Great Chess Players and Writers

Some of the greatest chess players were not great writers. An example of this was Morphy. Some of the great chess writers were never world champions. An example of this was Nimzowitsch. Both made important contributions to chess. Morphy made brilliant contributions with his games.

Lasker

Lasker was both a great chess player and a great chess writer. "Lasker's Manual of Chess" is a classic.

"When you see a good move, look for a better one."
(Emanuel Lasker)

Reinfeld

Although Reinfeld was not that famous as a player, he made substantial contributions as a writer.

"The Pin is mightier than the sword"
(Fred Reinfeld)

Thomas Henry Huxley

Huxley was a brilliant scientist who was a friend of Darwin.

"The chessboard is the world, the pieces are the phenomena of the Universe, the rules of the game are what we call the laws of Nature and the player on the other side is hidden from us"
(Thomas Huxley)

This appears to be Huxley's explanation of evolution, which he believed in.

Jon Edwards

This American chess master is one of my favorites because of his writings.

"All of your early moves should aim to take control over the center (the d4,e4,d5, and e5-squares) ... usually by develop a piece, preferably in a way that threatens something... perhaps an opponent's piece or to take firm control over the center." Edwards

"Lose your king, and you lose the game! So make it a priority to castle early unless you have a very good reason to do something else. In most games, players castle kingside because it's easier to defend." Edwards

This is true because King safety is the most important principle of the game. It is the principal principle.

Opening Remarks

Although the endgame is important, many games never reach that stage of the game. You will always see an opening.

"Play the opening like a book, the middle game like a magician, and the endgame like a machine." - Spielmann

There is an interesting website about chess called Chess.com. This website has compiled statistics on the openings based on thousands of master games. These statistics, as you might expect, show that White wins more often than Black in most openings, but this advantage is minimal in some openings.

There are a number of traps in the openings. You should learn the traps in the opening that you play. Otherwise you may discover these traps the hard way.

Conclusions

It is best to have a plan that fits the position. The most important principle in chess is King safety. Space is also important. The more space you have, the more mobility you have. Material is important, but you can have a lot of material and still be checkmated.