Opening
The opening is the beginning of the game of chess. During the opening, you and your opponent make approximately six to eight moves. Each player’s goal during the opening should be to establish a battlefront that will enable him to enter the middle of the game with confidence.
Chess Opening Strategy - Top Ten Principles:
1 - Develop pieces towards the center, to safe and useful squares.
2 - Control the center by occupying it with pawns and attacking it with pieces.
3 - Protect the king by castling early, usually on the kingside.
4 - Develop pieces with a threat, or in defense of a threat.
5 - Make as few pawn moves as possible, and make pawn moves that further the development of pieces.
6 - Move each piece only once, unless you must do otherwise.
7 - Don't bring the Queen out early.
8 - Develop minor pieces first - usually knights before bishops.
9 - Connect the rooks and bring them to open files.
10 - The best first move is a center pawn move.
Middlegame
The middlegame in chess refers to the portion of the game in between the opening and the endgame. There is no clear line between the opening and middlegame, and between the middlegame and endgame. The middle game begins when both players have completed the development of all or most of their pieces and the king has been brought to relative safety.
Chess Middlegame Strategy - Top Ten Principles
1 - Centralize and coordinate your pieces. This is when tactical opportunities will begin to materialize.
2 - When your position is cramped, exchange pieces.
3 - When ahead in material, exchange pieces, not pawns.
4 - When you have a bad or inactive piece, exchange it.
5 - Don't launch an attack on the flank until the centre is secure.
6 - When the opponent's king is exposed, look for tactics and combinations.
7 - When the opponent's development is poor, look for tactics and combinations.
8 - Attack your opponent's weak and backwards pawns.
9 - Occupy your opponent's weak squares. Knights are particularly good at establishing outposts.
10 - Don't make unnecessary pawn moves in front of your king. This weakens your position.
Endgame
In chess and chess-like games, the endgame (or end game or ending) is the stage of the game when few pieces are left on the board.
The line between middlegame and endgame is often not clear, and may occur gradually or with the quick exchange of a few pairs of pieces. The endgame, however, tends to have different characteristics from the middlegame, and the players have correspondingly different strategic concerns.
12 practical tips
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The king is a fighting piece and should be centralised and used actively.
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Material advantage wins endgames: hold on to your material.
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Be wary of sacrificing pawns for development: only in Rook+Pawn endings is an active piece worth material.
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Try and gain tempi whenever possible, but without giving up material.
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The fewer the pieces, the more important the pawns
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Keep a flexible, sound pawn formation: avoid doubled, isolated and blockaded pawns.
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Passed pawns must be pushed.
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The outside passed pawn is an advantage: in King&Pawns endings it is decisive.
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Rooks belong behind passed pawns.
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In open positions the two bishops are murder: in most other positions they are a real advantage.
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In open or semi-open positions a bishop is usually superior to a knight.
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The knight is superior to the bishop in blocked positions or when the bishop is hemmed in by pawns on the same colour squares as the bishop.
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