CHESMAYNE

midi: he aint heavy

Quotations

64 Chess Commandments

A Summary of Hints, Pointers and Precepts from the ABCs of Chess

by Bruce Pandolfini

Be aggressive, but play soundly. Don’t take unnecessary chances.

Make sure every move has a purpose.

If you know your opponent’s style, take advantage of it. But, in the final analysis, play the board, not the player.

Don’t ignore your opponent’s moves.

Don’t give needless checks. Check only when it makes sense.

Answer all threats. Try to do so by improving your position and/or posing a counter-threat.

Play for the initiative. If you already have it, maintain it. If you don't have it, seize it.

When exchanging, try to get at least as much as you give up.

Take with the man of least value, unless there is a definite reason for doing otherwise.

Cut your losses. If you must lose material, lose as little as possible.

If you blunder, don’t give up fighting. After getting the advantage, your opponent may relax and let you escape.

Never play a risky move, hoping your opponent will overlook your threat, unless you have a losing position. In that case, you have nothing to lose.

Rely on your own powers. If you can’t see the point of your opponent’s move, assume there isn’t any.

Don’t sacrifice without good reason.

When you can’t determine whether to accept or decline a sacrifice, accept it.

Attack in number. Don’t rely on just one or two pieces.

Look for double attacks.

Play for the center: guard it, occupy it, influence it.

Fight for the center with pawns.

Don’t make careless pawn moves. In the opening, move as few pawns as necessary to complete your development.

If feasible, move both center pawns two squares each.

In the opening, move only center pawns. Unless the opening system or situation requires otherwise.

Try to develop your Bishops before blocking them in by moving a center pawn just one square.

Develop your pieces quickly, preferably toward the center (especially Knights, which often are “grim on the rim”).

Develop purposefully, and not just for development’s sake.

Don’t waste time or moves. Try to develop a new piece on each turn. Don’t move a piece twice in the opening without good reason.

Try to develop with threats, but don’t threaten pointlessly.

Develop minor pieces early. King-side pieces should usually be developed sooner than Queen-side ones, and Knights before Bishops.

Develop during exchanges.

To exploit an advantage in development, attack.

In the opening, don’t remove your Queen from play to “win” a pawn.

Don’t bring out the Queen too early, unless the natural course of play requires it.

Try to give as much scope to your pieces as possible.

Seize open lines.

Develop Rooks to open files, or to files likely to open.

Castle early.

Try to prevent your opponent’s King from castling. Keep it trapped in the center, especially in open games.

Try to pin your opponent’s pieces. Avoid pins against your own pieces.

Don’t capture pinned pieces until you can benefit from doing so. If possible, try to attack them again, especially with pawns.

After castling, don’t move the pawns in front of your King without specific reason.

To attack the King, pick a target square around it.

When applicable, pick target squares on the color of your unopposed Bishop. (Bishops control squares of only one color. If you have a Bishop that controls dark squares and your opponent has exchanged his corresponding Bishop, your dark-squared Bishop is “unopposed” on those squares.)

Look for tactics especially on squares of the color controlled by your unopposed bishop.

Try to avoid early exchanges of Bishops for Knights.

Double your attacking pieces by building batteries (two or more pieces of like power attacking along the same line). Put queen and Rook(s) on the same file or rank, and Queen and Bishop on the same diagonal.

Build batteries with the less valuable men up front, unless tactics require otherwise.

Maximize the efficiency of your moves. Play flexibly.

To strengthen control of a file, double your major pieces (Rooks and/or Queen) on it.

Determine whether you have an open or closed game, and play accordingly.

Usually play to retain you Bishops in open games, and sometimes Knights in closed games.

To improve the scope of your Bishop, place your pawns on squares opposite in color to it.

Keep your weaknesses on the color opposite to that of your opponent’s strongest Bishop.

Trade when ahead in material or when under attack, unless you have a sound reason for doing otherwise. Avoid trades when behind in material or when attacking.

Choose a plan and stay with it. Change it only if you should or must.

To gain space, you usually have to sacrifice time.

If cramped, free your game by exchanging material.

Trade bad minor pieces for good ones.

If the position is unsettled, disguise your plans: make noncommittal moves.

To gain space or open lines, advance pawns.

If the center is blocked, don’t automatically castle.

If behind in development, keep the game closed.

Try to accumulate small advantages.

Try to dominate the seventh rank, especially with Rooks.

Use the analytic method. When you don’t know what to do, first evaluated the position (as best you can), then ask pertinent questions about your analysis.

Chess Quotes

“The beauty of a chess move lies not in its appearance but in the idea/thought behind it”. According to Mr. Keiser Paul [of Berlaar, Belgium], the author is Dr. Siegbert Tarrasch. Source: http://gameknot.com/fmsg/chess/700.shtml

“I love all positions. Give me a difficult positional game, I will play it. Give me a bad position, I will defend it. Openings, endgames, complicated positions, dull draws, I love them and I will do my very best. But totally won positions, I cannot stand them.” Hein Donner, ‘Clubblad DD’, 1950.

“In blitz, the knight is stronger than the bishop.” Vlastimil Hort.

“Chess is so inspiring that I do not believe a good player is capable of having an evil thought during the game.” Wilhelm Steinitz, interview with J. Moquette, 1896.

“Dazzling combinations are for the many, shifting wood is for the few.” Georg Kieninger, ‘Deutsche Schachhefte’, 1950

“I already came upon the world as a extraordinary human being; to my parents’ great horror, I was equipped with a clubfoot which, however, did not hamper my rapid progress.” Siegbert Tarrasch, ‘Dreihundert Schachpartien’, 1894.

“Oh! this opponent, this collaborator against his will, whose notion of Beauty always differs from yours and whose means (strength, imagination, technique) are often too limited to help you effectively! What torment, to have your thinking and your phantasy tied down by another person!”
Alexander Alekhine, foreword to ‘Mes Problèmes et études d'échecs’, Fred. Lazard, 1929

“The profuse phallic symbolism of chess provides some fantasy gratification of the homosexual wish, particularly the desire for mutual masturbation.”
Reuben Fine, ‘The Psychology of the Chess Player’, 1956.

“We like to think.” Gary Kasparov, asked by Hans Ree why he and Karpov get into time trouble so often.

“My life has been determined by the move e2-e1=N.” Johan Barendregt, interview with Max Pam, 1972.

“When you absolutely don’t know what to do anymore, it is time to panic.”
John van der Wiel.

“I have not given any drawn or lost games, because I thought them inadequate to the purpose of the book.” Jose Capablanca, ‘My Chess Career’, 1920.

“And the rigidity of the material with which we have to compose, is a more formidable opponent than Lasker or Capablanca. Because these lifeless opponents do not have any moments of human weakness!” Henri Weenink, ‘Het Schaakprobleem’, 1921.

“Checkers is for tramps.” Paul Morphy.

“Yes, I have played a blitz game once. It was on a train, in 1929.” Mikhail Botvinnik, interviewed by Genna Sosonko in 1989.

“Previously, Oberhansli was practically unknown even in his own country.”
Moritz Henneberger, ‘Alpine Chess’, 1921.

“They asked me what year it was, what month it was, etc. I easily answered these stupid questions.” Bobby Fischer, ‘I was Tortured in the Pasadena Jailhouse!’, 1982.

“Poor Capablanca! Thou wert a brilliant technician, but no philosopher. Thou wert not capable of believing that in chess, another style could be victorious than the absolutely correct one.” Max Euwe, Tijdschrift van den Nederlandschen Schaakbond, 1942.

“Chess problems demand from the composer the same virtues that characterize all worthwile art: originality, invention, conciseness, harmony, complexity, and splendid insincerity.” Vladimir Nabokov, ‘Poems and Problems’, 1969.

“Chess and theatre often lead to madness.” Arrabal, ‘Sur Fischer’, 1974.

“You know, comrade Pachman, I don’t enjoy being a Minister, I would rather play chess like you, or make a revolution in Venezuela.” Che Guevara, quoted in Ludek Pachman, ‘Checkmate in Prague’, 1975.

“I won’t play with you anymore. You have insulted my friend.” Miguel Najdorf, at blitz, when an opponent cursed himself for a blunder.

“Now I have the pawn and the compensation.” Roman Dzindzichashvili, playing blitz.

“The middle game, where the struggle is really fought, will take a variable number of moves, and will be named so until the certainty of mate for one of the two players is ninety percent.” Madame Flash, ‘Je gagne aux éches’, Marabout-Flash 1963.

“In chess, as it is played by masters, chance is practically eliminated.”
Emanuel Lasker, ‘Brettspiele der Völker’, 1930.

“And his six pawns were scattered like the ships of the Armada that should have conquered England; the Lord blew, and they were all isolated.”
Hans Kmoch, Groningen 1946 tournament book.

“It is always better to sacrifice your opponent’s men.”
Savielly Tartakower

“Nowadays, when you’re not a grandmaster at 14, you can forget about it.” Anand Vishwanathan.

“For me, this personality, notwithstanding his fundamentally optimistic attitude, had a tragic note. The enormous mental resilience, without which no chess player can exist, was so much taken up by chess that he could never free his mind of this game, even when he was occupied by philosophical and humanitarian questions.” Albert Einstein, in his foreword to Hannak’s biography of Emmanuel Lasker.

“If FIDE returns to Karpov and Kasparov, it would mean regress and return to the past.” Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, interview, 1998.

“In a very strongly played match between Mrs. Brookman and C. Deen, White was able to place a fork, whereby Black lost his one rook, and shed a piece of exchange. This loss put Black under heavy pressure and tried to achieve a better position in the defense, but White continued strongly with her attacking play and was able to finish the game surprisingly by mate, to her advantage, 1-0.” Hoogeveense Courant, 5 april 1991.

“O’Sullivan's play was rather worse than his score.”
Harry Golombek, 1947, about a tournament where O’Sullivan scored ½ out of 13.

“Chess is so interesting in itself, as not to need the view of gain to induce engaging in it; and thence it is never played for money.”
Benjamin Franklin, ‘Chess made easy’, 1802.

“It is one of the insights of modern players, and especially of the best ones, that one has to play the position itself, not some abstract idea of the position.” John Watson, ‘Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy’, 1998.

“It has been said that man is distinguished from animal in that he buys more books than he can read. I should like to suggest that the inclusion of a few chess books would help to make the distinction unmistakable.”
Edward Lasker, ‘The Adventure of Chess’, 1949.

“The only thing chess players have in common is chess.” Lodewijk Prins, interview with Max Pam, 1972.

“The passion for playing chess is one of the most unaccountable in the world. It slaps the theory of natural selection in the face. It is the most absorbing of occupations. The least satisfying of desires. A nameless excrescence upon life. It annihilates a man. You have, let us say, a promosing politician, a rising artist that you wish to destroy. Dagger or bomb are archaic and unreliable - but teach him, inoculate him with chess.”
H.G. Wells, ‘Certain Personal Matters’, 1898.

“A sensation, hidden in the depths of my emotional memory, was suddenly revived: what if... What if for me The Variation is not dead? If The Variation is alive?!” Lev Polugayevsky, ‘Grandmaster Preparation’, 1981.

“We must make sure that chess will not be like a dead language, very interesting, but for a very small group.’ Sytze Faber, Top Chess Commissioner in the Dutch Chess Federation, 2000.

“Chess is thriving. There are ever less round robin tournaments and ever more World Champions.” Robert Hübner, Schach, december 2000.

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