Middlegame Ideas Every Player Should Know
Middlegame Ideas Every Player Should Know
Chess is a difficult game to explain. The complexity of the game lies in the fact that there exists a set of rules that help you reach the ultimate goal. There are also dynamic factors (must play attention to all of them and try to evaluate) which are difficult to control. Even after many years of activity, most professionals are still impressed when reading again the basic positional concepts they learned a long time ago. These concepts only get clearer with experience, “You don’t learn chess, you understand chess” In this article, we are going to give some piece of advice in order to play better in the middle game. These tips are not about playing a specific opening or following the certain theoretical path. It’s rather an approach to remember when you are playing. It is worthwhile to consider following things in the middlegame ideas1. Middlegame Ideas : Exchanges
Trading of pieces is a decision that always always you have to take. Whether to exchange the piece, move away from that square, protect with another piece or to interpose (Cover) that piece is the decision which you have to take. We achieve our goals with piece exchanges by he control of a square, transformation of the pawn structure, control of an open file and so on. Exchanges should be made when- If it gain a tempo
- If it eliminate your opponent’s active pieces
- If it create weaknesses in your opponent’s territory and so on.
2. Middlegame Ideas: Pawn Play
the pawn moves as it is the only piece that cannot move backward. So once did a pawn move it cannot rectified. Also every pawn move has its own drawback, the adjacent squares will be weakening or in some cases important loss of time. Pawns moves (if not forced) should be done when the pieces are placed in optimal squares and can’t be improved.See the diagram below for another example in which we can see the transformation of the pawn structure through exchanges as well as the creation of weaknesses in the opponent’s position.3. Chess Middlegame Ideas: The Bishop Pair
Chase away the enemies Bishops, gain the two Bishop advantage if possible. Gain the bishop pair and preserve it. The two bishops have a great potential in the middle game/ endgame when the pawn structure is flexible or when there are pawns on both flanks. In most cases, though not always, of course, the two bishops will be a lasting advantage. Obviously, the same advice can be read in reverse, protect your bishops, don’t trade them unnecessarily.4. Chess Middlegame Ideas: Piece Coordination
Keep your pieces coordinated and never overestimate your chances when you’re poorly developed. Most of the time beginners attacks before pieces are developed (Premature attacks), the position may require different treatment. Remember to develop and coordinate all the pieces before starting an attack (Some rare occasions premature attacks may works but not for the rest). The premature start of active actions tends to backfire in most cases. See the next example:5. Restriction
Another aspect of amateur fail to apply during the game is that reduce opponent’s counter-play. It is important to identify opponents strategies and counter-play for those while implementing your opponent strategies. It is worth remembering that the shortest road to victory is usually not also the best. It doesn’t matter if it takes more moves to finish the job, you have to look into your opponent’s active options and prevent them before carrying on with your idea. Don’t forget that chess is also a concrete game; check mate beats better pawn structure! So beware of what’s happening on the board. We hope you find these insights useful and feel free to comment with any questions or doubts you may have.You may also like
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