middlegame - tag

It’s no surprise that the majority of chess players have trouble understanding and correctly interpreting the typical middlegame positions. Most chess players think that positional understanding is something that only the masters can effectively use to win games. This is quite an incorrect assumption. Any chess player can learn and effectively use the typical middlegame […]

In today’s article, we continue talking about basic ideas and sacrifices any chess player should be aware of. We have covered so far the very well-known f7 (f2) and h7 (h2) sacrifices, the double bishop sacrifice, and the sacrifice on b5 that occurs mostly in the Sicilian Defense.

Many openings, like the Alapin variation against the Sicilian, the Rubinstein (4.e3) versus the Nimzo Indian, the Panov Attack against the Caro Kan, have in common that, very often, white gets an isolated queen’s pawn in the middlegame and eventually, after exchanges, hanging pawns arise.  

In chess, the f7 (f2) square is well known as the “Achilles Heel” of the position. The name has been given from the fact that this is the weakest point in each player’s camp. If you take a look at every initial pawn square, you will notice that this one is the only one that’s […]

Continuing our series of typical sacrifices in the middlegame, we are going to present you in this article the double bishop sacrifice. It starts out as a classical bishop sacrifice on h7 (h2), but giving up the other bishop too on g7 (g2) can prove devastating for the king’s security.

In chess, the positional struggle is based on the accumulation of small advantages. There are several elements that a chess player must take into consideration in order to unbalance the game in his favor. These elements are well known: pawn structure, bishop pair, weak squares, piece coordination, and king safety, just to name a few […]

In this article, we are going to talk about a concept that is very well known to any player, no matter their rating or strength – the zugzwang. The term refers to a situation where one of the players finds himself wanting not to move and rather pass the move to his opponent. The fact […]

By pushing the pawns, weak squares are inevitably created in our position. It is very important to know how to correctly use and even create them in your opponent’s camp in order to win the game. Before moving further, we will first define what a weak square is – it is a square that can […]

Positions in which an isolated central pawn appears are a common element in chess. In this article, we will look deeper into the advantages of this pawn structure and how to exploit them. First of all, to know how to play these positions (no matter what side you’re on) we must understand certain concepts about […]

Continuing our series of strategy and middlegame articles we are going to dedicate this issue to the pawn formation known as ”hanging pawns”. *** See the next diagram. **