Following guidelines are an important way to learn how make better decisions in complex games. Popular examples of basic strategy guidelines are available for such games Backgammon, Blackjack, Go, Texas Holden and of course, Chess. For our Royal Game, the most famous set of basic strategy guidelines are the Thirty Rules of Chess.
Richard Shorman was one of the most influential 20’th century chess teachers in Northern California. Shorman’s teaching method focused heavily on The 30 Rules of Chess to guide his students through the Opening, Middle Game and Endgame. During his 50 year teaching career, he required his students to memorize the 30 Rules and his lectures regularly showed illustrative games that fit into the framework of these guidelines. However, with advanced students he acknowledged that chess is too complex of a game to always have optimum play fit neatly into this framework.
True masters of chess identify when important exceptions to the basic strategies arise and deviate from the standard practice to obtain the advantage. As such, one of the greatest American chess masters in history, Frank James Marshall, would sometimes employ rather unorthodox strategies to advantageously break the 30 Rules. Even the most common sense strategies were not immune from Frank Marshall’s creative approach.
Making “as FEW PAWN MOVES as possible in the opening” as stated in rule 5 of the Thirty Rules of Chess is an important guideline as moving fewer pawns allows you to quickly bring out your knights and bishops to active squares, which is crucial for establishing an effective position early on. In addition, excessive pawn moves can lock in certain pawn structures or create weaknesses, limiting your options for developing pieces and responding to your opponent’s plans. However, even the most solid strategic principles can be flawed when applied during the wrong circumstances. Indeed, The Sicilian Wing Gambit’s unique nature can point towards the flaws in a simple strategy such as Making “as FEW PAWN MOVES as possible in the opening.”
On February 25, 1940, Marshall was paired against Hyman Rogosin in Round 11 of the 1939/40 Marshall Chess Club Championship. Rogosin (black) opted for the Sicilian against 1. e4. Frank Marshall threw him a curveball with the Wing Gambit. Most remarkably, Frank Marshall opened the game with fourteen consecutive pawn moves in direct defiance to Rule 5: “Make as FEW PAWN MOVES as possible in the opening.” But Marshall wasn’t done with his rule breaking as he then went on to move the same piece three times in the Opening which goes against Rule 4: “DON’T move the same piece twice.” For chess students who learned systematic play using the Thirty Rules of Chess, analyzing this game will be eye opening!
[Event “Marshall CC Championship 1939/40”]
[Site “New York, NY USA”]
[Date “1940.02.25”]
[EventDate “?”]
[Round “15”]
[Result “1-0”]
[White “Frank James Marshall”]
[Black “Hyman Rogosin”]
[ECO “B20”]
[WhiteElo “?”]
[BlackElo “?”]
[PlyCount “51”]
1.e4 c5 2.b4 cxb4 3.a3 Nc6 4.axb4 Nf6 5.b5 Nd4 6.c3 Ne6 7.e5
Nd5 8.c4 Ndf4 9.g3 Ng6 10.f4 Ngxf4 11.gxf4 Nxf4 12.d4 Ng6
13.h4 e6 14.h5 Bb4+ 15.Bd2 Bxd2+ 16.Nxd2 Ne7 17.Ne4 Nf5 18.h6
g6 19.Nf6+ Kf8 20.Nf3 d6 21.Ng5 dxe5 22.dxe5 Qxd1+ 23.Rxd1 Ke7
24.Rh3 b6 25.Bg2 Rb8 26.Ngxh7 1-0
The Thirty Rules of Chess are a great resource. However, highlighting great games that feature moves that break the rules is necessary for students to understand that they can not be too rigid in their application of simple guidelines to a complex game such as chess. Following the Thirty Rules of Chess will accelerate your learning process. However, true mastery can only be achieved when one recognizes when it’s advantageous to break from basic strategy.