Basic, general sayings

@jayboman1579 said


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?

The 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.

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.

If you have an advantage in space, don’t trade pieces; keeping pieces on the board when your opponent is cramped for space increases the likelihood that your opponent will get wrong-footed and lose something more than space.

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 said
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!

If you're up material, trade. If your down material, complicate.

@lemondrop said
if your position is hopeless offer a draw

Nigel Short's corollary: "If your opponent offers you a draw, try to figure out why he thinks he is losing."

@mynameisklint said
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.

Develop both knights before both bishops

Inform the other player that you want a quick game. But only while you are the one winning.

A chess game is divided into three sections.

The beginning game when you seek to get the advantage.
The middle game when you hope you have the advantage.
The end game when you know you're going to lose.

- unknown

If your opponent offers you a draw, you are probably winning

@moonbus said
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.

Not sure that makes sense unless it is to give the weaker player more chance to beat you.

@caissad4 said
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

This 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.

@caissad4
Ha! I never heard the rook called that before! Excellent!