* You mustn’t ignore genuine threats, but don’t be panicked or distracted by them – especially when faced with a King’s-side attack [when you must pursue your own attack with extra vigour.]. Don’t worry needlessly, resulting in panic and retreat – you need to keep active and keep counterplay.
Wilhelm (or William) Steinitz was the first official World Chess Champion in 1886, when he beat Zukertort. He had probably been the best chess player in the world for a long time before then! Andersson was reckoned to be the best player before then, and Steinitz beat Andersson in a match in 1866. So he…
* Bishops are better than Knights in Pawn races, because they can influence each side of the board at once.
Don’t play a good-looking move in vague hopefulness: consider what your opponent’s reply might be.
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].
* QUEEN: Not very useful right at the start, because it may be harassed, but always powerful. Place it near the centre in the opening, behind the minor pieces – e2,d2 or f2/c2 are good squares – ready to jump out to make a raid in combination with other pieces. After some pieces have been exchanged, or you have a clear advantage, you can move the Queen further towards the little centre (e4,d4,e5,d5).
