ABCs of Bughouse

ABCs of bughouse: A queen shouldn’t always run from a knight. All things being equal, which they never are, bring in the lowest ranking piece first.  Even more important, move pieces that haven’t moved yet including the ones in your hand. Always interpose rather than giving ground. Attacking generally takes more pieces than defending.  That is why often you can and should defend, and you seldom should attack. Brilliant combinations are the glory of bughouse, but you will get brilliant combinations more often if you know how to defend, manage your time, and move when there is nothing exciting to do. Defense is something that most players underestimate.  I don’t recommend defending by playing faster, telling your partner to sit, or telling you partner to hold a certain piece. These should be used only as last trench methods.   Don’t defend by attacking unless you can realistically mate or buy enough time so your partner can mate.  Or if you have no choice. Ke...