@jayboman1579 saidThe wisdom behind "if pieces ahead trade pawns" is that if you are a piece or more ahead, you want to clear pawns off the board to give your piece-advantage scope to manoeuvre.
I read or heard somewhere something like if pieces ahead trade pawns, and if pawns ahead trade pieces. Two questions: is my faulty memory correct about the saying, and is this generally true?
Whereas, if "pawns ahead trade pieces," you want to reduce your opponent's ability to complicate or counter-attack; if pawns ahead, you want to simplify to an endgame whereby you can convert one of your extra pawns to a queen.
If you win a piece, play really fast like you've already won
If you've been offered a draw, don't resign
When in time trouble, bathroom's are forbidden
There's always another way, most of them better than yours
e4 does NOT sink the battleship... c4 does
If you tip your Rook upside down it looks weird
Always tip the waitress... but not upside down
It's not a saying, but I used to tell my elementary school students, that if your opponent takes your queen, the opponent is going to be so excited about winning your queen, they will blunder. And the same is true in the other direction. When you win your opponent's queen, and they do not resign, don't get too excited. You need to keep your focus, or you will drop your own queen.
If I had a buck for every time I saw it happen, I could have a nice dinner.
No-one ever won a game by resigning.
Develop knights before bishops.
Passed pawns must be pushed.
If you don't know what to do, improve the position of your worst placed piece.
It's always better to sacrifice your opponent's men.
When you find a good move, look for a better one.
@jayboman1579 saidIf you're up material, trade. If your down material, complicate.
I know among the answers I'm going to get here are going to include ones like, "It depends on the position."
I read or heard somewhere something like if pieces ahead trade pawns, and if pawns ahead trade pieces. Two questions: is my faulty memory correct about the saying, and is this generally true?
Thanks!
@lemondrop saidNigel Short's corollary: "If your opponent offers you a draw, try to figure out why he thinks he is losing."
if your position is hopeless offer a draw
@mynameisklint saidDevelop both knights before both bishops
No-one ever won a game by resigning.
Develop knights before bishops.
Passed pawns must be pushed.
If you don't know what to do, improve the position of your worst placed piece.
It's always better to sacrifice your opponent's men.
When you find a good move, look for a better one.
@moonbus saidNot sure that makes sense unless it is to give the weaker player more chance to beat you.
If White makes a slight mistake in the opening, it will draw; if Black does, it will lose.
When a weaker player than yourself makes a mistake, don't pounce on it immediately; be patient, there will be others later.
@caissad4 saidThis is so true for me. In OTB chess it seems that any time I spend more than 15 minutes on a single move in a non-critical position, I blunder.
Think long, think wrong
When in a losing position give your opponent many choices to make on each move
A rook (wild pig) on the 7th is worth a pawn