I could write a typical article about chess, adding up tons of pictures of standard positions and posting analyses of each possible variation. But for that, one simple search on the internet would produce thousands of articles with that kind of information. Instead I decided to try a different approach and I’ll share some hints regarding what considerations one should have when analyzing a certain position. This way, I’ll try to clarify the mind of new chess players about certain subjects and at the same time promote this fascinating game. I hope you enjoy! I would like to stress that what I am about to post in this article, is a product of my experience of over 10 years of playing chess and it only reflects my view and interpretation of this game, even though this might be subject to other interpretations or opinions.
Before starting, I am assuming that the reader has a decent knowledge of chess. At least knows how to move the pieces and knows the basic principles of piece development and so on, so…if you fall in this specific category here we go:
Opening/Defense:
On this first stage of the game, we should stick to the theory of a particular opening (if you’re playing with white) or defense (if you’re playing with black). The opening/defense should be played by heart; this means that even though we should learn it at first by reading books or by playing it a lot, we should know quite well the goal of that particular opening/defense. To help us on that matter, we should develop a fair repertoire of openings/defenses. I stick to the English opening and Queen’s gambit when on white and Sicilian, Caro-kann and Queen’s Gambit Declined with black. I like the English opening a lot since it is easy to play and I would say that is hard to do major mistakes with it. A simple search on the internet will give more in-depth explanations of these openings/defenses. Back to the subject, the point on this stage of the game is to save energy for the next stage – the middlegame. Right now we should play by the book or by heart if we already have the knowledge and experience for that.
Middlegame:
This is the most tiring stage of the game. Since the theory is over, we’ll have to come up with a plan (if we have not done it already). I would like to say that it is better having a bad plan than having none. So, first we should certify that our king is on a safe place, that usually comprises castling and eventually having one or two pieces supporting it, normally a bishop and/or a knight. After this we focus on the fight for the center of the board. It’s usually said that the side that controls the center has the better chances to win. It’s essential to keep this “rule” on our mind at any time during the game especially at this point right after the opening.
When coming up with a plan, we should look at our opponent’s pieces and look for weaknesses, and by weaknesses I mean, for instance, isolated pawns or doubled pawns (pawns of the same color residing on the same file). These are prone to be attacked and they are a huge source of problems on the endgame. After checking on our opponent’s position we then look at our pieces and construct a mental picture of what the ideal disposition of our pieces would be. This is no easy task, but once we master this technique, planning will become much easier. So, starting with our knights, we’ll look for the potentially perfect squares for them, sometimes this won’t be evident at first, but we should keep in our mind what is our objective, and if we are aiming to attack a weakened pawn structure then we should look for the best place to do it with our knight, and that would be the square which maximizes it’s mobility and simultaneously it’s threats over the opponent side, with special interest on that weakened pawn structure.
Before continuing, I would like to make clear that one should not exchange its pieces once he has a chance to do so. It’s important to value the strength of each piece, as they are very important due to their different mobility capacities. A knight would be much more valuable on a closed position (when there are still a lot of pieces on the board and the files are closed) then a bishop or even a rook. On the other hand a bishop is usually much more effective then a knight on open positions. This way, exchanging pieces carelessly will probably destroy your plan (if you had any), and if you didn’t achieve any substantial advantage over your opponent then the game will naturally end on a draw. Remember that with few pieces on the board there are few chances on gaining advantage…for both sides.
Back to the subject, similarly to the knights, the bishops are very important as well, especially on open diagonals where their strength is maximized. We should see them as long ranged artillery, that even though they can be supporting the shelter of our king, they can, ate the same time, aim to distant squares, creating threats. The same rules stated above for the knights are applied here. We should look for squares that maximize our bishop’s mobility and threats. If at any point in the game we notice that we have a piece that has poor chances on being well positioned, then we should look forward to exchange it.
Regarding the rooks, they should control the files as soon as these become open. This way, they’ll become active and ready to enter the game. Like the bishops are stronger when there are open diagonals, the same is applied to the rooks when there are few pieces on the board and there are plenty of open files to maneuver them at will.
The queen is the general of our army. It is the strongest piece and we should avoid moving it too much in the beginning. She’ll be the coordinator of the attacks so, it is good practice to develop all the other pieces first (the nights and the bishops) and then start maneuvering it.
The pawns are considered the essence of the game. Without them chess wouldn’t be possible, in the sense that it would lose all its magic. Regarding this, we should always keep an eye both on our pawn structure and our opponents as well. We should avoid bad structures as mentioned earlier, because that will mostly determine who’ll have better chances to win on the endgame…if we manage to arrive at that stage.
General considerations for the middlegame:
- We should stick as much as we can to our plan. It’s essential to come up with a good plan from the very beginning. Do some search as you’ll find a lot of good books to help you out on this subject;
- We should keep an eye on poorly defended pieces. This applies not just to our opponents but to ours as well. On this type of positions usually lurks a good combination so…stay alert to this;
- Don’t give up on the fight for the central squares unless you’re willing to be defensive from that moment on. Anyway, if possible always avoid these situations. Remember, the best defense is the attack!
- Keep the king away from the action until the endgame, after that rush it to support your remaining pieces (mostly pawns);
- Whenever possible, create passed pawns. These pawns have real chances of being promoted so we should treat them carefully. This means that we should protect them as much as we can and support their advance every time possible. These pawns are of special value on the endgame.
Endgame:
The endgame is a consequence of the opening and the middlegame so every mistake that you or your opponent did will reflect on this stage of the game.
On the endgame we’ll focus mostly on our pawns since besides them we’ll have few other pieces on the board, lets say, for instance that each player has one knight, a bishop and four pawns.
This is when every subtle feature of the position might influence the outcome, especially regarding the pawn structures. Like the opening, the endgame has a lot of theory as well, and I would recommend reading a book to improve your knowledge on this matter.
As mentioned before, the king takes a leading role on this stage of the game. Since the majority of the pieces have already left the board, the king takes action and helps the remaining pieces to proceed with the plan, for instance, supporting the advance of a pawn or even protecting undefended pieces. The dispositions of the kings become a crucial factor at this point.
I guess this sums up quite well everything I had planned to share and I hope it was informative.
Author: Ricardo Carapeto
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Contributor's Note
Even though I am not a professional chess player, I love to play this game, and I just felt that it would be cool to share some intel with everyone willing to improve on it. By the way, I hope my english is understandable :)
Best regards everyone, Carapeto
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