A very important feature of the position and one that we should pay special attention to during every game we play is the pawn structure and the changes that it might suffer throughout the game, as your plans should also change with it.
The study of the most important pawn formations will not only help you find the best plans during your game with ease, but you will also be able to choose correctly the type of position you want to achieve in relation to the pieces you have on the board.
Playing well and having a good chess understanding is what every chess player is looking for. However, when it comes to practice this is not the only thing that matters. While when you are training there is no time limit on the exercises you solve and the themes that your learn, during a tournament you have a very stressing piece of equipment at the side of the board – a chess clock. This means that even if your play is good, bad management of the time you spend on your moves will eventually lead to time trouble when bad moves can easily happen.
We live in the days where openings are the most studied part of the game and it is almost impossible to win a game out of the opening anymore. Everybody knows the tricks and almost every player, no matter the level, is able to blitz you out 20 moves of recent theory.
The difference in strength between two players is rarely made in this phase of the game anymore, but it does show when it comes to middlegames and endgames.
The Maroczy Bind is one of the structures every chess player must study and know how to play with both colors. It is a very popular system that is used against the Sicilian, but it can arise from various move orders, whether you start by 1.e4, 1.c4, 1.Nf3 or even 1.d4.
It can be easily recognized from the presence of two white pawns on c4 and e4 and the trade of black’s c for white’s d-pawn. With this, white is basically trying to control black’s most typical active pawn break, d6-d5.
In our last article, we have outlined a few important ideas that can help you decide which minor piece is better, depending on the position you have on the board. To show how the power of the bishop works, we have selected an instructive endgame where its cooperation with the rook was superior to that of the knight’s. In this article, we are going to look a bit into the knight’s superiority and how, together with the rook, it can dominate the bishop in certain situations.
Which minor piece is better, the bishop or the knight? This is an endless debate; from a very early age, we tend to choose our favorite, choice that’s not necessarily based on facts, but rather on feelings. Our preference may change with the years and we may even play better with one than the other, but what’s important to understand is that things are never either black or white. In this case, they are rather grey.
The journey of a chess player is no easy thing. When looking from the outside, it may seem so easy the way Grandmasters play. Their moves just flow and everything makes sense. They find amazing ideas that sometimes seem so simple and logical anyone could do it. In fact, all that great play is the result of endless hours of sitting in front of the chessboard, analyzing interesting positions and studying thousands of games.
The tactics and calculation training is the most important type of training a chess player can undertake if he or she is serious of his or her chess improvement.
The reason for this is that all chess games are decided by tactics. You cannot win if the opponent does not make a mistake – hence you have to take advantage of that mistake. While the mistake can be of various types, from the one-move blunders to a “small” positional detail 4 moves into a line, the mistake is always tactical in its essence. Something was missed and the opponent can take advantage of that miss.
The development advantage is one of the most important pluses in chess and can become a powerful weapon in the hands of those who know how to use it. Unlike other types of advantages in chess, if you are ahead in development you have to act fast. This is an advantage that can dissipate in a very short time if you don’t make the most out of it. If allowed, your opponent will simply develop his remaining pieces to catch up with you and maybe even equalize. This is why in such positions time is of the essence. It is important that your moves restrict your opponent as much as possible and force him to delay his development even more.
Having active, well-coordinated pieces is all a chess player can dream about. It is one of the most important principles that you have to keep in mind during the game. Always improve your pieces and look for the most active squares they can occupy. Treat your pieces well and they will help you deliver the blow in the decisive moments. You will see how everything connects and every piece will have its specific and important role.
