Middle Game
As soon as we start learning chess, the first thing that they tell us is: “you must control the center”. A position with pawns on e4 and d4, if you are on the white side, is often good. While there is some truth in this elemental concept for beginners, later on, we discover that things […]
A while ago we have presented you with the advantages of having the bishop pair and how to play with it in order to convert this small positional advantage into a winning one. However, life as a chess player is not always so easy and we might end up playing against the bishop pair.
The art of attack is for sure one of the most important elements in the middlegame. Knowing when to begin an attack and how are certain key things to learn in order to improve your play. It is often said that there are players who like to attack more than others, and they do this […]
Very often in our chess games, we face closed positions with a deep strategical character. In most cases, one side has a large space advantage while the other’s side pieces are cramped. Defending such positions is not an easy task. However, winning them is just as difficult. ***
In today’s article, we will have a closer look at the use of open files in the middlegame. From the very early start of our chess learning, we are told that we must control any open file with our rooks, but as usual, it’s always easier said than done.
When studying different middlegames, I’ve come to the conclusion that sometimes there are pieces on the board that shouldn’t be moved. A sort of permanent status in the game that, if you are on the favorable side you should make the maximum effort to maintain. Common situations are when a knight is better than a […]
The subject of this article is a bit unusual among chess publications, as there hasn’t been talked much about the role of the king in the middlegame. It is well known that the king is the most important piece in the endgame. A centralized king is without a doubt a factor that gives an advantage […]
A while ago we have shown you the advantages of the isolated queen’s pawn, the ideas and plans you can adopt when finding yourself on the side having such a structure. However, as everybody knows, an isolated pawn represents a weakness that should be exploited.
The popularity of the Caro-Kann Defense has increased greatly in recent years. Away from the old stereotype and bad reputation of being a passive defense, black has found many interesting ideas in the mainlines that give white quite a headache. The lines with 3.e5 remain very sharp.
Continuing on the subject of the relative value of the pieces (see our previous article Pieces vs Queen), in this article we are going to have a look at positions in which the pieces are sacrificed for pawns. The power of pawns shouldn’t be underestimated.
