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What are some 'rules of thumb' you've found most useful for chess? (feddit.uk)

submitted 1 week ago by pirc_lover@feddit.uk to c/chess@lemmy.ml

7 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Inspired by a comment on another post, thought it might be nice to aggregate lemmy’s chess wisdom when it comes to general rules.

Could be related to the chess itself (e.g. rooks belong behind passed pawns) or more general (e.g. in classical think about concrete variations on your move, and plans on your opponent’s).

None of these are ever hard and fast, but are often useful if you’re at a loose end in a position.

A couple I’ve found helpful:

the bishop pair together is generally worth about 7 pawns, rather than 6. Useful when evaluating exchange sacs quickly in blitz
in closed positions, your play is generally in the direction the pawn chain is pointing for you (so in the French, black’s play is on the queenside and white’s on the kingside
in a closed position, plans generally revolve around engineering a pawn break. Look for them and check each. No pawn breaks; no plan
when in doubt, push the a/h pawn

Any more for any more?

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[–] emb@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

Queen goes on her own color. :P

Bad bishop vs good bishop - generally the bishop that matches the color of your own fixed pawns is the bad one. Trading it tends to be for the better.

Never play F3 (or as black, F6), Finegold-ism.

Knight on the rim is dim - try not to leave your knights on the edge of the board. Or, more generally, the more squares any piece has available, the better.

Basic questions to ask yourself after each opponent move - "what is that piece doing? What is it no longer doing?" - heard this from a ChessNetwork video. It's obvious but framing it that way can force you to think through it methodically each time.

When you've pinned a piece - don't take it if you can help it. Instead, prefer to put more pressure on it by adding attackers.

If you see a good move, look for a better one.

[–] selokichtli@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 week ago

The F6 one was s golden rule in my chess club, the 8x9 club, an imaginary chess club.