Your three general rules

If you could give three general rules for beginner players, what would they be?

Mine are:

1) Play position first, and look out for tactics. Not the other way around.

2) In a cluttered board, prioritize knights over bishops, and in open games do the opposite.

3) Always keep an eye out for the fried liver.

1) Look for checks.

2) Look for captures.

3) Look for threats.

1.make sure the pawns are not bigger than the king.  The kings ego is fragile. 

2.make sure my woman doesn't wander to far from her king.  He gets lonely

3.make sure my king is active. His other workers appreciate when he is hands on.

1. Hypnotize ur opponent.

2. Let his/her clock run.

3. U WIN!!! call the Arbiter.

what'a fried liver

and what's clutteredboard?

 ^ This

The fried liver is an unclear, very tactical opening where white sacrifices a knight for a pawn and gets a strong attack on black's king.  It comes out of the two knights defense and may be useful on beginners who may not be aware of it / may not have good defensive technique.  In over the board (OTB) games black usually doesn't allow white to go into this variation (unless the player is very familiar with the defensive requirements and feels brave that day). 

Sometimes though, in correspondence chess it's black who offers to go into it and white who declines because with the longer time limit black can more easily find the best defense -- if that happens white should be lost because remember he sacrificed a knight for his attack.

By cluttered board I think he means the general rule that knights are better in closed positions while bishops are better in open positions.

"If you could give three general rules for beginner players, what would they be?"

for beginners( up to 1100-1200 rating)

1.in the first 5-10 moves  your plan (starting from move one!) should be to develop your picess quickly as you can, and to a position thet they can control more squares then your opponent picess,and at the same time keep all of your picess mobile so they can come back to defance if necessary.

2. whenever you see (not feel!!)  thet you can win some material (by trading picess/some tactic or whatever) always check very carefuly for counterattack

3. dont force your attacks until you 100% sure thet they wiil gain you some advantage (material or positional)

remember thet it can take some time to build a winning plan,and thet is what you need to focus on (to build the attack thet will gain you some advantage thet eventually bring you the win "one move at a time") dont search all the time for  the immediat win,because most of the time you jest can't win immediatly and you need to build it. 

I might add a little to that.

Don't automaticly ignore feelings. If you feel that there is something in the position that is good for you (or for your opponent), search carefully and try to find it.

I've won a few games where I got the feeling that something is wrong just to realize that I can win a piece.

For second one, never assume. In chess mechanical thinking is not allowed. Just because knight is supposed to better in closed games than bishop, doesn't mean you should automaticly trade your bishops for your opponents knights. The game might open up quickly and favor the bishop.

Yeah, chess is complicated.  Sometimes in analysis you discover your gut feeling was so very correct, if only you had gone for it the move was the move to play to maintain your advantage.  Then other times you discover your gut feeling was dead wrong and it's a good thing you decided to override it.

Although if you ever find yourself calculating and calculating trying hard to justify an ugly move or maneuver, that move/idea is probably bad and you should seriously look for a different move even if on the surface the move seems good (keeping bishops in an open position as a related example).  I've saved myself a few good positions this way.

1. Try to control the center (duh)

I know there are methods that try otherwise, but this is still just solid positional advice for anyone.

2. Don't leave pieces hanging

If I were teaching someone the first thing I'd want them to be able to do is sufficiently just hold on to their pieces.

3. See what your opponent will do, not what you want them to do

I feel as though too many beginners (and not beginners!) just play, hoping or thinking their opponent won't play the most painful response.

Hmmm, interesting question.

1. Involve your pieces. Berserker attacks do NOT work against opponents worth playing, so apply all available pieces to the job at hand.

2. No reason, no move. If you want to improve, notate every game you play, every move you play. Facing the fact of choosing the wrong plan or having no plan will push you to get better and study. Own your move, even if your reasoning turns out to be flawed, have a reason for each move and stick behind it. Where you are wrong, you will see, and can improve.

3. PLAY chess. Do chess for it's own sake. Don't play to be the best, don't play to prove yourself to yourself or others, don't play to 'Be a Master'. Play because you love it, because of the beauty and magic that resonates through our game.

Yeah, your #3 is huge -- and I even catch myself doing it sometimes against stronger opponents (of course I probably also do it against weaker opponents but they just don't prove me wrong so that I know when).

Ideally you should be just as sure that the response you except from your opponent is their best move as you are that the move you just played was your best move.

Deathscepter gave some good advice too -- it's funny that this topic is getting more good advice than the ones titled "best chess advice you've received" we've had in the past.  At least from what I remember anyway...

1)Develope quickly.

2)Build pressure on opponent.

3)Open the files for Rooks.

Some random rules that come to mind:

1. Never attack from an inferior position.
2. Being able to calculate deeply and correctly is important, but it's even more important to be able to correctly assess the positions that arise at the end of each line.
3. Treat your pawns with respect.

orangehonda,

And here I learn something. I always thought the fried liver was any variation when white (or black) takes on f7 (or f2, in black's case), seemingly sacrificing their bishop or knight, only for the queen to follow up and fork a hanging piece. Some common opportunities:

1. Don't hang pieces

2. Play the board

3. Never give up

Well then it's certainly odd that it's not uncommon to see a game where a strong CC player as white avoids it.  Not the online CC crap, "real" players. 

Despite claims either way the opening is still unresolved as better for one or the other side.

[edit] oh I see what you're saying, you're disagreeing that I said it was a win for black if he defends well.  You're right, it can even peter out into a draw, I was reading a different meaning into your post.  Although it is possible for black to win of course :p

1. Don't take a piece just because you can - if your opponent has given you a gift it's quite possibly poison.

2. Don't attack a piece if it can move to somewhere you don't want it to be - why force your opponent to better his position ?

3. Similarly, don't set a trap if it leaves you in a worse position if your opponent doesn't fall for it.