In Online Chess You Must Plan Your Play And Play your Plan!

The primary factor that holds players below 2000 elo is, in my opinion, planning. I know that this will be disputed by many players, but it is my firm opinion.

Players do not plan to fail, they simply fail to plan.

Let’s start with how a player approaches planning. When he first learns chess he plans at that level. As he progresses he plans at increasingly higher levels. Finally, he is drained of ideas. Here is how it may go:

1. I plan to attack and checkmate quickly.
2. I plan to develop, to get my pieces into play quickly.
3. I plan to occupy/control the center.
4. I plan to play my favorite opening for the first few moves, and then take advantage of whatever appears.
5. I plan to get to an endgame where I have more material.

These are all important and often effective plans, but they are temporary in nature, they soon dissipate as the game moves ahead. Sometimes we have a bad plan, mere wishful thinking:
"I plan to watch my moves and wait for my opponent to make a mistake." - Your opponent may have the same plan!
"I plan to get ahead and trade down.” You may not get ahead.

As we face stronger opponents, we can end up in a middle game wondering what to do next. One of the most important reasons for limiting a repertoire is to know the opening well enough so that the actions in the middle game become obvious. Players that depend on data bases and opening books, (and we all should use these tools without dependence), run out of steam when the line runs out in the book!
I hit this group of players between 1600-1900 elo. We would enter the middle game on even footing, and then they simply did not know what to do.
They did not blunder, they wandered. They had no goal. They sought tactical opportunities that did not appear. At first, I watched their games collapse in amazement. How could they play so well for fifteen moves and then collapse? They were following Anand, he changed trains at the last location. They zigged when he zagged. They were not thinking like Anand, they were imitating him until he left the scene.

If you are an expert at your opening, this does not happen to you. You always know what to do next. You may not get the opportunity to do it, but you know what it is you must do.

You must have a plan at all times. You can seldom plan everything for the entire game, so your opening, which is a plan, takes you to some point. At that point you are in the middle game, whether you like it or not. If your opponent is still in the opening, he still has his plan. You must have yours.

Your plan should evolve from the position on the board. There are three elements which must be considered: Power, Time, and Space.

Power:
1. Is the material even? Do I have a material advantage? The player with a material advantage can plan to trade off and enter the endgame with that advantage.
2. Is the material unbalanced? Knight vs. Bishop, Rook vs. two minor pieces, Queen versus two rooks or rook and minor piece. If an imbalance exists, how can I limit the force of his piece(s) and maximize the force of my piece(s)? Perhaps the most important piece imbalance on the board is Knight vs. Bishop.
3. Is my pawn structure more powerful, or is his? Can a pawn be Queened? Can I strengthen my structure? Can I weaken his structure? Can I take advantage of holes and outposts? Can I keep one of his pawns backward? Is there an isolated pawn? A passed pawn? Doubled pawns?

Time:
1. Who has the initiative? If I have it, how can I maintain it (or lose) it? If he has it, how can I seize it? The initiative is temporary; use it while you have it.
2. Who is better developed? (Simply looking at the back rank often answers this question.) If I have a lead in development, how can I capitalize? A lead in development is temporary, and unless acted on early this advantage disappears.

Space:
1. Who controls the most space? What is the force of each piece and the potential force of each piece in this position? Are my knights and bishops properly placed, are any of his misplaced? Are my rooks on the right files? Are his? (The placement of the rooks is most often determined by the opening, but there is always an obvious placement). Do I have a good bishop? Does he? Do I have a bad bishop? Does he?
2. Are there open lines, or lines to be opened? Most important are files, since files are opened when only one pawn is misplaced; but ranks and diagonals can be closed by other pawns. In other words, files are the key lines requiring planning.
3. Are there pivot points, outposts, ‘homes’ available or that can be made available to either side?


If these things are simply observed, a plan emerges. Look at these features when your opening is done. The longer your opening lasts, the simpler the board becomes and the features easier to observe and to apply.

Take pencil and paper and write down your observations in these areas the next time you run into the middle game. Look at all of your current games and write your observations in each of these areas. Train yourself to see these three things in these eight aspects.

Your observations will determine the plan. You may plan to improve your pawn structure, to prepare a passed pawn, to connect pawns, to disconnect opposing pawns, to clear lines, to close lines, to trade down, etc. Your plan will emerge from your observations.

Take these components, and simply look for a way (plan) to put these things to work, simultaneously or sequentially. Along the way, the position will change. Consider each change as your plan evolves.

CAVEAT: When developing a plan, never think of moves! Think of the position! See the board! If you think of a move, you have already abandoned thinking of a plan. Observe. Do not calculate! There are two common flaws in planning. The first flaw is performing critical analysis before gathering full information. The second is in performing creative analysis too early. The first step is always to see things as they truly are, in all aspects, taking nothing for granted.


When a position appears I can always tell the weak players: They begin looking for the next move!! You cannot possibly know the best next move unless you know the position thoroughly. See the Board, not the pieces! This is not a time for calculation, reasoning, or logic. It is a time of research, observation. Become Sherlock Holmes! See things your opponent does not see; or seeing, does not consider.

The moves will only come when you have your plan. Your plan determines the moves and the move order. Each move is nothing more nor less than a positional change. You simply want to change the position to your advantage.

Along the way, you need to discard certain practices. When you calculate moves, you may not play as if the opposing player will always play the best moves. You may play wishful chess rather than winning chess. True, at a low level your opponent will not play the best moves; but you should plan on moving to a higher level quickly and you should always play as if your opponent will play the best move. Play according to the position, as if you were playing against yourself, at every level; and soon you will be playing as if you were playing against an expert, or a Master.

You must look at your opponent’s position and determine what his plan may be. If you know his plan, you know how much time you have to execute yours! Your plan may have many components, but you can probably only achieve a few. Go after those that are perishable, the opportunities that will not last. Consider your opponents likely play to deprive you of these opportunities. The chess game has two sides, see both.

If you want to be a Player and you want to be as good as you can be, if you want to reach your true potential, it will take CHANGE. Change in the way you see things. Change is always the most difficult activity. You must re-train yourself to see differently.
If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten – Coonradt

Remember: There is no ‘universal plan’ that can be applied to all positions. Each position demands its own plan.

There are some openings that are played to gain an initial spatial advantage. The Morra Gambit is one of these openings. But there are many closed games played that often entail a long struggle for space. Among these is the French Defense. This is from a game where GM Bareev, playing Black, plays his favorite French Defense.

1. e4 e6
2. d4 d5
3. Nc3 dxe4
4. Nxe4 Nd7
5. Nf3 Ngf6
6. Bd3



(the following note is by Niel McDonald):
"Imagine if the two players now ignore what their opponent is doing, and satisfy themselves with the quiet development of their pieces on their own half of the board.
"If white is left in peace he can build up his game with moves like 0-0, Bf4, c2-c4, Qd2, Rad1, Rfe1. His pieces would have effortlessly found squares of maximum efficiency. They would be ready to take part in any maneuver that White chose in the middlegame.
Meanwhile, Black could also develop with Be7, 0-0, b6, and Bb7; but his pieces would have less activity -indeed, what does he do with his rooks?"

In other words, at this point, Black should see that White will have a great spatial advantage after 'routine' development. White already has a spatial advantage in that his d4 pawn is further up the board than Blacks e6 pawn. White can bring his rook to d1 where it is both mobile and exerting force, while Black's rook on e8 would be shut in behind his own pawn.

Thus, Black sees that simply continuing his development will lead to a strong spatial disadvantage. (An advantage in space means more potential scope for the pieces).

Seeing this, Black doesn't want White to achieve a strategic advantage, and so he plays:

6...c5!

White cannot continue his buildup behind and around the d4 pawn, because the pawn will now disappear, pieces will be exchanged, and Black's congestion will be lessened.

We can now follow the game understanding Black's Plan: Break up the center, exchange pieces, gain more space!

7. 0-0 Nxe4
8. Bxe4 Nf6
9. Bg5 cxd4
10. Nxd4



This, then, is what we expect should happen from this plan in this position:

The Black bishop will go to e7, White may play his bishop to f3, then Black will castle 0-0, and will have completed kingside development. The board will be open and Black's plan has gained space. Black may not win, but his opportunity is greater now than when his space was becoming severely limited.

The problem with following an opening without knowing the plan, as we do by following a data base, is that when we are left (in this case on Move 10), we simply look for a 'good' move; instead of asking: "Why did he do that, what was his plan?".

If we know the plan, the play is easier and more accurate in every case.
When we develop the plan, we know it!! Our opponent may not figure it out! In this case, Bareev's plan was simple; it begins with need for space and entails the means to acquire that space: breakup the center and exchange pieces. Nothing complex or complicated. A plan is simply thinking ahead.


Here is a position I reached in one of my games on ChessManiac.com. My opponent was a very strong chess player, a master candidate.

I was playing with white pieces. The game started in the Sicilian defense and after “1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 e6 7. Bd3 b5 8. O-O Bb7 9. f4 Nbd7 10. a4 b4 11. Na2 Nc5” we reached this position:



White to move. The position looks quite complicated. Take your time in observing everything on the board; you may see many possibilities, but how could you produce an aggregate plan for the rest of the game?

The first step is to observe the position: We are still in the opening. Black may know several more book moves in this variation. White is almost fully developed, black has delayed his development; and white currently has the initiative. Black’s b4 pawn is en prise. e4-pawn is attacked 3 times and defended only once, pushing it forward will open a magnificent diagonal for the black b7 bishop. The c-file is half open. White has a queenside pawn majority. White’s d3 bishop is attacked, but it is unlikely to be immediately captured because the exchange would fortify the white center and block the line of the b2 bishop.

The second step is to find the opponent’s probable plan: At this moment, it appears that Black is focused on e4. However, we must believe that he is looking further ahead. He will probably attack on the kingside, expecting White to attack on the queenside with his pawn majority. He must develop his f8 bishop, and would like it to strike the white kingside. He may delay castling, in order to strike before white can strike. He will capture the e4 pawn with a knight and once the pawn falls will look to gain the two bishops by exchanging a knight for the bishop. Once mobilized, he will attack the kingside.

The third step is to make our plan: White must attack on the queenside, preferably before Black is totally mobilized. First, White has a current perishable tactical opportunity; black’s b4 pawn is temporarily vulnerable on this move and capturing it will get the knight off of the edge of the board and will also attack a6, holding the a8 rook from seizing the c-file. This will not cost a tempo and the initiative is retained, White will thus increase his queenside majority, and improve the position of the knight. The queenside majority will deter black from trading pieces because the pawn endgame will favor white. If white neutralizes the b7 bishop the most dangerous piece will be taken from Black’s attack. Our plan is: First capture Nxb4, gaining the pawn majority; attack on the queenside, as quickly as possible; and then, neutralize the b7 bishop, if necessary. As a contingency, the d4 knight can return to f3 to thwart the bishop by blocking.

Now we can enact our plan: (White move notes will be in brackets). Meanwhile, I know that if my opponent plays something I did not expect, I must pause and adjust the plan as necessary. As we look at the following moves, keep in mind that White will always play to attack on the queenside.

12. Nxb4 Nfxe4 (Increasing the white queenside majority). Black’s move is the obvious retort by Black, who holds his c-knight to exchange for the bishop, and clears the bishop path to the kingside, while taking back the pawn. Material is then still even.
13. Be2… (White wants to retain the bishop; if he allows the exchange he will have an isolated pawn. Perhaps, because it is forced, black will not see that this could be the beginning of a possible transfer to f3, to neutralize b2.)
13… g6. The bishop must be brought into play, and is more useful on g7 than on e7, so another tempo must be yielded by black. The bishop will strike through d4 to b7 and a8. Of course, this move weakens the dark squares on the black kingside, but the bishop is expected to cover these squares.
14. a5 (Restraining the a pawn.) 14…Bg7 The bishop comes to its prepared position, as anticipated. It is a powerful post. But, it costs two tempi.



15. c4 0-0 (It’s time to get the queenside rolling. This opens the diagonal for the queen to a4, this pawn move gives up b3 and d3, but the queen, bishop and knights hold these squares.) Black brings his king to the safety.
16. Nd3 (A multi-purpose move, what a tempo saver! The knight repositions: he attacks the black knight on c5, which is keeping the queen from a4. It frees b4 for the b-pawn and will protect the white pawn when it arrives there unless it is exchanged!)
16… Qe7 Black develops his queen and connects his rooks. Although this move develops the queen, he has not completed his development yet, and the rooks also cannot yet safely move. White maintains the initiative.
17. Rc1 Rfe8 (Black threatens e5. This tactical threat is all that black seems to have, but it activates the rook and gives white pause.) Black is threatening e5.
18. b4 The pawn avalanche begins.



The planned queenside attack continues. Where is the black knight to go? Moving the knight gives white another attacking tempo. If the knight exchanges for the white knight on d3, recapture by the white’s queen drives the second knight away to its only escape, blocking the fianchettoed bishop, or forcing him playing e5 and again the fianchettoed bishop is blocked.

Although black needed not have played these moves, White’s plan to attack on the queenside is very much likely to succeed. Although the plan will succeed, it does not mean that white will win. It simply means that every move by white supported his plan.

Alfred J. Wood
Player free online chess at ChessManiac.com