Thank you. I have been playing chess almost every day now for a year and I thought that I was past the beginner stage. But I learned some important principles from you, and you reminded me of other principles that I thought were only for beginners! I will never be a strong player but I want to play as well as I can.

1. Control the center of the board. 2. In the opening, develop knights and bishops. 3. Castle as soon as possible. 4. In the opening, don’t move the same piece twice. 5. Don’t develop the queen in the opening. 6. Develop knights before bishops. 7. Bishops are usually better than knights. 8. Don’t play unnecessary pawn moves. 9. Use your knight to block passed pawns. 10. Bring your rooks to open and half-open files. 11. Simplify with material advantage. 12. Don’t trade pawns with material advantage. 13. Attack with as many pieces as possible. 14. Complicate the game with material disadvantage. 15. Attack in the center if you are attacked on the wing of the board. 16. Don’t trade pieces that are pinning. 17. Improve your worst piece. 18. Look at your opponent’s moves for information about their plans and threats. 19. Attack quickly in positions with opposite side castling. 20. Avoid unprotected pieces. 21. Be proactive about your opponent’s plans and ideas. 22. Keep your queen safe and active. 23. Simplify with less space. 24. Keep your pawns connected. 25. Control the 7th rank. 26. Capture with pawns towards the center. 27. Avoid backward pawns. 28. Avoid isolated pawns. 29. Avoid doubled pawns. 30. In the end game, bring your king out. 31. Rooks should go behind your passed pawns. 32. Don’t play wishful chess. 33. Never accept a draw if you feel that you are in a better position.