101 Chess Principles

Included are short pieces of chess wisdom or practice that I've either picked up from somewhere or formulated myself. I've tried to avoid useless wittisisms and trite generalisations. Every single principle could be demonstrated by a position or an example; perhaps this is a project for the future.

General principles:

1. When winning, play the move that maintains your advantage by removing your opponents chances.

2. When losing, play the move that confuses things and makes it difficult to calculate the correct line.

3. If a piece will be lost no matter what, do not move it. Instead make your opponent waste time capturing it.

4. Every move of your opponent's has a purpose. Try to figure out what it is.

5. When your opponent is enjoying more tension than you are, try to exchange pieces or play countering manoeuvres on the opposite wing.

6. Passive defense gets you nowhere. Proper defense must include active attempts at seizing the initiative.

7. Once you see a refutation to a line, confirm that the refutation is sound and then stop considering that line. Never play a line hoping your opponent might not notice the refutation, unless you are lost in either case and only then can the desperado trick be attempted.

8. Make it a policy to always guess correctly what move your opponent will play next. If your opponent makes an unexpected move, stop and think. You might have missed something important. Or even better, he might have missed something important.

9. Once initiated, a plan should be carried out to completion and only aborted if your opponent has found a devastating counterstrike. A faulty plan is better than playing aimlessly.

10.Learn to play in different styles and pick the right style depending on your opponent.

11.Forced moves are easy to play and let your opponent breath. But having to pick between several moves of which only one is correct can be a devastating mental exercise if prolonged.

12.Nobody ever won a game by checking his opponent's king to death. Check need only be delivered once to end the game.

13.Chaos on the chessboard is to the advantage of the better player. Order on the chessboard is to the advantage of the player who has the better position. If your opponent is a better player with a better position, resign.

14.A piece that is out of play is as good as off the board.

15.When evaluating moves, never discard candidate moves off-hand. Consider them and only after justifying yourself why a certain move is bad, forget about it and don't consider it again.

16.Never play a move just because you got tired of thinking. If you are are not sure a certain move is safe, don't play it.

17.There is no honor in getting mated.

Opening:

18. Control the center, but don't necessarily occupy it.

19. Quickly bring out all your pieces, but only bring them out to the squares that they are most active on. If this requires delaying their development for a while then so be it.

20.Keep your queen away from the action until the center has stabilized and some minor pieces have been traded off. She is a strong defender as well as an attacker.

21.The weak squares are f2 and f7. Almost any move that threatens these squares is good opening principle.

22.Consider gambiting a pawn for activity when playing White against a weaker opponent.

23.Resist the temptation to play wild gambits as Black. They are almost always unsound.

24.Play moves that force your opponent to defend and restrict his development.

25.Know the general principles of any opening you play regularly. Don't play openings you haven't studied.

26.If White opens 1.d4, then most of Black's plans will center on when to play c7-c5.

27.Know the most common traps of the popular openings. Know all the traps of your favorite openings. Then never play any of the traps.

28.Declining a gambit you're not familiar with is usually recommended. At least you're rarely worse off than you were before the gambit was offered.

29.Moving the same piece twice is not a loss of tempo if it forces your opponent to undevelop, move a piece to an inferior square or to give the tempo back.

Middlegame:

30.Never lock the pawns on the diagonal of your fianchettoed bishop. Conversely, if your opponent has fianchettoed his bishop then aim to lock his pawn on the diagonal, blocking the bishop out.

31.Disconnected rooks are weak; connected rooks are good; doubled rooks on an open file are lethal.

32.If your opponent has no weaknesses, they must be created. Look for loose pieces, weak pawns and open files/diagonals.

33.Avoid the temptation to grab pawns if that opens a file or a diagonal for your opponent to attack.

34.The later you castle, the more potentially dangerous it can be. Consider not castling at all if the queens have come off the board or if your opponent has open lines towards your castled king.

35.Keep your queen mobile, don't block her lines with your own pieces. Failure to do so often means the queen gets shut out of play or worse, trapped.

36.Enemy pawns are the scourge of the advanced piece. To a pinned piece, they are poison.

37.An enemy rook on the same file as your king/queen spells trouble.

38.Trade away your opponents active pieces, leave the inactive pieces alone.

39.If you are ahead in material, the objective must be to win by converting to a won endgame or a mating attack. Not to win even more material at the risk of counterplay.

40.Pawns in front of a castled king must only move under dire circumstances.

41.A strong attack against the enemy king is worth about 2 pawns. A mating attack against the enemy king is worth a queen, both rooks and all the minor pieces you can afford to give and still deliver mate.

42.The queen can rarely move in safety. She is always subject to attack from other pieces and pawns.

43.Anyone who gets mated on the back-rank truly deserves it. This is the most elementary mating pattern and must be acknowledged at all times when calculating tactical variations.

44.If a pawn is attacked, instead of moving a piece to protect it consider moves that create a threat or win time. Foolish opponents will often capture the pawn and leave you with good chances.

45.Not all pieces belong on one side of the board. When attacking, use as many pieces as you can but leave one or two behind as defense.

46.An attack with three or more pieces usually succeeds; two pieces sometimes; one never.

47.Defense without help from pawns is almost never successful.

48.At the end of complicated lines, look for simple moves.

49.What doesn't work now might work later on. If there is tension in the position to your advantage, aim to maintain that tension.

Endgame:

50.In a rook and pawns endgame, keep your rook active at all times.

51.In endgames without queens, always centralize your king and make him active.

52.In endgames with queens, protect your king with your own pawns but beware of cheap mates.

53.Learn the concept of opposition in king and pawn endings.

54.If your opponent has passed pawns, try to create your own on the opposite side.

55.A king alone can never stop connected passed pawns.

56.Know the square-rule by heart.

57.Trade off weak pawns; place your strong pawns in chains.

58.A bishop and rook pawn against a lone king only win if the bishop is the same colour as the queening square.

59.The purpose of every endgame should be to promote a pawn or prevent the opponent from doing same.

60.Once the pawns are locked, both players must stay mindful of the possibility of stalemate at all times.

61.The king would be the best piece in the endgame if not for the unfortunate possibility of check and mate.

62.A lone rook stands no chance against a pair of bishops.

63.The three winning factors to rook-and-pawn endgame are: active rook, active king and good pawn structure.

64.Know the Lucena position by heart.

65.Study of the KBNvK endgame will teach you about piece coordination as well as mating patterns.

Tactics:

66.Many combinations start with pinning a piece.

67.Any sacrifice that makes the enemy king more vulnerable must be considered.

68.Never capture back blindly. There might be a strong zwischenzug to be played. Likewise, to recapture with the wrong piece can bring disaster.

69.The best moves are those that create two or three threats at the same time. A threat of mate combined with another threat is usually lethal.

70.Do not execute a threat while your opponent can counter it - wait for him to overlook something before springing the trap or force him to react defensively to your threat.

71.Beware of unprotected pieces.

72.Discovered attacks are the most devastating weapon on the chessboard. Learn to spot them.

73.Resolve pins quickly.

74.Learn to recognize and implement different kinds of mating patterns.

75.Pieces don't leave the board before they are captured - beware of "take back" moves winning material.

76.The best response to one of your pieces being attacked is often to attack an enemy piece in turn.

77.Pinned pieces neither attack nor defend anything.

78.Sacrifices are like playing slot machines. You put in a quarter and sometimes a fortune falls into your hands. A good sacrifice, even if it doesn't lead to mate, will usually allow you to regain the sacrificed material in a better position.

79.Pawn forks are the most overlooked and embarrassing tactic out there.

80.A sacrifice on f2, f7, h7 or h2 must never be overlooked.

81.Tactics that leave your opponent with multiple possible replies usually don't work. If you have two good moves, choose the one which leaves your opponent with fewer options.

Positional play:

82.Every pawn move must be carefully evaluated to see if it creates weak squares.

83.Always act to stop your opponent's pieces from arriving at outpost squares before they get there.

84.Knights run out of squares to go to easily. Use bishops and pawns to contain your opponent's knights.

85.A protected knight sitting in your opponent's king position is lethal. Not only is there a threat of forks, the mental effort of calculating the threats every move is highly depleting.

86.If you are missing one bishop, place your pawns on squares of the same color as the missing bishop.

87.If your opponent has no good moves, make sure he stays that way.

88.Weak pawns should be traded off.

89.If you have little space on one side, expand on the other side.

90.A pawn on the 6th or 7th rank is never to be taken lightly.

91.In the early middlegame, a pawn structure is only as good as the pawn breaks available in it.

Psychology:

92.If your position is worse, but you have found a good move, make the move and offer your opponent a draw. He might misjudge and accept.

93.If you believe the position is drawn and consider offering a draw, beware of the move before the draw offer. Letting your mind slip away from the game is a dangerous thing. The move might be a huge blunder.

94.If you are worse off, admit it to yourself. Having the right mindset is important in defending.

95.When you are attacking, calm down and take a critical look at your position. Your opponent still has resources left.

96.Learn to shut out everything else to help concentrate on analyzing.

97.Play all your moves with confidence. If you missed something, so will probably your opponent.

98.Don't be afraid to lose.

99.Irregular openings can be tried occasionally for shock value. The psychological edge is sometimes enough to compensate for theoretical weaknesses.

100.If you find yourself turned off by chess, take a moderately long break and concentrate on other things. You will find a fresh perspective.

101.If all else seems to fail, try the craziest move you can find. Not only will you have fun trying to hussle your opponent, you will gain a reputation for being a creative player.

Annotated Game

Lassila, T. - Marek, P. (B46 - Sicilian, Taimanov)

1. e4 c5
2. Nf3 Nc6
3. d4 cxd4
4. Nxd4 Nf6
5. Nc3 a6

The Taimanov Variation - I've also played this defense, although with a different move order. It has a reputation for being "positional". Go figure. Nowadays I opt for sharper Sicilians, mainly because the Taimanov produces few losses but also few wins. Trying to get into a sharp Sicilian with White is usually not a problem, as we're about to see here.

6. Be3!? e6

Transposing into mainline Taimanov (1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 Nf6). White could also have played 6. Nxc6 bxc6 (6...dxc6 7. Qxd8+ Kxd8 8. Bf4 Nd7 9. O-O-O Ke8 lets White have all the fun) 7. e5 Ng8 8. Bc4 e6 9. O-O with good chances. However, we will soon depart to far different play.

7. Qd2!? Be7

If Black plays 7...d6, then 8. Be2 Be7 9. O-O enters a Scheveningen structure.

8. f3 O-O
9. g4 b5

The typical mutual pawn rush has begun. 9...Bb4 10. O-O-O Ne5 11. g5 Nh5 +/=.

10. g5 Ne8

Somewhat passive. 10...Nh5 11. Rg1 b4 12. Na4 Qa5 13. b3 Bb7 looks to provide more counterplay.

11. h4 f6?!

This pawn push weakens the king and practically forces the response g5-g6. Instead 11...Nxd4 12. Bxd4 d5 13. O-O-O b4 14. Na4 Qa5 15. Nb6 Rb8 16. Nxc8 Rxc8 17. Kb1 with equality.

12. g6 Ne5

Black doesn't like 12...hxg6 13. h5 with an attack. Also possible was 12. Nxc6 dxc6 13. Qxd8 Bxd8 14. O-O-O Be7 15. f4 with some initiative.

13. gxh7 Kxh7

The black king is temporarily safe as the h-file remains closed. However...

Position after 13...Kxh7

14. O-O-O Bb7

Or 14. Qg2 Nc4 15. Bxc4 bxc4 16. Rg1 Rb8 +/=. Now if 14...b4 then 15. Na4 Qa5 15. b3 and the attack continues. The position is already very difficult. I now had the idea to exploit the weakness of e6 and the rook on the d-file. 14. h5 b4 15. h6 g6 16. Na4 d5! doesn't seem to gain ground.

15. Qg2 Rc8?

Dropping material. Black could have tried 15...Qc7 16. h5 Bb4 17. h6 g6 18. f4 Nf7. Or 15...Bc5 16. h5 Qc7 (16...Bxd4 17. Rxd4 Nf7 18. Qg6+ Kg8 19. h6 is hopeless)17. h6 g6 18. Rg1 Rg8. Both appear to defend adequately for now.

16. Nxe6 Qa5
17. Nxf8+ Bxf8

Black hopes his coming attack will compensate for the hopeless material deficit. But White still has more active pieces and should logically parry the attack. This is the theme for the remainder of the game - Black attacks, White defends and threatens a constant counterattack.

Position after 17...Bxf8

18. f4? b4

Black could draw with 18...Rxc3! 19. bxc3 Qxc3 20. Bd4 Ba3+ 21. Kb1 Qb4+ 22. Ka1 Nd3! 23. c4 (23. cxd3 Qxd4+ 24. Kb1 Qb4+ 25. Ka1 =) Qxc4 24. Bxf6 Nxf6 25. Bxd3 Qd4+ 26. Kb1 Qb4 =. Better is 18. h5 b4 19. h6 g6 20. Nb1 Qxa2 21. f4 +-, when 18...Rxc3? fails to 19. h6 g6 20. bxc3 Qxc3 21. Bd4 Ba3+ 22. Kb1 Qb4+ 23. Ka1 Nd3 24. c4! Qxc4 25. Bb2 +-.

19. Nd5 b3
20. axb3 Qa1+
21. Kd2 Qxb2

Black forges on, but the perpetual is not there any longer.

22. Rc1 Bxd5

Or 22...Ba3 23. Kd1 and Black must retreat the knight.

23. exd5 Ba3

23...Qc3+ 24. Ke2 would go nowhere.

Position after 23...Ba3

24. Bd3+!? Nxd3

24. Kd1 +-.

25. Qe4+ Kg8
26. Qxd3 Bb4+

A little trick that further slows down the attack. In addition to being down material with a dwindling attack, Black must now worry about his queen getting trapped. Black had to play 26...Qa2 27. Ra1 Bb4+ 28. Ke2 Qxc2+ 29. Qxc2 Rxc2+ 30. Kf3 Rc3 31. Rab1 and escape to a bad endgame.

27. Ke2 Rc3?

The final mistake, allowing the white queen to force resignation.

28. Qe4 1-0

Annotated Game

N.N. - Lassila, T. (D00 - Queen's Pawn Game)

1. d4 d5
2. g3 Nf6
3. Nc3 Bf5
4. Nf3 c6

Withholding e7-e6 for a while longer.

5. Bd2 e6

White has opted for a less ambitious opening and now that the light-squared bishop is outside the pawn chain, it can be traded off.

6. Nh4 Be4!

Forcing the further compromise of the king side.

7. f3 Bg6
8. Nxg6 hxg6

The diagonal b8-h2 now becomes a sore spot.

9. Bg5 Bd6

Position after 9...Bd6

10. e4? Bxg3+!

10. f4 was necessary. Play then might go 10...Qb6 11. Bxf6 gxf6 (11...Qxb2!? 12. Nxd5 cxd5 13. Bxg7 Rh7 14. Be5 Qc3+ 15. Kf2 Bxe5 16. dxe5 Nc6 =) 12. Na4 Qa5+ 13. c3 Qc7 14. e3 Nd7 =/+.

The idea is 11. hxg3 Rxh1 12. e5 Qc7 13. exf6 Qxg3+ 14. Ke2 Na6 (or the amazing 14...Qxg5!? 15. fxg7 when Black wins in style after 15...Rh2+ 16. Bg2 Rxg2+ 17. Kd3 Qf5+ 18. Ke3 Qg5+ 19. Kd3 c5!! 20. g8=Q+ Ke7 21. Nxd5 Qxd5 and the mate threat finishes White off despite having two queens on the board!) 15. Nb5 Qxg5 16. fxg7 O-O-O 17. Nxa7+ Kb8 18. Nxc6+ bxc6 and wins.

11. Kd2 Qc7!?

Better was 11...dxe4 12. Kc1 exf3 13. Qxf3 Bh4 -/+. After 12. e5 Nfd7 Black is only up one pawn.

12. Be2? Bf4+

Another slip.

13. Bxf4 Qxf4+
14. Kd1 dxe4
15. fxe4 Nxe4
16. Nxe4 Qxe4
17. Kd2 Qxd4+

White is shedding pawns left and right.

18. Kc1 Qxd1+
19. Kxd1 Nd7

The end result: three passed connected pawns for Black. An easy win, provided the pawns can be made to roll. This turns out surprisingly difficult.

20. a4 Rh4
21. Ra3 Ke7
22. a5 Rd8
23. Kc1 Nf6

Position after 23...Nf6

So far nothing has been accomplished, except taking over the d-file.

24. Rb3 Ra4!?

Better is to just play 24...Rd7 protecting the pawn structure on the queen side.

25. Rxb7 Rd7
26. Rxd7 Nxd7

Or 26...Kxd7?! 27. Rd1+ Kc7 28. a6 disarms the trap on the back-rank.

27. Kb1 Rxa5
28. Rg1 Ra4
29. Rg3 Nc5
30. b3 Rh4
31. h3 Ne4
32. Rd3 Nf2

Winning the h-pawn but weakening the queen side. 32. Re3 f5 would set the pawns rolling.

33. Rc3 Rxh3
34. Rxc6 a5
35. Ra6 Re3

White is slowly catching up and getting his own connected passers to counter my four passers. The problem is, his seem equally fast. My knight is also temporarily misplaced.

36. Bb5 Re5

Position after 36...Re5

Simply pushing the pawns with 36...f5 would be sufficient, I start worrying too much about the White passers.

37. Rxa5 Kf6?

Blocking my own passed pawns!

38. c4 Ne4
39. Kc2 Nd6

The pin is but a mirage, and easily defeated.

40. b4 Nxb5
41. cxb5 Ke7

The minor pieces have been traded and the white passers doubled, but the rook endgame is extremely difficult. I've spent a lot of time trying to find out a solid winning line for Black, but could not come up with a convincing line against all White defenses. It seems the key is to play 41...Rd5, and then:

42. Kc3 Rd8 43. Kc4 (43. b6 e5 [not 43...Rb8? 44. Ra6 Ke5 45. Kc4 Kd6 46. b5 g5 47. b7+ Kc7 48. Kc5 Kxb7 49.Rb6+ and it's a draw as the black king can't go to d7 due to 49...Kc7/Kc8 50. Ra6 Kd7 51.Ra7+ Ke8 52. b6 g4 53. Kc6 g3 54. Kc7 g2 55. Ra1 Rd8 56. b7 Rd7+ 57. Kb6 Rd8 58.Rg1 f5 59. Rxg2 Kf7 60. Kc7 Re8 61. b8=Q Rxb8 62. Kxb8 and it's White who wins] 44. Rc5 e4 45. b7 e3 46. Rc4 g5 47. Re4 Rb8 48.Rxe3 Rxb7 49. Kc4 Kg6 50. b5 f5 51. Re6+ Kf7 52. Re2 f4 53. Kc5 f3 54. Rf2 g4 55. Kc6 Re7 56. b6 Re6+ 57. Kc7 Re2 58. Rf1 Rc2+ 59. Kd6 Rb2 60. Kc7 -+) 43...Rc8+ (Again not 43...Rb8? 44.Kc5 e5 45.b6 =) 44. Kd4 g5 45. b6 g4 46. b5 g5 47. Ra2 Kg6 48. Re2 g3 49. Rg2 f5 50. Rxg3 f4 51. Rb3 g4 52.Rc3 Rb8 53. Rc6 g3 54. Rxe6+ Kg5 55. Re5+ Kh4 56. Re7 f3 57. Rh7+ Kg4 58. Rg7+ Kh3 -+

As can readily be seen, this is one complicated rook endgame! The text move leads to a quick draw.

42. Ra7+ Kd6
43. Rxf7 Rxb5
44. Rxg7 Rxb4
45. Rxg6 Kd5

There is nothing to do here, the White king is ahead of the pawn and cannot be blocked off.

46. Rg3 e5
47. Kc3 Rc4+
48. Kd2 e4
49. Rb3 Kd4
50. Ra3 Rb4 1/2-1/2