Chess Tip Of The Day

A permanent concentration and an eagle-like scan of the board are the hallmarks of great players. Mihai Şubă, Dynamic Chess Strategy

Safety of the king is, or should be, uppermost in the mind of every good player. Samuel Reshevsky, The Art Of Positional Play

The real purpose behind "knights before bishops" is "keep the widest choice" or, as it is generally expressed, "reserve the greater option." Cecil Purdy, Action Chess: Purdy's 24 Hours Opening Repertoire

The best time to study an opening is immediately before and/or immediately after a game, because then the stimulus to learn is at a peak. Leonard Barden & Tim Harding, The Batsford Guide To Chess Openings

A knight always has great difficulty coping (in an ending) with a rook's pawn. Sergei Dolmatov, Opening Preparation

The traditional 'weak points' f2 and f7 are especially vulnerable in 1.e4 e5 openings. It pays to watch out for tactics, including sacrifices, on these squares. John Emms, Starting Out: The Scotch Game

Doing tactics and calculation has to be my key piece of advice for the club player. These sorts of exercises will just make you quicker at calculating and over time you'll see more. Shreyas Royal, Chess magazine

Don't assume a move you hadn't expected is bad; often it's just a sign that you should look at the position more closely to see what else you haven't seen. Jonathan Rowson, The Seven Deadly Chess Sins

Some gambits are of dubious or marginal worth if the opponent knows how to defend precisely.  But others are perfectly sound, and your chess education will be seriously lacking without exposure to this unique opening form. John Watson, Mastering The Chess Openings - Volume 4

There are sound chess reasons why the King's Gambit should be accepted. However, for some players, the King's Gambit Accepted may seem too obscure and complicated. Then there are players who don't like being pressed, and in fact savour positions which offer immediate chances to counterattack. Both these types of players may do better in a practical game - for psychological reasons - by not accepting the gambit.  Edmar Mednis, Understanding The Open Games

To truly get better, put a cap on your activities. Play five (online) games every day, win or lose. Do 10 puzzles every day, but try to get them all correct. Don't treat your rapid games or puzzle-solving like an endless spin at a casino. Levy Rozman (GothamChess), Chess magazine

In the ending one weakness in the opposition camp is seldom enough to win. You need to create a second weakness, and alternate attacks until the defence cannot keep up. John Cox, Starting Out: Alekhine's Defence

The main rationale behind the English is to play either in the centre or on the queenside, but in both cases utilising the control of d5 as a focal point upon which to build one's position. Nigel Povah, How To Play The English Opening

The queen-and-knight combination is often referred to as the deadliest attacking force in chess. The two pieces work so well together because their differing movements complement each other perfectly. John Emms, Starting Out: The Scotch Game

A square is only weak if the opponent can make good use of it. Edmar Mednis, Practical Middlegame Tips

People should stay well clear of the Dragon unless they know precisely how to handle it. Paul Motwani, Weekend Chess magazine

In a pawn ending with pawns on both sides of the board, the most important rule is: the side which has its passed pawn further from the other pawns usually wins. Jesper Hall, Chess Training For Budding Champions

A simple test: have I files for my rooks? If I have, I am sure to have freedom for my other pieces as well. Cecil Purdy, The Search For Chess Perfection

One of my key recommendations for aspiring chessplayers is to get to know yourself really well and then build an opening repertoire and a playing style that fits you. Lars Bo Hansen, How Chess Games Are Won And Lost

The dark-square bishop is the Stonewall Dutch player's key minor piece, and White almost always benefits from exchanging it off. Steve Giddins, 50 Essential Chess Lessons

Usually the side with the two minor pieces would like to avoid exchanging other pieces, whereas the side with the rook should seek exchanges. Esben Lund, Rook vs Two Minor Pieces

A desire to create complications at an early stage in the game sometimes urges a player into unwarranted experiments. Alexey Sokolsky, The Modern Openings In Theory And Practice

When you have a dangerous initiative, it is important not to cash it in for material too soon. John Nunn, Grandmaster Chess Move By Move

The fewer pieces there are on the board, the more squares will become available for the heavy pieces, and consequently their strength increases for every exchange. Jacob Aagaard, Excelling At Positional Chess

You should not eat a heavy meal during the hour before you play. Digestion will influence the amount of blood going to your head. Jacob Aagaard, Excelling At Chess

Among the positions that form exceptions to Tartakower's famous aphorism, "all rook endings are drawn," those where the stronger side has an outside passed pawn supported from behind are especially unpleasant for the defender. Mihail Marin, Secrets Of Chess Defence

I have developed a rough method for a preliminary evaluation of rook endings. For each favourable element, such as an extra pawn, spatial advantage, the more-active rook, or an important weakness in the enemy's camp, one point is awarded. If the difference between the two sides is one point the position is clearly better but not necessarily winning. With the exception of some extreme cases a score of 2-0 or 3-1 should guarantee a win. Mihail Marin, Learn From The Legends

There are said to be two ways of improving as a chess player - by accumulating knowledge and by working on your shortcomings. For beginners, the acquisition of information is more important. For more experienced players, who already possess a solid theoretical grounding, efforts to eradicate a range of characteristic mistakes become no less important. Vladimir Popov, Chess Lessons

When your head is spinning with success, that is the time when the blunders occur. So try to develop the rule for yourself that when you seem to be getting close to a win, be on the lookout. Alexander Kotov, Think Like A Grandmaster

Don't attack unless you have some tangible superiority, either in the stronger working of your pieces, or in longer reach. If you do, the reaction will place your army in a critical position, and the inevitable counterattack will find you in disorder. Emanuel Lasker,  Common Sense In Chess

Under normal circumstances in the Sicilian, White will attack on the kingside and Black on the queenside. David Levy & Kevin O'Connell, How To Play The Sicilian Defence