- Don’t panic!
- You need a clear head and a calm heart
- Defend threats
- You must spot and defend threats
- Don’t make weaknesses (if you can avoid it)
- Don’t help your opponent!
- Don’t open lines (if you can avoid it)
- Don’t help your opponent!
- Seek swaps
- Get the Queens off (if you can)
- Make blocks and strong points
- Make repairs if you can
- Prevention is better than cure
- Try to see threats coming
- Stop the idea before it appears on the board
- Counterplay
- You must take over the attack sometime
- Especially — counterattack in the centre
- “Throwing a spanner in the works”
- Sometimes straightforward defence leads to a simple loss
- Make a mess, make it hard for your opponent to decide what to do
- When you’re losing?
- You have to change the way the story ends!
- Keep active pieces on
- Take risks: you’re already losing! so what are you risking?
- Make threats: your opponent has to make a mistake
Example games
Defence: lots of ideas
Hitting back in the centre
Swap off pieces (especially Queens)
Keep lines closed
Swap off dangerous pieces
Repairing weaknesses
Counterplay
Attack without fear when you are losing
