Chess Tip Of The Day

The reason why the Colle is so popular with club players, and even some elite players, such as Artur Yusupov, is that it is easy to get out of the opening with a reasonable game without worrying about the latest tricks and traps. Gary Lane, British Chess Magazine

In opposite-coloured bishop positions the rule is almost always the same: you want your 'bad' pawns, the ones you have to defend or restrain the opponent's pawns with, on the squares of your own bishop, and your 'good' pawns, the ones which protect each other or which form a majority you aim to advance, on the squares of your opponent's bishop, both so that they restrain the bishop and so that they are harder for him to blockade. John Cox, The Berlin Wall

Playing with the isolated d pawn, always keep an eye on the f7 (f2) square, since its weakness can often be exploited - typically by a Nxf7 (Nxf2) strike. Alexander Baburin, Winning Pawn Structures

When one of the central files is blocked, attention turns to the other central file or, sometimes, the neighbouring bishop's (c or f) file. To command the open files is the key to success. Dražen Marović, Dynamic Pawn Play In Chess

An active king is not just good endgame technique - it is a recipe for inducing errors from the opponent. James Schuyler, Your Opponent Is Overrated

In general I believe the Qe2 setup (in the King's Indian Attack) is less effective if Black hasn't committed himself to ...d5. John Emms, Starting Out: King's Indian Attack

One of the best practical features of the Bb5 Sicilian is how little theory there is to learn, compared to the mainline Sicilian. For example, you can be fully prepared for 2...d6 3.Bb5+ in less than the time it would take you to wade through the analysis of a sharp line versus the Najdorf - and that would still leave you with the small matter of the Dragon and Classical systems to worry about. Neil McDonald, The Sicilian Bb5 - Revealed

Spend only 25% of your chess time studying the openings. There are lots of other areas in chess that will make a more dramatic difference in your results - just one compelling example is the study of tactics. Lev Alburt, Chess Openings For Black, Explained

The single most important principle to remember is that Black cannot afford as much as White. Edmar Mednis, Practical Opening Tips

The idea of the Queen's Gambit is to exercise pressure on the bishop's file. If Black plays in order to avoid such pressure sooner or later ...c5, White, by an exchange of pawns in the centre, isolates the pawn at d5 and attacks the latter. Richard Réti, Modern Ideas In Chess

Examine all checks and all captures. Cecil Purdy, How Fischer Won

Most amateurs are less at home against 1...e5 (after 1.e4) than they are against the Sicilian. They often resort to a wide variety of dubious gambits against 1...e5, and very often Black can emerge from the opening with an advantage. Larry Kaufman, The Chess Advantage In Black And White

In opposite-coloured bishop-endings, the defender should generally put his pawns on the same colour complex as that of his bishop. John Emms, Starting Out: Minor Piece Endings

An attack on a castled position is usually more dangerous along the h file than along the g file, the h file being further away from defending pieces and not as easy to cover. Ján Markoš, The Secret Ingredient To Winning At Chess

The side with the IQP has the following four plans available: A) kingside attack; B) opening the game by advancing the isolated pawn; C) advancing the isolated pawn in order to fix an enemy pawn on an adjacent file; D) developing activity on the queenside. Boris Zlotnik, Zlotnik's Middlegame Manual

Centralisation of the king in the endgame is hardly ever incorrect. Mikhail Shereshevsky, Endgame Strategy

It took me 20 years to realise that the best way to evaluate a position quickly is to look closely at the bishops. Roddy McKay, quoted in Chess For Zebras

Minor piece or three pawns? The closer a position is to an ending, the more likely it is that the pawns are better than the piece. Edmar Mednis, Practical Opening Tips

C8 is where the black queen's rook belongs in most Sicilians, on the semi-open file. Daniel King, Chess magazine

As an extremely rough guide I tend to think of IQP positions with four sets of minor pieces as favourable for White, ones with three sets of minor pieces as about level, and when it gets down to just two sets then things are starting to turn Black's way. This rule assumes that White has the IQP and that the major pieces are still on the board. Joe Gallagher, Starting Out: The Caro-Kann

I am firmly convinced that, at the club and weekend level, a player will usually get better results by sticking to a narrow range of openings. This is because the biggest weakness of most players at that level is a lack of understanding of the typical middlegames and endgames reached from the opening. Steve Giddins, How To Build Your Chess Opening Repertoire

As a rule the best players in the world play in time-trouble as if they were not short of time; so learn to follow their example. Alexander Kotov, Think Like A Grandmaster

The true purpose of the opening is to create imbalances and develop your army in such a way that they can take advantage of them. Jeremy Silman, How To Reassess Your Chess

The three major features of opening play are development, central control and king safety. If you can obtain an advantage in one of these three areas it can prove decisive in winning the game. Mike Basman, Chess Openings

If the club player can understand the basic strategy in a particular variation, and this should be well within his powers, he can also hope to discover new and strong moves for himself. Leonard Barden & Tim Harding, The Batsford Guide To Chess Openings

A lead in development (in return for a material sacrifice) offers dangerous but temporary compensation. Jonathan Tisdall, Improve Your Chess Now

If your pieces get tied down to defending pawns, your enemy can switch his attack to a different part of the board and you will not be able to react in time. Shaun Taulbut, Positional Chess

One must strive for a good position, not for an advantage in material! Siegbert Tarrasch, The Game Of Chess

In a queen-and-pawn endgame, the superior side needs a passed pawn. If the inferior side has one, he can often force a draw even if he is a couple of pawns down. David LeMoir, How To Be Lucky In Chess

The most valuable builder of judgment is the playing over of published games, always, of course, covering one side's moves with a card and thinking over what you would play before looking. Cecil Purdy, CJS Purdy's Fine Art Of Chess Annotation And Other Thoughts - Volume Two