The Blue Book of Chess. Howard Staunton
It is better when check is given to your King to interpose a man that attacks the checking Piece than with one that does not. Beware of giving useless checks to your adversary's King, but when, by checking, you can oblige him to move, and thus deprive him of the right to castle, it is generally good play to do so. It is sometimes useful to give a series of checks, and even sacrifice a Piece, to force the King into the middle of the board, where he may be subjected to the attacks of your other men.
Do not in all cases take an enemy's Pawn which stands before your King—it may serve sometimes as a protection to him; and bear in mind that towards the termination of a game, especially when the superior Pieces have been taken off the field, the King should be made to compensate for his previous inactivity, by being busily engaged. The fate of the game is then dependent for the most part on the skill displayed in the management of the King.
Concerning the Queen.—The Queen is so powerful and important a Piece at chess that she should rarely be employed to defend or attack any point if you can do it as well with a subordinate.
It is not good to play the Queen out in the game at the beginning, because she can be attacked by inferior Pieces, and is compelled to retire with the loss of many moves.
Be careful, too, when about to capture a distant Pawn or Piece, that you do not remove your Queen too far from the immediate point of action. A skilful player will often permit you to win a Pawn with the Queen, that he may prevent her returning in time to rescue your King from his attack. The power of the Queen is wonderfully greater when she is aided and protected by other Pieces than when she goes forth unsupported; it is generally injudicious, therefore, to make an attack with her unless in combination with some other of your forces.
Concerning the Rook.—The Rook is a most important officer, yet few players even amongst the best avail themselves sufficiently of his power. He has seldom much scope for action in the early part of the engagement, but when the field is thinned no time should be lost in bringing him into action. You should then endeavor to double your Rooks, that is, to place them one before the other on the same file: in this situation, mutually sustaining one another, their potency on a clear field is equal to the Queen's.
It is usually good play to get command of an open file, that is to say, a file which is occupied by no other man, by stationing a Rook at one end of it. When you have thus gained possession of the file, should your opponent try to dispossess you of it, by playing one of his Rooks on the same file, it is frequently better to defend with your other Rook than to take his or remove your own. You will often embarrass your adversary, too, if you can manage to post a Rook on his second rank, say at your King's 7th or Queen's 7th square. In this position he generally makes an attack on the Pawns unmoved, and compels the enemy to lose time in defending them, while you can bring more forces into action.
One of the strongest reasons for playing out your Pieces early in the battle, is, that while at home they are not only themselves inactive, but they utterly retard the movements of your Rooks. In an unskilfully developed game it is a common occurrence to see the victory won before the defeated player's Rooks have ever moved.
Concerning the Bishop.—When the game is opened by each party with King's Pawn to King's 4th square, the King's Bishop is somewhat superior to the Queen's, because it can be sooner brought into play, and may be made to bear immediately on the King's weak point, his Bishop's Pawn. It is desirable therefore generally to exchange your Queen's Bishop or Queen's Knight for the adversary's King's Bishop. The King's Bishop should rarely or never be played to the Queen's 3d square before the Queen's Pawn is moved. His best position, as we have remarked above, is to Queen's Bishop's 4th square, where he attacks the opponent's King's Bishop's Pawn. If your antagonist then challenges an exchange of Bishops by moving his Queen's Bishop to King's 3d square, it is not always prudent to accept it, because although you may double the Pawns on his King's file, you at the same time afford him an open range for his King's Rook when he has castled. The best play in such a case is, therefore, to retreat your King's Bishop to Queen's Knight's 3d square.
Be careful, as a general rule, in an open game, not to move your Queen's Pawn one square before you bring out the King's Bishop, as by so doing you leave him but the King's 2d square on which to move, and there his position is defensive rather than attacking.
If strong in Pawns towards the conclusion of the game, endeavor to get rid of the enemy's Bishops, because they can impede the march of your Pawns more readily than either the Rooks or Knights.
When the other men are exchanged off, and you remain with a Bishop and two or three Pawns, it is often proper to keep your Pawns on squares of a different color from those on which your Bishop travels, as he can then prevent the opposing King from approaching them. If, however, you have the worst of the game, it is mostly better then to keep them on the same color as the Bishop, that he may defend them.
Supposing you have Pawns only at the end of a game, and the adversary has a Bishop, it is generally advisable to move the Pawns as soon as possible to squares of a different color from the diagonals on which he moves.
Do not indiscriminately exchange your Bishops for Knights, or vice versâ. Two Bishops at the finish of a game are stronger than two Knights, and one Knight generally more useful than a single Bishop.
Concerning the Knight.—The Knight is at once the most striking and most beautiful of all the Pieces. The singularity of its evolutions, by which it is enabled to overleap the other men and wind its way into the penetralia of the adverse ranks, and if attacked leap back again within the boundary of its own, has rendered it the favorite Piece of leading players in every country.
The assault of the Knight is more subtle and dangerous than that of any other Piece, because he attacks without putting himself en prise, and his attack can never be resisted by the interposition of another man.
At the commencement of a game, the best place for the King's Knight is at K. B's 3d sq.; it there attacks your adversary's K's Pawn, if it has been moved two squares, and offers no impediment to the playing out your King's Bishop, and prevents the adversary from placing his Queen on your King Rook's 4th sq., where she would often be a source of restraint and danger to your King. Many persons prefer playing the K. Kt. to K's 2d at the second move, from the mistaken notion that the K. B's P. should be moved before the Knight is played to B's 3d; this is an error, and generally leads to a very bad game.
When you have brought out your Q. Kt. to B's 3d, it is frequently advisable, at a proper opportunity, to get him round by K's 2d sq. to the K. Kt's 3d, where he exercises a very important influence, by threatening, whenever the square is left unguarded, to post himself on K. B's 5th.
A Knight with three or four Pawns, at the end of a game, has an advantage over a Bishop with an equal number of Pawns, because he can leap from white to black, and thus attack the Pawns on either colored squares, whereas the Bishop can attack them only when they move on squares of the color of his diagonals. In similar circumstances, however, he is not so useful in defending as a Bishop or a Rook, since if forced to remove he ceases to defend, while the Rook or Bishop may retreat and still protect.
Concerning the Pawns.—Struck by the scope and power of the higher Pieces, young players commonly overlook the homely Pawns, or deem them scarcely worthy of regard, and are amazed to learn that the combinations of these simple elements are among the most refined and arduous studies of the science. Yet such is the fact, and without a thorough comprehension of their quiet but remarkable predominance in almost every circumstance of the game, it is impossible for any one to attain a high degree of excellence.
It is generally advantageous for your Pawns to occupy the middle of the board, because when there they greatly retard the movements of the opposing forces. The King's Pawn and Queen's Pawn, at their fourth squares, are well posted, but it is not easy to maintain them in that position, and if you are driven to advance one of them, the power of both is much diminished. It is well, therefore, not to be too eager to establish two Pawns abreast in the centre until you are fully able to sustain them there.
When you have two Pawns abreast, the King and Queen's, for instance, at their fourth squares, should the adversary