There are zillions of them, but it's normally some combination of:

1) Initially develop your pieces in the center rather than threaten or capture the opponent's pieces (this avoids most traps where opponents pull you out of position).

2) Castle by move 8-10

3) Don't leave your king where it can be checked

4) Don't hang pieces

Executing these, however, is the problem. Number 4, in particular, is just something that requires a lot of practice. Most games below 2000 rating seem to be lost because somebody hangs a piece.

Yeah, these were some of them. I think 'put your horseys in the middle' was another specific one. Well, not worded that way of course.

I found John Bartholowmew's[1] videos extremely helpful when I was playing a lot of chess. Definitely saw a huge improvement.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2huVf1l4UE