1. Centralize your pieces.

2. Castle as soon as possible.

3. Do not castle into an attack.

4. Develop minor pieces first.

5. Avoid early development of the queen.

6. Do not move pawns before thinking.

7. Always determine whether an exchange is beneficial or not.

8. Try to use tactics as much as possible to keep your opponent thinking.

9. Attack and defend simultaneously.

10. Emphasize strategy when playing against a computer.

11. Knights should not be placed on the rim.

12. A bishop likes open diagonals.

13. Study the various endgame strategies: R vs. Q, B vs R, Q vs. two Rs, two bishops vs. K, rook endings, rook and pawn versus rook, etc.

14. Aim at gaining space on the board while developing pieces.

15. A spatial advantage often results in an initiative.

16. Always try to have the most mobile position for your pieces: no one likes to live in a cramped space.

17. Place your pawns on the opposite color of your bishop.

18. Passed pawns should move forward and become stronger as they approach the eighth rank.

19. Knights like to be supported by pawns.

20. A superior player knows how to move knights advantageously.

21. A superior player strives for the bishop pair.

22. Knights are better in closed positions.

23. Bishops like open positions.

24. Doubled pawns are usually a weakness.

25. Pawn structure is important when playing chess, but many inferior players overlook the value of pawns.

26. Rooks like open files.

27. Double the rooks and gain an advantage.

28. Doubled rooks on the seventh rank often lead to checkmate.

29. Connect your rooks by developing your minor pieces and castling as soon as possible.

30. Develop a new piece with each move in the opening.

31. Do not move the same pieces twice in the opening.

32. Watch for tactical complications when playing against a computer.

33. Do not underestimate a weaker opponent.

34. Develop knights before bishops.

35. Attack in the center when your opponent attacks on the wing.

36. Checkmate is more important than a material advantage.

37. Make sure your center is strong when you develop a wing attack.

38. Centralize your pieces and avoid cramped positions.

39. Activate your king in the endgame.

40. Capture towards the center with your pawns.

41. Do not move pawns in front of your castled king unless you want to suffer.

42. Pay attention to piece sacrifices on the f2 and f7 squares.

43. Look for a way to counterattack in order to defend against an attack.

44. When ahead in material, try to exchange down your pieces into a winning endgame.

45. Computers think materialistically, while humans should think positionally.

46. If you are in a cramped position, exchange pieces.

47. Do not exchange pieces if you are down material.

48. Three pawns versus a minor piece in the middlegame is often materially equal, but in the endgame, three pawns can be stronger if they are passed or further advanced down the board.

49. An extra pawn is worth trouble.

50. A passed pawn can be worth a rook if it is near promotion.

51. Doubled pawns can sometimes be advantageous if they open files for rooks.

52. Liquidate backward and isolated pawns.

53. Most rook endings are drawish.

54. Place rooks behind a passed pawn.

55. Fewer pawn islands equals a healthier position.

56. Pawn weaknesses are not always bad if they help you gain an advantage in one form or another.

57. The location of pieces is very important--aim them towards your opponent's king.

58. Attack where a pawn chain points.

59. Pieces like to be developed to empty spaces on the chessboard.

60. Slowly develop tension in the game, but do not avoid exchanges if you are uncertain of ensuing tactical complications.

61. Study the openings assiduously, but do not avoid creativity.

62. The best way to refute a gambit is to accept it.

63. Don't attack until you have created the maximum amount of tension for your opponent.

64. Exploit a pin by continuing to create tension rather than immediately attacking the pinned piece.

65. Do not wait to attack because the propitious moment for attack may have already passed.

66. Choose unexpected moves when playing a human opponent, but do not make positionally unsound moves.

67. If you decide to gambit a pawn, be prepared for superior play from your opponent.

68. Develop an opening repertoire and stick to it.

69. Play e4 for white if you like tactical positions.

70. Play d4 for white if you like strategic positions.

71. Play gambits if you want to learn how to think tactically.

72. Attack two pieces/pawns simultaneously on the opposite side of the board in order to weaken your opponent's defense.

73. Think before you gobble up poisoned pawns.

74. A rook on the corner of the board surrounded by pawns is almost useless.

75. Look for unexpected threats from your opponent.

76. Think of how to check the opposing king.

77. Do not be afraid to sacrifice pieces if the sacrifice leads to an attack on the enemy king.

78. Sacrificing the exchange must lead to a positional advantage, such as decreased mobility for the enemy or open lines towards the enemy king.

79. A knight in the center of enemy territory supported by a pawn is worth a rook.

80. Dissipating the tension leads to a boring, uneventful game: only exchange pieces after thinking about the value of the exchange.

81. The threat is greater than the execution.

82. Attack the base of a pawn chain.

83. Pawn majorities should move forward with the leading pawn first.

84. Blockade passed pawns with a king or a knight in the endgame.

85. The purpose of the pawn minority attack is to ruin the pawn structure of the opposing pawn majority.

86. Avoid playing hypermodern openings like the King's Indian Defense, the Grunfeld Defense, Alekhine Defense, Dutch Defense, etc. unless you have thoroughly studied the opening system.

87. Think of how all of your pieces can attack harmoniously.

88. Play blindfold games in order to increase your memory and awareness of the entire board.

89. Trade off less mobile pieces.

90. Trade passive pieces for active pieces.

91. Exchange attacking pieces to diminish the threat of your opponent's attack.

92. If you have a healthier pawn structure, trade pieces and win the pawn endgame.

93. Remove opponent's defending pieces to develop an attack.

94. Do not be afraid of a queen sacrifice if it leads to checkmate.

95. A bad plan is better than no plan.

96. A good plan involves strategic and tactical foresight.

97. Attack isolated pawns whenever possible.

98. Stay flexible.

99. Opposite side castling positions often lead to a sharp game.

100. An opening is successful if you have reached the middlegame phase without a material disadvantage.

101. Only a fool sacrifices the exchange and loses the initiative.

102. Play healthy, positionally sound moves against an unusual opening.

103. Against a superior opponent, avoid complications.

104. If the king isn't safe in an open game, you may have already lost.

105. Materially equal positions are not always equal.

106. As black, play to equalize.

107. White has the initiative.

108. Think more deeply during the middlegame.

109. Try to reach a playable endgame in the middlegame phase.

110. Pawn structure often determines the strategy you should adopt.

111. The accumulation of small advantages is better than making risky moves against a stronger opponent.

112. An active king in the endgame is very important.

113. Triangulation can lead to an advantage in pawn endgames.

114. Avoid zugzwang at all costs.

115. In an endgame, fight for the creation of a passed pawn.

116. Anticipate your opponent's best reaction before making a move.

117. Do not move pawns without a good reason.

118. Do not show your weaknesses to your opponent.

119. Always try to intimidate your opponent.

120. Strive to get into positions that lead to an attack; do not always stay in the comfort zone.

121. It is better to play against opponents that are not more than 100 eloquent points above your own rating.

122. If you play against a stronger opponent, analyze the moves your opponent made and understand why.

123. Don't feel sorry for your opponent.

123. Concentrate on forcing moves, moves that transform the game entirely and place the initiative in your hands.

124. Look at all sides of the board and do not just focus on the pieces that you are moving.

125. Bishops like to attack from across the board in open positions.

126. Never offer draws.

127. Do not accept draw offers.

128. Trust your intuition, but only after you have managed to picture correctly your opponent's intuition.

129. Tactics can lead to an advantage, but they do not always work against an opponent that plays positionally.

130. The middlegame is the most difficult point of the game.

131. Study endgame theory only after you have developed competency in the middlegame and the endgame.

132. Don't give up until your opponent has a decisive advantage.

133. Look for a better move after you have found an outstanding move.

134. Avoid time pressure.

135. Keep your mind on the game.

136. Play against better players, but do not be afraid to lose.

137. Study your own games with a computer.

138. Analyze the games of chess players who have your own rating.

139. Study the history of chess.

140. Study systematically the endgame positions as though they were actual games.

141. Accept a loss without emotion.

142. Accept defeat, but find out how your opponent discovered the path to victory.

143. A rook versus a bishop is usually a draw.

144. A rook versus a knight is usually a draw.

145. A rook versus a bishop and a rook is usually a draw, but play on until the bitter end because a draw is achievable with only optimum play from the weaker opponent.

146. A rook versus a rook and a knight is usually a draw if the weaker side does not get the king trapped in the corner.

147. A bishop, a knight, and a king versus a lone king is usually a draw unless perfect play occurs.

148. A queen versus a rook endgame is usually not a draw, but one must know that the weaker side must be forced into a corner with the rook and a king. Then, try to place your opponent in zugzwang.

149. Two bishops and a king against a lone king results in a loss for the weaker side if the king is gradually forced into a corner with the stronger sides bishops and king.

150. Follow the rule of the square to see if your king can catch up with a lone passed pawn. If the king is not in the square, and there are no blockading pieces on the board, the pawn will promote.

151. Avoid useless checks.

152. Connected pawns control more squares.

153. Avoid backward pawns, which are weak because they cannot advance.

154. Doubled pawns are often sitting ducks for attacks.

155. Hanging pawns can become weak very quickly.

156. Advanced pawns can become a liability if one does not attack soon enough.

157. Advanced pawns can cramp the opponent's position, but do not let them become targets.

158. Do not move pawns in front of your king without a good reason because they will allow enemy pieces to infiltrate into your position.

159. Prevent your opponent from castling, and you can win the game.

160. When you defend a piece, make sure that you are aware of any other potential weaknesses you create.

161. Attack one weakness and look for another weakness.

162. Do not make moves that dissipate tension; the more potential threats you can make against your opponent, the more winning chances you will have when you make a decisive attack.

163. An isolated pawn is not always a weakness: it might open lines for an attack on the enemy position.