Chess Tip Of The Day

When you make a sacrifice for a future gain, you must feel sure that the gain is there. Where the sacrifice is a material one and the prospective gain positional, judgment is often sufficient; but where the sacrifice is positional and the prospective gain is material (especially if it is only a pawn), it is usually necessary to consider how the position may stand after the material is won. Cecil Purdy, Fine Art Of Chess Annotation And Other Thoughts - Volume Two

In the middlegame, knight and two pawns are worth more than a rook. Larry Kaufman, The Chess Advantage In Black And White

Attack on the flank frequently goes well with operations on the open file. The main object is to create weak points which may then be occupied by minor pieces which cooperate with the rook on the open file. Max Euwe, Judgment And Planning In Chess 

With opposite-colour bishops and a normal one-pawn advantage, the stronger side wants the major piece to be a rook rather than the queen. Edmar Mednis, Strategic Chess: Mastering The Closed Game

To lose one's objectivity is almost invariably to lose the game as well. David Bronstein, Zurich International Chess Tournament 1953

A rough and ready rule is that it nearly always pays to advance the front member of a doubled pawn. Cecil Purdy, How Fischer Won

The strongest moves often take advantage of the opponent's last move, and often in rather blunt and obvious ways. Jon Edwards, The Chess Analyst

The old rule: never change a pawn-formation in time trouble. Peter Leko, New In Chess magazine

The earlier one assumes weaknesses or bad pieces, the more likely they are to be manageable problems, or not problems at all. John Watson, Mastering The Chess Openings: Volume 4

Generally speaking, in positions with an isolated pawn, the side playing against the isolani should try to exchange minor pieces - knights in particular. Andrew Greet, Starting Out: The Accelerated Dragon

While two pawns and a rook are usually a sufficient equivalent for two minor pieces in an ending, they rarely are in the middlegame, where due to the superior fighting power of two pieces against one, the pawns are often regained before long. Edward Lasker, Chess For Fun & Chess For Blood

When realising an advantage you usually have better winning chances if the pieces on the board are of different types. Sergei Dolmatov, Opening Preparation

Knights are the least drawish piece (in an ending). Larry Kaufman, The Chess Advantage In Black And White

The biggest blunders are made in time trouble. David LeMoir, How To Be Lucky In Chess.

One of the most important aims of good opening play is to develop your pieces toward the centre so that they are ready for middlegame action. Edmar Mednis, Practical Opening Tips

The safest way to deal with a gambit is to find a good time to give material back. Andrew Soltis, Grandmaster Secrets: Openings

Watching strong players in postmortems can teach you much more than reading their books or annotations. Jonathan Rowson, The Seven Deadly Chess Sins

I am a great believer in the theory that if you have more pieces attacking than your opponent has defending, then the chances of your attack succeeding are quite high. Julian Hodgson,  Attack With GM Julian Hodgson

The amateur should have some acquaintance with all the main openings, and an especially thorough knowledge of two or three of them. Max Euwe & Walter Meiden, The Road To Chess Mastery

Lack of patience is probably the most common reason for losing a game that should have been won. Bent Larsen, Ho w To Get Better At Chess

Pawns are quite happy to defend pieces, yet pieces do not enjoy being tied to the defence of weak pawns. Bear these simple principles in mind and you are well on the way to mastering one of the fundamental problems of chess - cooperation between pieces and pawns. Michael Stean, Simple Chess

Play to win against anyone and everyone. Playing to split the point is one of the best ways to lose a game. Jeremy Silman, The Amateur's Mind

The pressure which White obtains from the Morra Gambit persists even if Black successfully overcomes the early pitfalls of the opening. Mike Basman, Chess Openings

Winning the exchange can often have a disastrous effect on one's position if a good minor piece is exchanged for a rook which is doing nothing. Shaun Taulbut, Positional Chess

Rook endings are the most important to be acquainted with. Edward Lasker, Chess For Fun & Chess For Blood