Image by andreasnilsson1976 via Flickr

There are not many official rules in chess. Once you learn how the pieces move and how you win the game, there are very few other isolated rules to learn.

There are a number of rules-of-thumb, though. These are principles to follow most of the time. They cover where to place your pieces at the beginning of the game, when to trade one piece for another, etc.

Once you understand these concepts and have gained some experience with chess, you can begin to play around with breaking these rules.

Dan and I taught a new student online last Friday. The lesson had been a birthday present for a 12-year-old boy. He was fairly new to the game.

The thing that impressed me the most, was his willingness to try new things, take a few risks, think outside-the-box.  Even though he knew that a bishop was worth more than a pawn, he was willing to experiment with sacrificing it to gain an attack against my king.

Although that sacrifice did not work in that case, if he continues to try out new ideas, he will be successful.  It helps to go over these ideas with a coach, who can teach a student more about how to implement those concepts.

It is important for a beginner to have good stable principles when they first learn chess.  It helps them navigate through all the potential confusions.  However, at some point, it is the right thing to allow them to play around with breaking the rules.