One of the most common questions I face as a chess coach is what are some of the basic chess rules every novice player must know. Here is my recommendation:
Susan Polgar Power Principles of Chess
1. Control the Center!
The center of the board includes the squares e4, d4, e5, and d5. When you start a game, place your pawns in the center to occupy and control as many of these squares as you can. Location, location, location!
2. Develop Your Pieces as Soon as Possible!
Get your Knights and Bishops out right away. This should be done before you try to checkmate your opponent, some time in the first 6 or 7 moves if possible.
3. Castle as Soon as Possible!
Castle at the very first chance you have in order to keep your king safe. Remember, you can’t win if your king isn’t safe and you get checkmated first. So don’t forget to castle! Then after you castle, connect your rooks by developing your queen.
4. Keep Your Pieces Protected!
Don’t leave your pieces hanging without protection. Each and every piece you have is very valuable, so don’t forget to protect them. Protecting means if your opponent can take your piece, then you can take your opponent’s piece.
5. Have Fun and Win with Grace, Lose with Dignity!
This is my motto in chess. First and foremost, chess should be fun. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose, it’s all part of the game. When you win, be a good sport and don’t trash talk or make fun of your opponent. When you lose, be an even better sport and not a sore loser. Shake hands and congratulate your opponent. This will go a long way toward making good friends.
Nakamura: 1. e4 2. Qh5
A good reminder.
I ‘played at’ chess occasionally from age about 8 to age 16: until I was sixteen I had no idea that chess was something worthy of study.
There was one attempt to teach me: I chose “chess” as my option for Saturday Morning Classes at age ten. And I remain somewhat bitter at what was taught: the Fried Liver Attack.
My attitude at the time was exactly the same as it is now: so what if the other guy doesn’t play those moves? What then? Huh?
I taught similar classes about ten years ago and kept telling the kids that chess was a war game.
“Who’s going to win the war if one side can attack or defend anywhere he likes, and the other side can only attack or defend in one place? Right! So control the centre!
Who’s going to win the war if one side moves around in jeeps and the other side has to walk everywhere? Right! So watch out for pins, and put your rooks and bishops on open lines!
Who’s going to win the war if one side’s boss is safe in headquarters, and the other guy’s boss walks around in the middle of the battlefield getting shot at? Right! So castle!
That kind of thing. A different theme for every one of eight lessons, each backed up with a page of problems from the Encyclopedia of Middlegames. I think it helped.