- Rooks love open files and the seventh rank.
- Don't move the same piece twice in the opening until you've developed all your pieces (unless you have a really good reason!)
- Capablanca's Rule: When you are up the exchange in an endgame, sometimes the easiest way to win is to sac the exchange back for a pawn.
- In endgames, opposite colored bishops increase drawing chances. But in middlegames, they increase the winning chances of the attacking side.
- When you are ahead material, exchange big pieces, but don't trade off all the pawns. When you are behind in material, trade pawns but not big pieces.
intermittent thoughts on my life and work as the chess coach at IS 318, a public middle school in Brooklyn
Friday, October 21, 2011
know any good chess rules?
I'm making a bulletin board for my classroomm of useful "rules of thumb" in chess. For example:
If there's tension between two pieces and pawns - when they're staring at each other, threatening to take each other - if it's not good for your opponent to take, you probably shouldn't take.
ReplyDeleteRick Massimo
All things being equal, capture towards the center with pawns.
ReplyDeleteBring a knight out before the first bishop, as it is clearer where knights belong (from Lasker).
Use your king in the endgame.
The bishop pair is stronger than a BN or NN pair.
Chessville has a very good collection:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.chessville.com/instruction/instr_gen_collection_wisdom_why_didnt.htm
thanks!
ReplyDeleteThe chessville ones are good, but aren't so chess-based, they seem more psychological.
more please!!
Place your rooks behind passed pawns (either behind your own passed pawns or your opponents).
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to seeing the final compilation. Here are two candidates for inclusion:
ReplyDeleteDon't start a fight until your King is safe (castle early).
Pawns are capable of breaching any defensive wall, so they should not be given up for nothing (Bronstein)
Development is not complete until the rooks are connected.
ReplyDeleteEvery pawn move creates a weakness.
Loose pieces lose games!
Always look at the forcing moves!
When under attack, do not make defensive pawn moves until and unless forced to do so.
It is OK to take risks to achieve a winning position. But it is stupid to take risks when you have achieved a winning position.
ReplyDeleteIn an opposite-side castling position,initiative trumps material.
Patzer sees check, patzer plays check.
A pinned pieces is a paralysed piece.
Do not volunteer for a pin!
A flank attack should ideally be met by a counter-attack in the centre.
The best rule of thumb is to forget about rules of thumb; every single move is up to you.
ReplyDeletehttp://streathambrixtonchess.blogspot.com/2008/07/improve-your-chess-i-why-coach-others.html
Know what the plan is for every piece on the board, yours and theirs.
ReplyDeleteDevelop all of your pieces before attacking.
Know as many checkmate patterns as possible.
Look for tactics on every move, particularly for defensive purposes.
...this is what works in real games, at the class level.
Don't promote your pawns to an opponent's piece!
ReplyDeleteIf you can move your king once like a knight, save it to get out of check.
Having the two bishops is worth half a pawn, unless they are on the same colored squares.
At no point during castling should both of your feet leave the ground.
Hey Ms.Vicary
ReplyDeleteIts me Vicente Gomez from the chess team. These are some good rules, ill be sure to use them when I'm playing chess. See on Tuesday when I go to chess club {I go to chess club every Tuesday and Friday}. Also thank you for all the help you've given me. If it weren't for you I would never in be the Reserve section today. You are a great teacher and and will always be a great teacher. Thank you Ms.Vicary you are THE BEST!!!!!!
Vicente J. Gomez
Student Leader in Technology and Engineering at with Mr. R Holstein
Eugenio Maria DeHostos Intermediate School 318K
Academy of the Arts and Sciences
101 Walton Street
Brooklyn, New York 11206
bigv99@gmail.com
Bishops do better in open positions. Knights do better in closed positions.
ReplyDelete"The best rule of thumb is to forget about rules of thumb; every single move is up to you."
ReplyDeleteI highly disagree, particularly for beginning players. There are principles, and maybe very talented players grasp them intuitively, but for the rest of us they're helpful.
The key is to use the rules positively, to let them OPEN your mind to MORE possibilities when you're not satisfied with the lines you're calculating ("I've got the two Bishops; maybe there's a way to open the position, or at least open a big diagonal for the Bishop my opponent doesn't have?") rather than negatively, to close your mind to possibilities ("That Rook lift looks intriguing, but I've got the two Bishops, so I shouldn't be wasting my time with that - I should open up the position").
Rick Massimo
…pawns should help and not hinder the pieces.
ReplyDelete– Alexander Kotov
...we often think of an obvious move as a natural one, when in fact we should be looking for a logical move, which need not be obvious at all.
– Jonathan Tisdall, Improve Your Chess Now
Always develop the worst placed chess piece.
ReplyDeleteRook alone can not stop two connected pawns on 6th.
ReplyDeleteTwo pieces are better than rook with a pawn.
In N vs B endgames if pawns are on both sides then the side with B is better; if all pawns are on the same side then N is better.
Here's a few that probably won't fit:
ReplyDelete"Unless you analyze the position, you'll achieve nothing." -JRC
"All that matters on the chessboard is good moves." -Bobby Fischer
"You can only get good at chess if you love the game." -Bobby Fischer
"Tactics flow from a superior position." -Bobby Fischer
"I don't like American girls. They're very conceited, you know. In Europe they're more pleasant." -Bobby Fischer
(You don't want to know what he said about [women]teachers.)
"Bad players like to play with their 'pretty' pieces. It is the mark of good players that they won't go on an adventure before they solve the problem of their bad pieces." -Jesse Kraai (ChessLecture, 12/10/2008 quoting someone else)
"An important lesson I’ve learned in life is that if something isn’t working, keep changing it until it does." -Braden Bournival
"I’m not as dumb as you look" -Larry Christiansen
"If you think your opponent is going to play the Dutch, don't do anything to discourage him." -Vladimir Kramnik
"Every Chess master was once a beginner." -Chernev
CHatty CATHy!*
ReplyDelete* Every move, look for checks, captures and threats -- your opponent's and your own.
"Checks, captures and threats" is Dan Heisman's mantra. "Chatty Cathy" is a mnemonic of my own invention.
Don't start swaps, finish them.
ReplyDeleteDon't be lazy and castle early - unless the centre is wide open there is almost always something better to do.