Chess Tip Of The Day

The advance of the king's pawn to the fifth rank usually entails an advantage only in positions in which a good deal of material is ready for an attack on the king whose defence is weakened by the absence of the knight the advancing pawn has chased away. Edward Lasker, Chess For Fun & Chess For Blood

It is normally impossible to calculate the consequences of a pawn sacrifice, but, as Bronstein once said, a pawn can always be given up for unclear threats when you already have a lead in development. Alexander Beliavsky & Adrian Mikhalchishin, Secrets Of Chess Intuition

Generally speaking it is better (in closed positions) to emphasise pawn-structure and quality rather than quantity of development. Nigel Davies, The Rules Of Winning Chess

Defensive technique has advanced to such an extent that even a minor pawn sacrifice should be based on concrete variations, otherwise the defence will take the upper hand. Garry Kasparov, Kasparov Teaches Chess

It is always a good policy in tactical situations to scour the whole board for candidate moves. John Emms, Chess For The Rank And File

If you can win the centre after opposite-side castling, you will control both battlefields: the one on which you attack, and the other on which you defend. John Walker, Chess: Attacking The King

A rook's strength is greatest in the endgame. In the middlegame a bishop or knight can easily be a match for a rook, and is sometimes superior. This is particularly true if there are few open lines along which the rooks can operate. Robin Smith, Modern Chess Analysis