simplest part of chess and almost trivial compared to strategy. 

– Garry Kasparov, How Life Imitates Chess 


Tactics must be guided by strategy. 

– Garry Kasparov, How Life Imitates Chess 


…we need strategy to keep our tactics on course. 

– Garry Kasparov, How Life Imitates Chess  


Attack 


It is sheer folly to try to attack directly a well coordinated and developed position.

– Michael Stean, Simple Chess


If one's pieces can't follow and support the attack, central pawn advances tend (with exceptions, of course)
to be premature.

– John Watson, Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy 


If there is no obvious defensive weakness a kingside attack usually requires more than two or three pieces to have a chance of success. 

– Jacob Aagaard, Excelling At Chess 


Only go after the enemy King if the position justifies it. 

A King-hunt is not something you decide to do because you
"feel like it".
– Jeremy Silman, The Amateur's Mind 


…attacks must be built on the basis of a definite superiority
in your position, either in development
or in structure.

– Michael Stean, Simple Chess 

…a very definite superiority in force is needed to ensure that an attack
will be successful. This superiority can take either one of two forms: 

1) Better development. 

…the aggressor being able to feed more pieces into the attack than the
defender has available to fight them off. 

2) Better coordination. 

…disarm the defense by first tying its pieces down to the defense of
certain points, so that when the storm does break they have very little
scope or opportunity to react. 
– Michael Stean, Simple Chess 


If the defending forces can be reduced to the menial task of protecting Pawns
they will not be able to offer much opposition to a full-scale offensive. 
– Michael Stean, Simple Chess 


An attack doesn't have to be all or nothing, or lightning quick.
Sustained pressure can be very effective, and creating long-term weaknesses in our opponent's position can lead to a win in the long run. One of the qualities of a great attacker is to get the maximum out of a position without overstepping and trying to achieve more than what is possible. 

– Garry Kasparov, How Life Imitates Chess  


Attacking requires perfect timing as well as nerve. Knowing the right time to attack is as much an art as a science, and even for the best it's often guesswork. The window of opportunity is usually very small, as with most dynamic factors. No neon sign appears to say that there is a big opportunity right around the corner. 
– Garry Kasparov, How Life Imitates Chess

Detecting opportunities requires letting go of assumptions of all kinds.

The patterns and automatic assumptions we rely on to save time can also prevent us from identifying the best opportunities. This is especially true in quiet positions, those periods of stability that seem unlikely to produce attacking chances.

We must also avoid making too many assumptions about our competition. We are often reminded never to under-estimate our opponents, but over-estimating them also leads to missed opportunities.

– Garry Kasparov, How Life Imitates Chess 


Attacking race 


Don't allow a race (both sides attacking on opposite wings) if you don't have to. 

– Jeremy Silman, The Amateur's Mind


Counter-Attack
 


In my thirties, after a decade as world champion… I had learned that a well-timed counter-attack against an over-aggressive opponent could be more effective than always trying to meet fire with fire.

– Garry Kasparov, How Life Imitates Chess 


Positional play: When there is nothing to do


What exactly do you do when there is nothing to do?


We call these phases 'positional play' because our goal is to improve our position. We must avoid creating weaknesses, find small ways to improve our pieces, and think small but never stop thinking. There is a tendency to get lazy in quiet positions, which is why positional masters like Karpov and Petrosian were so deadly. They were always alert and were happy to go long stretches without any real action on the board if it meant gaining one tiny advantage, and then another. Eventually their opponents would find themselves without any good moves at all, as if they were standing on quicksand.

– Garry Kasparov, How Life Imitates Chess 


Position play is the art of improving your position in small ways when no sound combination is possible. 

– Cecil Purdy, Guide To Good Chess 


Attacking play – Positional play 


Attacking play and positional play are not incompatible opposites. 

On the contrary, they go hand in hand. 

– Michael Stean, Simple Chess 


Attacks can be repulsed, but positional advantages do not suddenly
vanish without trace. 
– Michael Stean, Simple Chess 


When you are defending a position 


Sometimes the hardest thing to do in a pressure situation is allow the tension to persist. 

The temptation is to make a decision, any decision, even if it is an inferior choice. 

– Garry Kasparov, How Life Imitates Chess 


The best defense – a good offense,
 

Good defense 


Before you take time out to stop a threat, make sure that his move is something you should really be afraid of.
If it isn't, then go ahead with your own ideas. 

– Jeremy Silman, The Amateur's Mind 


Always look for ways of ignoring threats. 

– Cecil Purdy


...as often happens, passive defense is losing defense. 

– Andrew Soltis, What It Takes to Become a Chess Master 


The best defense is a good offense. 

When you have to defend, try to make a move that also furthers your
own plans.
– Jeremy Silman, The Amateur's Mind

Don't panic in the face of a kingside attack. Size up his real threats, make defensive moves when needed and continue with your own plans. 

– Jeremy Silman, The Amateur's Mind 


If the defending player keeps calm and doesn't panic, he will almost always find ways to counter the attack.

– Daniel Naroditsky, Mastering Positional Chess 


…you can defend not only against desperate attacks, but also against sound attacks.

– Daniel Naroditsky, Mastering Positional Chess 

If you make natural developing moves, a sudden attack on your king
is generally unsound.
– Daniel Naroditsky, Mastering Positional Chess


Trades


Prevent the trades your opponent needs.

– Nikolay Yakovlev, Chess Blueprints: Planning in the Middlegame


Whenever you are going to make a trade, always ask if your pieces are better than his. 

If they are, only go through with the exchange if you are making some other kind of major gain. 

– Jeremy Silman, The Amateur's Mind  


If a piece - even a good-looking one - isn't pulling its weight,
a master looks for a way to get rid of it. 
– Andrew Soltis, What It Takes to Become a Chess Master


Trading to win a square


You can play to win a square by trading off its defenders.

– Jeremy Silman, The Amateur's Mind 


Trade opponent bishop 


If the opponent has the two Bishops, trade one Bishop off. 

This will lead to a more manageable Bishop vs. Knight situation.

– Jeremy Silman, How to Reassess Your Chess 


Exchanging opponents good bishop is not always a good idea 


If the bishop…becomes strong, conventional text-book wisdom would suggest exchanging it off. 

But this tends to leave a network of weak squares behind… 

– Jonathan Tisdall, Improve Your Chess Now 

Space (Territory) 

When you are controlling more space than your opponent
you can put your pieces safely on a lot more squares.


…a position can be structurally very sound but actually very bad
because of spatial problems. 
– Michael Stean, Simple Chess 


Games are often won by simply taking space and restricting
the opponent's options. 
You don't have to attack like a wild man to score a point. 

– Jeremy Silman, The Amateur's Mind  


The more space you dominate, the less space for the opponent in which
to move his pieces about, the more restricted the number of moves with which he may threaten you or guard himself against your threats. 
– Emanuel Lasker, Lasker's Manual of Chess 


…you should usually play where you own more territory.

– Jeremy Silman, The Amateur's Mind 

Keep your opponent bottled up 

When you have a spatial advantage there need be no hurry to form
an active plan, that will come in due course. 
The important thing is to keep your opponent bottled up and put the
onus on him to create active play. 
To do so he will be forced to weaken his own position somewhere.
Only then do you pounce on him. 
– Michael Stean, Simple Chess 


Grab space – without creating serious weaknesses in your position


Feel free to grab lots of space as long as you aren't creating serious weaknesses in your position. 

– Jeremy Silman, The Amateur's Mind  

Can you penetrate into the enemy position?

A space advantage means little if there is no way to penetrate
into the enemy position.
– Jeremy Silman, The Amateur's Mind 


A space advantage can become a structural advantage


One of the main ideas in playing for space is that the opponent will
some time 'trade off' his spatial inferiority for a structural one. 
– Michael Stean, Simple Chess 

It is very reasonable to assume that any position with an advantage in space will offer scope to translate the spatial plus into a structural one.

– Michael Stean, Simple Chess

The strategy behind playing to exploit a space advantage 

The strategy behind playing to exploit a space advantage is twofold: 


1) Deprive the opponent of any counterplay, avoiding exchanges
whenever possible. 
The psychological pressure of being permanently hemmed in may well
induce him to weaken himself in order to gain some freedom.

2) If no weaknesses are forthcoming you must be prepared to attack on
either wing.
 

Greater space control gives you better communication between flanks, so you naturally want to exploit this fact to build up against the adversary's weaker front. 
– Michael Stean, Simple Chess 

The difficult part of space strategy

Playing on the basis of a spatial advantage is in a sense a question of blind faith.


You see no targets in the enemy position and no way to force any weaknesses, but merely attempt to fortify your own position allowing simplification only when absolutely necessary or clearly favorable in the belief that your opponent will some time feel obliged to make concrete concessions in terms of Pawn weaknesses or outposts in order to avoid suffocation. 


The difficult part of spatial strategy lies not in the execution which is relatively simple, but in the recognition of the fact that you actually do have an advantage in space. 

…the vital criterion is not necessarily whether you 'appear' to control more of the board. This is undoubtedly a yardstick, but not always an accurate one. 
The real criterion is whether your opponent has more pieces than can comfortably fit in with his Pawn structure, and this you can only really expect to assess correctly on the basis of experience.

From your own games and by studying master games you can gradually acquire a feeling for the 'capacity' of certain Pawn structures. 

– Michael Stean, Simple Chess 

If you have less space – exchange pieces 

When you have less space, exchange some pieces.

– Jeremy Silman, How to Reassess Your Chess  


…the side with less space should initiate exchanges so that he will have more room to move about in.

– Jeremy Silman, How to Reassess Your Chess 


If you have more space – avoid exchanges  


If you have more territory, trade as few pieces as possible.

– Jeremy Silman, How to Reassess Your Chess 


The side with more space should avoid exchanges.

– Jeremy Silman, How to Reassess Your Chess 


…unless it leads to some particularly favorable situation.

– Jeremy Silman, How to Reassess Your Chess


The rule which states that 'a player with more space should avoid exchanges', for example, is so riddled with exceptions as to have 
lost its usefulness.
– John Watson, Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy


A support point (Outpost)


…an outpost is a square at the forefront of your position which you can readily support and from where you can control or contest squares in the heart of the enemy camp.

– Michael Stean, Simple Chess  

A support point is a square that acts as a home for a piece. A square can only be considered a support point if it cannot be attacked by an enemy pawn, or if the pawn advance would severely weaken the enemy position.
– Jeremy Silman, How to Reassess Your Chess 


To be useful an outpost must be firmly under control and so should ideally be protected by a Pawn.

Conversely your opponent should not be given the opportunity to deny you access to your outpost, so in particular it must be immune to attack by enemy pawns.

– Michael Stean, Simple Chess 


A support point is only useful if it is in an area of the board where action is taking place. A Knight on the sixth rank in an unoccupied corner of the board is not a well placed piece.

– Jeremy Silman, How to Reassess Your Chess

In general a successful attack can only be launched from a position of strength in the center of the board.
This 'position of strength' can take various forms, the simplest being an outpost.

– Michael Stean, Simple Chess

Central squares,
The center


Without a solid center there can also be no sound position.

– Aron Nimzowitsch, My System


He who dominates central squares is better off than the ruler over wing squares.

The squares have not an equal value. Those of the center are the most important ones because from there queen, bishop and knight command the largest number of squares. 


In the center the important lines intersect.
The struggle in the opening turns therefore essentially round the domination of the center proper:

e4, e5, d4, d5, and the extended center bounded at the corners by c3,
c6, f3 and f6.
– Emanuel Lasker, Lasker's Manual of Chess

As we know, any piece placed in the centre (with the exception of the rook) is "hitting" more squares than it would elsewhere, which means that this is where it possesses its greatest fighting value. 
Furthermore it is from the centre that pieces can be transferred to either of the flanks in the smallest number of moves. These two circumstances make the centre the most important place on the whole chessboard.

– Isaac Lipnitsky, Questions of Modern Chess Theory


The center is the most important part of the board.

If you can gain influence there then by all means take it.

– Jeremy Silman, How to Reassess Your Chess


When in doubt play in the center.

– Jeremy Silman, How to Reassess Your Chess


A center is only good because it restricts the opponents pieces.
If it has to advance and give the enemy pieces good squares
then its whole purpose has been negated.
– Jeremy Silman, How to Reassess Your Chess

Pawns – Pieces in the center


Some players may be forming the opinion that an early occupation of the centre with pawns is, in general terms, undesirable. Such a conclusion would be over-hasty and false, since there are many cases where pawns occupying the centre do bring an advantage. Everything depends on the concrete circumstances. I only wish to emphasize that a pawn centre should not automatically be thought to have decisive significance. 

– Isaac Lipnitsky, Questions of Modern Chess Theory


…pawns, as being the most stable, are best suited to building a centre; nevertheless centrally posted pieces can perfectly well take their place.

– Aron Nimzowitsch, My System


It quite often happens that a player sets up his centre but then finds it
to be nothing but a burden, as it serves as a convenient target for the opponent's counter-attack.
– Isaac Lipnitsky, Questions of Modern Chess Theory


Thus when the complex question arises as to whether you should occupy the whole centre with pawns or not, the right answer depends on what role your centre will play in the coming struggle. It is this that decides whether the strength of the centre will be real or illusory.

– Isaac Lipnitsky, Questions of Modern Chess Theory


The pawn center,

responsibility owner of a big center


Once you push your pawns to the middle and start to annex space,
you are announcing your intention of entombing your opponent in its prison-like walls.
– Jeremy Silman, How to Reassess Your Chess


The first responsibility of the owner of a big center is to make it indestructible.

If this can be done, then the opponent will be without play and will smother to death in the folds of his own position.

– Jeremy Silman, How to Reassess Your Chess


A Pawn center must be adequately supported by pieces
to be effective, else it merely becomes a target to attack.
– Michael Stean, Simple Chess 

Defeat a center

…there are two ways to defeat a center:


1) Destroy it.


2) Force it to advance, thereby creating weak squares that can be occupied by the opposing forces.

– Jeremy Silman, How to Reassess Your Chess 


This threat of death by asphyxiation forces the opponent to fight
and destroy this central monolith before it becomes too strong.

He must throw everything he has at the offending line of pawns
before it destroys him.
– Jeremy Silman, How to Reassess Your Chess


…the responsibility of the player facing the pawn center is to apply constant pressure to it, and try to prove it to be a weakness instead
of a strength.
– Jeremy Silman, How to Reassess Your Chess


…a center is only good because it restricts the opponents pieces.

If it has to advance and give the enemy pieces good squares then
its whole purpose has been negated.
– Jeremy Silman, How to Reassess Your Chess 


The Flanks = The a-, b-, and c-files on the Queenside,
and the f-, g-, and h-files on the Kingside 

…the success of a flank attack depends to a decisive extent
on the situation in the centre.
– Isaac Lipnitsky, Questions of Modern Chess Theory


A superior position in the center justifies an attack far out on the flank.

– Aron Nimzowitsch, My System


Compared with the centre, the flanks in the opening play a lesser role. The centre occupies a dominating position with regard to the flanks. Therefore when the opponent undertakes an insufficiently prepared flank operation in the opening, we often manage to frustrate this diversion with a timely strike in the centre. 


The strategic rationale of such a strike is this. Gaining control of the centre allows us to create counter-threats that are more dangerous. Wishing to prevent this, our opponent will be forced to concentrate his main attention on the centre. And then the flank operations that he started earlier will be broken off. 

Exploiting the weaknesses that have formed there, we can often organize a strong attack on that same flank where our opponent attempted to do so.

– Isaac Lipnitsky, Questions of Modern Chess Theory

A lead in development

…the ultimate ideal of a lead in development is to blast through the enemy lines of defense and chew him up before he can get all his forces into play.

– Jeremy Silman, How to Reassess Your Chess


If you can't open up the position, a lead in development will not prove effective.

– Jeremy Silman, How to Reassess Your Chess


If behind in development – don't open up the position


…one should never allow the opponent a significant lead in development
if the position is wide open.
– Jeremy Silman, How to Reassess Your Chess


When behind in development don't open up the position.

…the more lines you open up the easier his pieces can get
to you.
– Jeremy Silman, How to Reassess Your Chess


Open positions


In an open position one must react quickly – time is of great importance.

– Jeremy Silman, How to Reassess Your Chess

In the open game speed of development is the overriding law.

Each piece should be developed with only one move; each and every pawn move – with the exception of those which either establish or support your own center, or attack that of your opponent – can be considered a waste of time. So – as was already made clear by [Emanuel] Lasker – 1-2 pawn moves in the opening, no more.

– Aron Nimzowitsch, My System


Attacks are usually conducted by pieces
due to the abundance of open lines.
– Jeremy Silman, How to Reassess Your Chess


Closed positions


Slow maneuvering is quite all right.

– Jeremy Silman, How to Reassess Your Chess


In closed situations, attacks are initiated by pawn breaks.

– Jeremy Silman, How to Reassess Your Chess


…in closed positions pawn breaks on the wings take on great importance simply because this is the only way that the Rooks can be brought into play.

– Jeremy Silman, How to Reassess Your Chess


In closed positions with locked centers you must attempt to get open lines on the wings by breaking with pawns.

– Jeremy Silman, How to Reassess Your Chess

In closed situations, you must play on the side where you have more freedom of movement and try to annex as much space as possible.

…this is done with pawns advances since that allows files to be opened and the Rooks to enter the fray.

– Jeremy Silman, The Amateur's Mind


Dynamic position


Figure out if the position is a dynamic one or a static one.

If it's dynamic, then you must play with tremendous energy.

– Jeremy Silman, The Amateur's Mind


Initiative


The route to victory lies through the initiative.

– Isaac Lipnitsky, Questions of Modern Chess Theory


Once you have the initiative you must exploit it and feed it constantly.

Wilhelm Steinitz reminded us that the player with the advantage is obliged to attack or his advantage will surely be lost. It is a dynamic factor that can disappear in an instant.

A lead in initiative can be converted into material gains. Or it can be augmented into a stronger and stronger initiative until your opponent simply can't keep up and falls to your attack.

– Garry Kasparov, How Life Imitates Chess


The player who holds the initiative in the opening must constantly endeavour to increase and consolidate it, so as not to lose it; he must
do this until he manages to gain an advantage of a stable kind – such as a material plus, the better endgame, an enduring attack against the king, etc.
– Isaac Lipnitsky, Questions of Modern Chess Theory


It frequently happens that the initiative can only be seized or maintained by drastic measures such as the sacrifice of a pawn or piece, or a complex combinative regrouping. If we do not resort to these measures in time, the initiative may not only slip away from us – it will very often cross over to our opponent, since the initiative in chess does not like to remain homeless.

– Isaac Lipnitsky, Questions of Modern Chess Theory


…positional sacrifices are well known to be the most difficult ones.
In each particular case the decision basically depends not so much on calculation as on our experience, intuition and faith in our own powers.
– Isaac Lipnitsky, Questions of Modern Chess Theory

Positional sacrifices


Reliable forms of compensation for material are:


Greater piece activity.
Damaged enemy pawn structure.
The insecure position of the enemy king.
Greater board control, more space.
Secure control of the centre.
Unassailable outposts, domination of a colour complex.


A lead in development offers dangerous but temporary compensation.
The value of the pieces can change radically as the position simplifies and becomes more open.
– Jonathan Tisdall, Improve Your Chess Now

When you play a positional sacrifice

You are not basing your play on calculations to regain the sacrificed material in the next few moves – indeed when your opponent offers you such an opportunity, if often pays to refuse it, in order not to forfeit your initiative.

– Isaac Lipnitsky, Questions of Modern Chess Theory


(There are sacrifices based on calculations, but they are not positional sacrifices.)


Many players, sacrificing a pawn, lose because they play as if they had lost it, rather than deliberately parted with it.

– Tigran Petrosian

Seizure or retention of the initiative in the opening mustn't constantly involve sacrifices

It must not be thought that seizure or retention of the initiative in the opening must constantly involve sacrifices.
We should resort to them only when they are indispensable. Time and again, powerful positional moves enable a player to gain or develop the initiative without sacrificing anything.
– Isaac Lipnitsky, Questions of Modern Chess Theory


Open files


The aim of all maneuvers on an open file is the ultimate intrusion along this file onto the seventh or eight rank, i.e., into the enemy position.

– Aron Nimzowitsch

Occupation of an open file is of no value unless there is a chance of penetration.

– Michael Stean, Simple Chess


…if the open file does not fit in with the overall strategic plan, then it is not at all clear if you should play to control it – each position has its own answer.

– Jeremy Silman, How to Reassess Your Chess 

Before you decide to fight for a file or simply give it to the opponent,
you should answer the following questions: 

1) Is a penetration along this file possible for my opponent or myself?
If it turns out to be a dead end street then why bother with it in the first place?

2) Can I afford to take the time to place my Rooks on this file or do
I have more urgent business to attend to elsewhere? 

3) If I place my Rooks on this file will they work with the rest of my pieces
and influence the imbalances in the position? 

4) Do certain factors in the position call for me to retain at least one
Rook? If so, I might want to avoid the file (and a possible exchange along it) altogether. 
– Jeremy Silman, How to Reassess Your Chess 


Open files: The minor pieces play a major role 


The minor pieces play a major role in determining who controls open files.
The side with the more active minor pieces can generally count on gaining access to any files that may open up. 
– Michael Stean, Simple Chess 


Material advantage 


Always be wary of grabbing material at the cost of the coordination of your pieces. 

– Michael Stean, Simple Chess 


It is usually easier to win with a substantial positional advantage than with an equally substantial material advantage. 

– Andrew Soltis, What It Takes to Become a Chess Master 


If you have a material advantage: 

Don't pat yourself on the back, create ballads in your honor,
fall asleep, and expect the game to win itself. 
– Jeremy Silman, How to Reassess Your Chess 


When you win material, stop rushing forward. Instead you must tighten everything up, defend your weak points, get your army to work together again, and only then start the final assault. 

– Jeremy Silman, How to Reassess Your Chess 


Simplifications to an endgame almost always favor the side with more material. 

– Jeremy Silman, How to Reassess Your Chess 

The three phases of a chess game: 
Opening, Middlegame, Endgame 


If you wish to play good chess you must realize that every phase of the game is part of one homogeneous whole.  


The opening creates the imbalances that fuel the middlegame and these same imbalances often influence the play right to the end of the game. 

– Jeremy Silman, How to Reassess Your Chess  


The opening


The opening should be regarded as the phase of initial mobilization of the forces. 

When most of the pieces have been brought into action and the placing of the kings has been decided, we can regard the opening as completed. 

– Isaac Lipnitsky, Questions of Modern Chess Theory 


… the centre is the soul of the opening. 

– Isaac Lipnitsky, Questions of Modern Chess Theory 


The fundamental unique law for playing any chess opening:  

● Develop your own pieces to good positions as fast and effectively as possible, while trying your hardest to stop your opponent from doing the same.


● Fight for the centre.



Control the center. The center is critical; it is the key battleground in the game of chess. 


Develop all your pieces as soon as possible. Remember, try not to move the same piece more than once unless it is necessary. 


Don't bring your queen out too early. 


Castle your king as early as possible. The king is your most important piece, therefore, make sure the king is safe. 


Do not try to attack until all your pieces are developed and your king
is safe. Most attacks will not be successful unless you have all your troops and ammunition in place. 
– Alpha Teach Yourself Chess in 24 Hours 

It is…very good to get each piece out in one move, so that you can clear the back line in as few moves as possible; and it is seldom advisable to move a piece twice in the opening unless forced to do so to save it from capture. 
– Cecil Purdy, Guide To Good Chess 


...there may be games in which one should make only two pawn moves and develop a new piece with every move, but there are so many 'exceptions' that to take such a guideline to heart would merely limit one's strength as a player. 

– John Watson, Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy 


Post your pieces where they will become useful  


The Bishops are the pieces that require the most thought because they have more choice than the Knights. 
Knights should generally come out before Bishops simply because it is easier to decide early what their best squares are. 
– Cecil Purdy, Guide To Good Chess 


…when bringing each piece out, try to put it on the square on which the piece itself is likely to be most effective and to impede the rest of the army least. 

– Cecil Purdy, Guide To Good Chess 


Post your pieces where they will become useful if the enemy breaks through in the center. 

– Cecil Purdy, Guide To Good Chess 


Ideal square for a piece in the opening 


The ideal square for a piece in the opening will stand the following tests: 


1) The piece can go there in one move. 

2) The piece will be effectively posted there.
(Generally speaking, "effective" means "having some bearing on the center." This may be either direct or indirect.) 
3) The piece will not suffer from exposure. 

4) The piece will not unduly obstruct any of its own forces. 

– Cecil Purdy, Guide To Good Chess  

Advantage in the opening 

Advantage in the opening goes to whoever first succeeds in bringing pawns and pieces to dominate the extended center, and in such a way
as not only to command as much area as possible, but to cramp the opponent. 
– Emanuel Lasker, Lasker's Manual of Chess  


The player who completes development first has an advantage because he has the right to take the initiative, and the player with the initiative has the easier game. 

– Cecil Purdy, Guide To Good Chess  


Development is complete when the Rooks are connected on the back rank – i.e. have nothing between them – and at least one is on an effective file, but both if there are two effective files. By that time, the other pieces, obviously, will have been moved, too. 

– Cecil Purdy, Guide To Good Chess  


Important to understand the openings you play  


Strategical problems are born in the opening, which is why it is
so important to understand the openings you play. 
– Michael Stean, Simple Chess  


Studying the openings 


Over the years, and after much trial and error, I gradually became convinced that the key to playing the opening well was to understand the middle game. I discovered that when you know where your pieces belong it becomes much easier to develop them on the right squares in the first place. You also know which pawn structures to aim for and which to avoid. 

– Nigel Davies, ChessCafe.com  


…one of the best ways to study the openings is to examine complete games, for then you can see each side's strategy unfold from the very
first moves. 
Playing over a lot of games very quickly can give you a good feel for
the general game plan. 
I also think it's useful to study well annotated games in particular variations, for then one gets to grips with the actual problems and
issues that arise when the aims of the two players come into conflict. 
– Nigel Davies, ChessCafe.com  

One of my own practices, which I heartily recommend, is to tinker around with typical positions, trying different moves and ideas until you are satisfied you understand how the thing works. 

When I do this I find that the position becomes 'part of me' and I play it much better. It's a process by which you get to 'own' the ideas rather than just know about them. 

– Nigel Davies, ChessCafe.com  

…no player should ever abandon his openings out of fear of the opponent's superior preparation. 
– Alex Yermolinsky, The Road to Chess Improvement  


I study theoretical lines in hope that my opponents will avoid them! 

– Alex Yermolinsky, The Road to Chess Improvement  


Nothing makes a GM happier than when his less experienced opponent gets 'creative' from the very first moves. Don't make that mistake. 

– Alex Yermolinsky, The Road to Chess Improvement
  


If you think your openings are good, play them against anyone,
especially grandmasters! 

– Alex Yermolinsky, The Road to Chess Improvement 

Opening preparation  

The purpose of the opening isn't just to get through it, it's to set the stage for the type of middlegame you want. 
This can also mean manoeuvring for the type of game your opponent doesn't want. 
– Garry Kasparov, How Life Imitates Chess  


A well-prepared player should try to create a logical repertoire based on his preferences for certain types of middlegame positions. After all, the opening phase is just the path that is chosen to get to the middlegame,
which is the most important part of the game in my opinion. 
– Efstratios Grivas, ChessCafe.com  

A chessplayer who is working on his opening repertoire or on a certain variation, should try: 

● To collect and study all the theoretical literature. 
● To understand the various positional and tactical elements. 

● To study possible endgames. 

● To study illustrative games. 

● To create new ideas, plans and moves of good value.  

– Efstratios Grivas, ChessCafe.com   


The openings are the only phase in which there is the possibility of unique application. You can find something that no one else has found. Although the area narrows each year there remains a great deal of unexplored territory. 

– Garry Kasparov, How Life Imitates Chess 

Capablanca's guideline about pawn sacrifice in the opening 

…a pawn sacrifice in the opening is usually sound if the opponent's development is delayed by at least three moves. 

– José Raúl Capablanca 

The Middlegame 

Middlegame understanding helps your opening. 

– Nigel Davies, The Rules of Winning Chess  


Once all the minor pieces (the bishops and knights) are developed, the rooks are connected, and the king is castled, the middlegame phase of
the game begins. At this point, you need to develop a strategy. 

You should have a plan, move-by-move, what to play as the game progresses.  


If you are ahead in development, open up the files and diagonals
so your pieces can do damage. 
If you are behind in development, try not to open things up to
allow yourself time to get your pieces out. 
– José Raúl Capablanca 


…before you begin looking for a plan, make sure there is no good combination available… 

You can do much more with a combination than with a plan; therefore,
at every move in every game you play, see first if there is a sound combination on the board. 
– Cecil Purdy, Guide To Good Chess 

If there is no sound combination available – there seldom is one early in the game unless your opponent has done something silly – and if you have no more pieces to be developed, then your problem is to find a plan – the best plan if possible, but at least a good plan. 
– Cecil Purdy, Guide To Good Chess 


We must also play the middlegame with an eye on the endgame. 

If we have sacrificed material for an attack we will almost certainly
lose the endgame if the attack fails in the middlegame. 
– Garry Kasparov, How Life Imitates Chess  

The endgame 

You might have a material advantage and you might have outmaneuvered your opponent, but that's not enough – you need to checkmate your opponent's king. That's the objective of the endgame. 

– José Raúl Capablanca 


Endgame understanding helps your middlegame. 

– Nigel Davies, The Rules of Winning Chess  


…many middlegame plans – and, occasionally even opening strategies – have the goal of creating favorable endings. 

– Lev Alburt & Nikolay Krogius, Just the Facts!  


Without practical endgame skill, you won't be able to realize the opening or middlegame advantage you fought so hard to achieve. 

– Lev Alburt & Nikolay Krogius, Just the Facts! 


…depending on your endgame knowledge, you can either enjoy the victory your hours of concentration in the opening and middlegame have earned you, or you can spoil it all. If you know some basic ideas and techniques,
you can even save some "lost" games. Such climaxes and anticlimaxes happen over and over in every chess tournament. 
– Al Lawrence, Just the Facts! 


In the endgame the element of time is much more important or, at least, equally important as position. 

Time means the speed with which a particular location is reached. Naturally in the middle game, in order to obtain positional strength, time is often of great importance, since an attack can depend upon placing
a piece at a particular point at a certain moment, before the opponent can prepare his defense. But in the endgame, time is the element which normally decides the game, for in addition to contributing to the position it frequently serves for the queening of a pawn before one's opponent. 
– José Raúl Capablanca 

Space in the endgame  

The role played by space in the endgame is in fact much more straightforward than in the middlegame. 

In the endings the King assumes greater power and, consequently, value. The advantage of being first to occupy the center with your King is considerable. He who commands more space has more squares
for his King… More space means a potentially stronger King. 
– Michael Stean, Simple Chess  

…in the endgame, the king often becomes an active, even an aggressive piece. 
…the king attacks pawns and pieces and is often first to penetrate the opponent's position. 

– Lev Alburt & Nikolay Krogius, Just the Facts!
 

Rook endgames: Activate the rook 

…there is one overriding principle of rook endgames that I want to mention even before starting the most basic theoretical discussion. 

This principle is so important that just be following it you will, in the vast majority of cases, be choosing the correct course of action. 


The magic principle is: ACTIVATE THE ROOK AND KEEP IT ACTIVE! 

It is immaterial whether you are trying to win or hoping to draw: 

this principle applies to both sides. 

– Edmar Mednis, Practical Rook Endings 


Pawn endgames 


Pawn endings are to chess what putting is to golf… 

– Cecil Purdy, Guide To Good Chess  


The correct and successful formation for your pawns and pieces
in the endgame 


1. Visualize the correct and successful formation for your pawns and
pieces in the endgame. 
2. Then figure out the move order to reach this 'dream' position in your
game. 
– Torbjörn Björklund 

Once in a lobby of the Hall of Columns of the Trade Union Centre in Moscow a group of masters were analysing an ending. They could not find the right way to go about things and there was a lot of arguing about it. Suddenly [José Raul] Capablanca came into the room. He was always fond of walking about when it was his opponent's turn to move. Learning the reason for the dispute the Cuban bent down to look at the position, said 'Si, si,' and suddenly redistributed the pieces all over the board to show what the correct formation was for the side that was trying to win. 
I haven't exaggerated. Don José literally pushed the pieces round the board without making moves. He just put them in fresh positions where he thought they were needed. 


Suddenly everything became clear. The correct scheme of things had been set up and now the win was easy. We were delighted by Capablanca's mastery, and soon had further proof of the need to think schematically about the ending. 

– Alexander Kotov, Think Like a Grandmaster 


About me

I played my first chess game in December 1977 and was lucky to hold draw. I continued to play chess and joined a chess club in September 1978. I'm still enjoying playing chess. I like to do many other things than playing chess. Long walks, some jogging, cycling, reading books, listen to music, watch movies, writing and much more. Life is fun!