We all know those 'lucky' players who just seem to be naturally gifted at chess. They always recognize the best squares for their pieces, they instinctively know whether to seize the initiative or to play quietly, and they are ruthless in exploiting opponents' weaknesses while minimizing the effect of their own. What's more, they are always well prepared and possess bundles of energy. In short, they make chess look easy.
How do they do it?
Do they know something the rest of us don't?
Yes, they do - they know the rules of winning chess.
These are the fundamentals - easy-to-learn guidelines which will help you to achieve greater understanding in your chess and enable you to approach every game with confidence.
The Rules of Winning Chess will show you the way.
- Covers opening, middlegame and endgame play
- Deals with key preparation techniques, on and off the board
- Written by a renowned coaching guru
Introduction
Writing this book presented me with a challenge; the more that someone understands about chess the less important rules seem to be. Then I realized this is only because our ideas about chess become so deeply ingrained that we no longer need to voice them. They are still there but dwell in the subconscious mind.
So this project presented me with a unique opportunity: to give form to the many beliefs I have built up through some 40 years of playing and studying chess about how a chess game should be conducted. It also presented the challenge of stating them in a clear and concise way.
The list of rules that has emerged is a rather personal one and I am sure that many other players will disagree with both my views and priorities. I can only say that a player's guidelines cannot be decided by committee. My hope is that the reader will find some points of interest that may ultimately become incorporated into his or her own chess persona. I offer my rules to inspire rather than instruct, to stimulate thought and disagreement rather than blind obedience.
I have divided my rules into five different categories: the player, preparation, the opening, the middlegame and the endgame. To some extent this division is artificial, not least because the boundaries between these areas are often blurred. I hope that it will at least lend clarity to my presentation.
The reader may also be surprised at some of my sources, in that many of them are not specifically concerned with chess. To a large extent this reflects the universal nature of the chess struggle in that rules which apply to the player, board and pieces are analogous to those in other spheres.
I would like to express my appreciation to the many people who have acted as my mentors and teachers over the years and the many who continue to do so in my pursuit of lifelong learning. Special mention should go to the former British Veterans Champion Samuel Roberts, FIDE Master John Littlewood, Grandmaster and former Soviet Chess Champion Lev Psakhis, former World squash champion and speculator Victor Niederhoffer, Master Lam Kam-Chuen and Sifu Steven Williams. Most of all there is my son Sam whose curiosity about the world is a constant source of inspiration.
Nigel Davies
Southport
August 2009
Content:
005 Bibliography
007 Introduction
009Chapter 1: The Player
011 1 Train with deadly seriousness
015 2 Educate yourself
019 3 Be vigilant
023 4 Flatten your heart
026 5 Be your own sternest critic
029 6 Don't think, feel
033 7 Learn patience
036 8 Overcome the fear of losing
039 9 Know yourself
045 10 Healthy body, healthy mind
049Chapter 2: Preparation
051 11 Sleep well
054 12 Eat breakfast
057 13 Know your opponent
061 14 Become the enemy
065 15 Choose a favourable battleground
068 16 Focus on winning
073 17 Master the art of deception
078 18 Know your weapons well
080 19 Empty the mind
083 20 Walk, but never talk
089Chapter 3: The Opening
091 21 Aim to reach a playable middlegame
094 22 Play your own game
096 23 Beware of lurking crocodiles
100 24 Try to meet threats with developing moves
103 25 Engage the mind
105 26 In open positions develop quickly
109 27 In closed positions develop well
112 28 Centralize
127 29 Develop knights and the king's bishop early
120 30 Castle with care
123Chapter 4: The Middlegame
125 31 Recognize patterns
129 32 Think in terms of 'pawn islands'
132 33 Improve your worst-placed piece
136 34 Harmonize your bishops and pawns
139 35 Keep the tension
142 36 All that glitters is not gold
144 37 Attack the weakest point
147 38 In defence make every point equally weak
150 39 Never say die
154 40 Middlegame understanding helps your opening
157Chapter 5: The Endgame
159 41 Use the king
162 42 Rooks belong on the seventh
163 43 Passed pawns should be pushed
167 44 Do not hurry
170 45 Beware the point of no return!
172 46 Queen and knight, they're alright
174 47 Opposite-coloured bishops don't always draw
176 48 Two bishops are better than none
180 49 Two weaknesses are better than one
183 50 Endgame understanding helps your middlegame
186 Index of Openings
188 Index of Games | 
