Training

5. actively search for danger as a routine part of your choice of move

* When playing weaker players, don’t go for the throat, don’t try to bamboozle your opponent in a complex position (you might get lost too!); instead, play steadily and wait for a mistake – in fact, don’t try to jump all over their first mistake, you can wait for another mistake to turn up. If your opponent is only a bit weaker than you, you may need to mix things up a bit, but generally the message is ‘steady does it’.

* Weak Pawns are only weak if they (or the squares near them) can be attacked.

Dynamic positions require energetic play. You must make the most of your own chances, and not just react to threats or coast along until you have to do something.

6. Keep a flexible, sound pawn formation: avoid doubled, isolated and blockaded pawns.

Decentralising is always suspicious, particularly for knights, but also for long-range pieces like Queens. This is a corollary of Stean’s assertion that the most important feature of any position is the activity of the pieces, since pieces are most active in the centre.

* KNIGHT: The short-stepping Knight can get left behind if the battle moves away, so the best bet is to keep them in the centre. They are often best placed on c3 and f3 in the opening, although a Pawn on c3 may be needed to support d2-d4. Later, e5 and d5 are useful squares to occupy when they can threaten Pawns on c7/f7 and pinned Knights on c6/f6. They may be driven away from e5/d5 by pawns; best are squares where the opponent cannot – or dare not – chase them with pawns. If Black has moved his Pawns from c7 to c5 and from e7 to e5 then a Knight on d5 can never be driven away, only exchanged for another piece. When this happens, you can try to recapture with another piece which also cannot be driven off. But another good square for a Knight, when pawns are on e4 and e5, is f5: here it threatens the pawn on g7, and if ever Black pushes it away with g6 then a hole appears on h6 for the Knight to hop into, perhaps giving check.

(Fine) 10. Do not sacrifice without a clear and adequate reason, eg.:
* it secures a tangible advantage in development
* it deflects the opponent’s queen
* it prevents the opponent from castling
* it enables a strong attack to be developed

(Hort) 2. Take advantage of every move.

But don’t dither – decide what your basic choices are at the start – narrow it down to the two or three most likely – and decide. [If you know which plan you are following the moves can come fairly easily.] If you get it down to two moves which look equally good, find some other way of deciding between them (most centralising, least forcing for your opponent…). [You know the story of Buridan’s ass, which died of starvation between two equal-sized piles of hay because it never could choose which one to start on].