Chess Tip Of The Day

To create a passed pawn from a pawn-majority it is best to begin by advancing the pawn which has no enemy pawn in front of it. Luděk Pachman, Complete Chess Strategy 2: Pawn-Play And The Centre

Most endgames of king and queen versus king and rook and pawn are theoretical wins. Even where they are theoretical draws, the side having the queen should play them out because it is very difficult to draw them in actual play. Edmar Mednis, Questions And Answers On Practical Endgame Play

Advanced pawns often control squares that can become an important base for penetration by the pieces into the opponent's camp. Practice has shown that it is often best to occupy such outpost squares with a knight. Nikolay Yakovlev, Chess Blueprints

ChessBase and Chess Assistant have functions to show you in what lines your future opponent scores well and in what lines he scores badly. It is very easy to be tempted to play a line in which your opponent has not done well. However, it is also quite dangerous. If you know nothing about the line, you will be in dire straits if your opponent deviates at a point where you did not expect it. Christian Kongsted, How To Use Computers To Improve Your Chess

Pawns in front of the castled king should not be touched unless absolutely necessary, and at least one piece should remain on guard (when castled on the kingside, for example, a knight on f3/f6 serves well). Samuel Reshevsky, The Art Of Positional Play

One of the basic principles of chess strategy is to exchange one's less-active pieces for the opponent's more-active pieces. Steve Mayer, Bishop v Knight: The Verdict