Be patient
Think for at least 30 seconds before you do anything
But pay attention to time constraints
When you get down to the last five minutes, all bets are off
No matter what else, when the flag falls, it is over
Concentrate on what you are doing
But pay attention to what your opponent is doing
Avoid tunnel vision
Look at the entire picture
Plan ahead
Think before you touch anything
Once you make a move you cannot take it back
Once you start, you have to keep going
You will have to make sacrifices to get to where you want to be
Record your moves so you can retrace them later
You learn more when you lose than when you win
Play the best and you will become the best
There will always be a David Collins out there that you just cannot beat
Keep trying until he just goes away =)
Always have an escape route
When in doubt, push a Pawn
With a little perseverance a measly Pawn can be promoted into an all-powerful Queen
Shake hands with your opponent; you'll meet him again
Just because you beat him the first time does not guarantee you will beat him the second time
Sometimes you just get lucky
Other times, he gets better
Nobody likes chopped liver
Or being pinned, forked, and skewered
But we all like pinning, forking, and skewering
The difference between Fool's and Scholar's is on which side of the board you start
Everyone falls for the oldest trick in the book at least once
There is more than one "oldest trick in the book."
Practice
If you do not practice you will get rusty
If you get rusty you will get beaten
Teamwork requires that each individual do his best individually
The number of people on your team does no matter as much as the skill of the people on your team
Most importantly:
The games you play and the lessons you learn during childhood stay with you for the rest of your life
So do the people with whom you played.