Pawn play is one difficult element in chess. Mastering the art of knowing what pawn you should move, and most important, when to do it, is definitely something that takes years to learn.
In this article we are going to have a look at a specific type of pawn play, the central ruptures.
Winning a great attacking game can definitely give any chess player great satisfaction. However, it’s not always easy to go after the opponent’s king and find an efficient mating idea. Many attacks emerge right after the opening and are based on the opponent’s undeveloped pieces and un-castled king.
In today’s article we are going to continue our inquiry on the art of attack in chess. We have seen so far numerous ideas of sacrifices that can destroy our opponent’s castle and leave the king open. Another plan you could use in order to start an attack against the short castle is to use the h file.
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 true in this elemental concept for beginners, later on we discover that things are far from simple and that occupying the center with pawns is no guarantee of being automatically better.
A while ago we have presented you 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 certainly 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 better than others by nature.
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 a 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 bishop in the middlegame.
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 advantage in the endgame.
