100 Chess Principles

I know a thing or two about chess. I’ve casually played it for years. These days I just mostly play bullet chess. My peak rating on lichess.org in bullet is ~2340. And on chess.com (which I never really play on), I’ve reached 2000 in rapid, blitz, and bullet.

I’ve pretty much plateaued. I could probably get better, but I would need to actually study, analyze my losses, and play longer time controls. I’m not very motivated to do this.

If I had to pinpoint my own weaknesses in chess, it would be:

1. Openings. You may or may not be shocked at how far I’ve reached, with 0 book knowledge.
2. Endgames. I’ve never really formally learned my endgames. I’ll still blunder some very elementary endgames to this day.
3. Calculation. I don’t really calculate. Mostly short tactical lines.

If I had to pinpoint my strengths.

1. Intuition. I guess this is most obvious by the fact that I perform far worse in longer time controls than shorter. I make decisions based largely off of a gut feeling or understanding.
2. Middle games. I think I do pretty well once I’m out of the opening.

I think I’ve made it this far because of some strong chess principles as I played. This post will outline many of these principles. I’ve compiled them for anyone to digest and learn from. There is possibly a lot more that I know about chess, but it is quite hard to list out everything I understand about the game.

DISCLAIMER: Chess principles are meant to be broken. A strong player knows when to break away from these principles and when to apply them.

1. King safety is more important than anything else.
2. Control the center. You can do this by putting pawns in the middle. You can do this by anchoring your bishops to attack the center. There are many ways to do this.
3. Develop your pieces. Self-explanatory. Lagging in development is a bad sign.
4. Castle your king. I have data on my own games. I lose far more when I don’t castle.
5. Never play f3 as white or f6 as black. In general, keep an eye on this square. It is a weak square.
6. Put your rooks on open files. This is where rooks are strongest.
7. Connect your rooks. Castling helps this. Rooks supporting each other is a common pattern.
8. Put your knights on good outposts. Think of a knight as an octopus.
9. Put your bishops on long diagonals. Think of your bishop as a dragon.
10. Do not push pawns in front of your castled king. This weakens your king’s position.
11. A knight on the rim is dim. Knights are better towards the center of the board where they can control more squares.
12. Make your king active in the endgame. When queens are off the board, your king can become very strong in supporting your pieces in an endgame.
13. Care about your pawn structure. They are the foundation to your game.
14. Put pawns on the opposite color square of your bishop. A pawn on a dark square will only attack dark squares. So you will need a light square bishop to complement.
15. Don’t bring out your queen too early. If your queen is attacked, you must move. It is a surprisingly weak piece in this sense.
16. Don’t move the same piece twice in the opening. Often a sign of ignoring development.
17. When you are down pieces, don’t exchange more. You lose firepower and it will become much harder to get back into the game.
18. When you are up pieces, exchange more pieces. You will gain advantage since each piece will become much stronger.
19. Doubled pawns are generally considered a weakness.
20. Isolated pawns are generally considered a weakness.
21. Backwards pawns are generally considered a weakness.
22. Don’t put your king or queen in the line of fire (pins) of enemy pieces.
23. Don’t put your king and queen on the same diagonal. You may get skewered.
24. Before making a move, ask yourself, are any pieces in danger? And then ask yourself, do I have any threats?
25. Make sure your center is secure before launching an attack.
26. If you consider two pawn captures, it is often better to capture towards the center.
27. Never a mate with a knight on f8. This is a somewhat common defensive pattern.
28. Bishops are preferred in endgames with pawns on both sides of the board.
29. In the case that there are opposite colored bishops left, the attacker may have the advantage.
30. Always think about whether there is a check in the position, and whether to play it.
31. Be aware of the number of attackers and defenders in any given position.
32. Create threats and allow your opponents to create weaknesses. Don’t always force the situation, just let them sabotage.
33. Attack the base of pawn chains. This is the weak point.
34. Do not dissipate tension without more consideration. Become comfortable with tension.
35. Put your rooks behind passed pawns. Support the push.
36. Blockade isolated, backwards, and passed pawns to attack. By doing this, you are fixing their weaknesses.
37. Trade off your bad pieces. These can be liabilities.
38. Make sure all your pieces are well defended.
39. Trade off your opponent’s active pieces.
40. Pawns don’t go backwards. Take time considering whether to push the pawn.
41. Opposite colored bishops on the board, chances of drawing are high.
42. The pin is mightier than the sword. A lesson in maintaining the threat and executing only when it is time.
43. Opposite side castling indicates a violent game. Be ready to pawn storm your opponent or be pawn stormed.
44. Play prophylactic moves like h3 to give your king some breathing room.
45. Be careful of prophylactic moves like h3, which can give your opponent a hook to attack.
46. Defending a piece with a pawn vs a minor piece can yield very different results. Be careful.
47. Consider how you can win tempo tactically.
48. Always look for knight forks.
49. Put your pawns on the color square of their bishop to weaken its influence.
50. A pawn is a pawn.
51. Be careful of grabbing pawns. Greed can result in a vicious attack against you.
52. Passed pawns must be pushed.
53. Exchange off your opponent’s fianchetto bishop, especially if it is protecting their king.
54. Stop exchanging pieces because you don’t know what to do.
55. Always look for bishop skewers.
56. Be aware of the color of the squares that you and your opponent control. This will inform how you structure your pawns, how you attack, which pieces you hold onto, which pieces you try to exchange for.
57. Think about the squares that lose protection when you make a move. Every move you make, releases control of certain squares.
58. Double your rooks.
59. 2 minor pieces is almost always preferred over a rook.
60. The bishop pair is strong.
61. If you cannot see the reason behind your opponent’s sacrifice offering, then accept it.
62. Try to equalize as black.
63. In pawn races, ensure your king isn’t on the same square as the queening square of your opponent.
64. Don’t put your bishops in front of central pawns.
65. Target f2 or f7, these are soft squares.
66. Use your pawns to restrict your opponent’s pieces.
67. Learn bishop vs knight domination.
68. Overloaded pieces can become a liability. These are pieces that have too many defensive duties.
69. A semi-open file is still a file you can occupy.
70. Pieces that x-ray can become potentially serious threats as the position opens up.
71. Think about waiting moves. Not all moves have to have clear intention.
72. After long-side castling, consider shuffling your king 1 square over.
73. Rook lifts can be a preparatory move for attacking.
74. Be careful about overextending your pieces. They can become targets for attack.
75. Be aware of Greek gift sacrifices.
76. Avoid cramp positions, and try to break out and create more space if you are cramped.
77. Exchange off your weaknesses, like isolated pawns.
78. Consider moves that deflect pieces from defensive duties.
79. If you don’t know what to do, then improve your most weak piece.
80. Use your flank pawns to attack.
81. Punish your opponent for neglecting development.
82. Two weaknesses principle: to win you need to create at least 2 weaknesses to attack.
83. Clearance: consider vacating a square or line so that another piece can use it.
84. Know your opposition patterns in king and pawn endgames.
85. Initiative is often worth more than material.
86. Don’t defend passively. Look for counterplay.
87. Calculate forcing lines first (checks, captures, threats).
88. If you’re worse, complicate it. If you’re better, then simplify.86. Don’t defend passively. Look for counterplay.
89. “To take is a mistake”.
90. Don’t underestimate your opponent.
91. Piece harmony is more important than individual piece activity.
92. Keep defensive resources flexible.
93. Look for fortress setups if you’re losing.
94. When you have a space advantage, maneuver instead of forcing trades. Your pieces are stronger and have more squares to get to.
95. Doubled pawns are not always a weakness. They can open files.
96. In time pressure, keep your moves forcing and simple.
97. Consider the pawn structures and whether you have a majority on a given side, before entering an endgame.
98. In endgames, use your king to shoulder away the opponent’s king.
99. Consider whether you have an in-between move to change the tactical sequence.
100. Practical chances can and often matter more than objective evaluation.