TRANSPOSITIONS!

When a new player begins chess openings, I recommend that whatever opening is chosen is one that the player will use every time! I want the player to become accustomed to the positions this opening leads into. My reasoning is that chess is learned in one of two ways:

First, we learn the placement of the pieces at the start of the game, then we learn the moves. Teaching chess by moves is not difficult, and learning the moves themselves is not difficult. This is what I think of as a scientific method. It is the way games are recorded.

But some players are blessed with a special talent; the ability to unify sensations into meaningful composites. They see the patterns, not the moves. This is more difficult to teach, it depends on the artistic or imaginative power of the player. This is what I think of as the Artistic method.

I believe it is necessary to begin with the first method, because there is lots of incidental learning that initially takes place, and because it can be digested by anyone. Starting with the artistic method would quickly discourage someone without the imaginative ability.

But, for those few who may have the talent for treating the game as an art, I believe that, as soon as the basics of the game are learned, the player can address pattern recognition. Instead of memorizing the moves in the opening, the player simply has pictures in his/her mind of the positions created by the opening, and plays to and from these positions.

If we know what we want from the opening in terms of these pictures, we can see the current picture and know whether we are on course, or whether we must change course to reach another familiar picture. If the performer can “see” the positions in his/her mind, a library of still pictures is created.

Of course, if the player insists on experimenting with a number of openings, the task can be much more difficult, or impossible. I believe it is easier to start with a solid “trunk” and add “branches” later. That’s why I stress the One Opening idea.

I offer this so that the reader can better understand the importance of playing by position, not by move. Pattern recognition is the key. If we were learning pattern recognition, we should start with pawn structures and build from that point. Pawn patterns are easy to recognize and often control the course of the game. The pawn structure is a key element in planning.

Patterns exist in opening, middle game and endings. However patterns are best learned in the endgame. There are known results- win/loss/draw- with endgame patterns. Think of an end game pattern as a “technique”. When an author says: “The rest is a matter of technique.” He is saying that this is a well-known endgame pattern.

Studying endgames is done with patterns, and the student normally has to repeat the move sequence a number of times before the “pictures” of the pattern form. When I began learning chess, I began with endgames. I needed a partner in order to have some fun working the endgame from a given position until mate, over and over, until it was memorized. Today, we have the computer as an opponent! We can test our understanding of the endgame pattern against the computer, which never tires of repetition!

This leads us to transpositions. Let’s look at transposing an opening. When we
are working to become expert in one opening, we may be able to play that opening with White only 20% of the time! That means we may need five games to get one where we can use “our” opening. (With Black, it gets easier; but I think that a White opening should be the first a player learns.) Fortunately, on Chessmaniac we can challenge with either Black or White and practice our white opening in every game where the opponent does not take us astray.

Now, if I am an inexperienced player and have put some time and effort into learning an opening, I have probably subconsciously developed a pattern recognition of this opening, which becomes greater, deeper and clearer as I continue to play this one opening. When this occurs, my win/loss ratio should improve; after all, my opponent is playing MY opening.

Now, in our opening, many transpositional possibilities may be seen. This is a game currently in progress on Chessmaniac, #6349512:

White Black
1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 Nc6. Black envisions a Berlin defense or a Two Knights, but there are many openings possible from these two opening moves.
3. d4 … White announces his preference: The Scotch Game.



3. … exd4.

This same position exists in the Scotch, in the Two Knights, in The Italian Game, in the Four Knights, and others.
4. Bc4 … This position exists in all the above openings, plus the Evans Gambit! (It is déjà vu all over again! – Yogi Berra)
4. … Nf6 Black prefers the Two Knights Defense and assays a transposition.



5. e5 d5 Still, this same position exists in all of the above openings, except that Black has ruled out the Evans Gambit.
6. Bb5 Ne4
7. Nxd4 Bc5 Now, this is also a position found in the Berlin Defense. So, we have a common position in the Scotch, the Two Knights, the Two Knights Defense, and The Berlin Defense.



8. Be3 Bd7 This position rules out all but the Scotch Game. White held to his opening of choice.

Voila! The Scotch Game! Here is the position that may have guided White:



White was expert in his opening, or Black could have taken the game into another opening.

Is it easier to memorize (mentally picture) the positions than to try to construct from the moves? Would you find it easier to memorize all of the first eight moves of all seven of these openings shown above, or would it be easier to remember not more than three significant positions? If you work from mental pictures of the position, you will see the possibilities from that position in the opening.

The endgame requires pattern recognition. If you aspire to Expert or Master status, it is essential to be able to recognize positions in the end game, even if you cannot do it well, yet, in the opening.

When you know your opening well, you can steer a transformation into a favorable position. Here is an opportunity seized in the early opening of game #6001387, on Gameknot:

White Black
1. e4 c4
2. d4 cxd4
3. c3 … The first three moves of the Morra Gambit.



3. … g6 The Morra declined. Black is transposing “out of the Morra” into a more familiar Sicilian, perhaps with the Dragon variation in mind.
4. cxd4 … Now, after … Bg7, White will have a familiar variation of the Alapin Sicilian.



Black has transformed into this Sicilian, although he may not have had the Alapin in mind.

In his book: *”The Chess Advantage in Black and White”, Larry Kaufman gives a sample of avoiding transpositions in the Semi-Slav defense. Here are some of his observations:
“The first decision for Black is whether to play … c6 or … e6 first.” “Playing … c6 first avoids the Catalan and the Marshall Gambit.” “Playing …e6 first avoids the Slav Exchange; as well as an early e3 without Nc3.”
Next, he shows how to avoid Black transpositions in the first four moves. Then, he shows the nine plausible move orders to reach the Semi-Slav. He explains that there are only four rules to follow to avoid the Queens Gambit Exchange version that favors White, to avoid allowing White to develop his bishop to g5 without paying a price, etc. By following his rules, you keep your opponent from transposing in this opening. You get to play your opening, not your opponents opening. I cannot show too much of the book without the permission of the author (Plagiarism). You’ll have to either get his book or look at my Black games where my opponent plays 1. e4, 1. c4, or 1. Nf3. You will find that some of my games are the Semi-Slav, where I instinctively follow Kaufman’s rules. Here is the starting position of the Semi-Slav:



A good exercise is to see if you can find the nine plausible ways of reaching this position. Here is the most direct route, where white has no preference beyond playing a queenside opening:

White Black
1. d4 d5
2. c4 e6
3. Nc3 c6
4. Nf3 Nf6

Now, let’s look at the first five moves of a game where I played Black, and White evidently had a move order, not a position, in mind. I will transpose into the Semi-Slav:

White Black
1. c4 … White seems to be trying for an English, or a Reti, or a Catalan.
1. … e6 We’re headed in White’s direction. Or are we?
2. Nf3 Nf6 White can still get his English or Catalan, but now we see the possibility that Black is playing for a Queen’s Indian.



3. d4 … The Catalan still looks OK, but now there is a hint of a Queens’ Gambit.
3. … d5 We now have a Queens Gambit Declined, but it could be a Ragozin variation, a Tartakower system, a Semi-Tarrash, an Orthodox, or even a Semi-Slav.
4. Nc3 c6 We have definitely transposed to a Semi-Slav!

(We have reached the same position by a different move order. Our moves were in concert with White’s moves, keeping him from [perhaps] his specific desired opening.)



The next moves were:
5. e3 Nbd7. And, suddenly White is playing Blacks’ Game!

When your opponent opens d4, c4, or Nf3; and you want a Semi-Slav, this is the picture you should have on the first move. Notice that if I wanted a Queens Indian, I could have played for that on the third move, or for a number of different Queen’s Gambits on the following moves. As you play, you will see yourself taken into strange territory a number of times. When you analyze the game afterward, look at the key positions and put the pictures you want in your head. Just be careful not to put in the pictures into your head that you DON’T want to create on the board!

I believe that players that move too quickly cannot get the pictures into their heads unless it is done in post-game analysis. I always analyze every loss, to try to find where I can improve.

*(In his book, Kaufman does not speak of transpositions directly, the book is basically his personal repertoire. He simply avoids transpositions in order to play his preferred openings.)

Next, I will offer some of my thoughts on Continuous Improvement.

Transposingly, Al (alfredjwood)

Queen Hunt

In my games on ChessManiac.com, I have been engaged in four Queen Hunts in just the past two months. I want to show how players give up their queens in hopes that this will be useful to ChessManiac.com players.

One of these games is the most interesting game that I have played in years. In this game BOTH of the players were on a queen hunt! My opponent was my Aussie friend, Gasparking. Here is the description of these simultaneous hunts:

Chessmaniac Game #6013336,
Gasparking vs. alfredjwood

White Black
1. d4 d5
2. c4 e6
3. a3 … Best here is probably 3. Nc3; White seems concerned with preventing Blacks occupation of b4. However, this ‘preventive’ move concedes Black a tempo.
3. … c6 The usual move is Nf6, but Black hesitated to make that move before White played Nf3. Two other moves, however, are both better: c5 or Nd7. (Given the position again, I would play Nd7. Al) As a result of the next few moves, an unusual pawn structure creates an unusual game.
4. c5 … Preparation for a queenside attack.
4. … e5 beginning an attack on the center.
5. e3 Be6 This is in contravention of Capablancas’ advice to capture with the Kings Pawn at every opportunity. (This is the first time I remember ignoring that advice. I was over-concerned with getting my Queens Knight into play without blocking in the Bishop. Al) These two (c6 and Be6) mispositions were instrumental in the pawn formation developed.
6. Nc3 Nd7 Still ignoring the pawn capture.
7. b4 … Preparing the queenside attack.
7. … g6 The Kings Knight needs e7, so the bishop will have to come out via the fianchetto.
8. Bd3 e4 Now, the pawns are locked!
9. Be2 …



Here is the point at which planning is essential. Looking at the board, the diagonal pawn lock is the dominant feature. White has control of the Queenside. His pieces will experience difficulty in getting to the Kingside. Black has control of the Kingside, his pieces will have difficulty in getting to the Queenside. In the absence of levers, only a sacrifice will open any of the central files. White must attack on the a- and b- files, creating a pass on the seventh and eighth ranks thru which he can flow to the Kingside. Black must attack on the f-, g- and h- files. Both sides must strike at the opponents pawn base (f2 and b7). Until some lines are opened, the bad White Bishop and the Rooks will be virtually unusable.

9. … Bg7
10. Bg4 … This move exchanges whites good bishop; it also provokes Black’s next move.
10. … Qg5
11. Bxe6 Qxg2
12. Bxd7 Kxd7
13. h3 Qxh1
14. Kf1 … The Black Queen has no escape square! Black has won the exchange and a pawn, but his queen is now consigned to inactivity. He must get some help to her. Both kings are out of position, White’s King should have been castled to the Queenside, and Black’s King should be in a protected position on the Kingside.

14. … Ne7
15. Qg4+ …



White has his queen in play, and the Black King is alone in the middle of the board. Whites problem is in getting help to his Queen. Meanwhile, the Black Queen is still in jail.

15. … Nf5 Although this move appears to be defensive; the Knight is on his way to rescue the maiden from the tower.
16. Qf4 … Visions of sugarplums dance in her head. White transitions to a queen sortie! He sees Qd6. However, the Black Queen cannot be interned indefinitely, White needs to get the Queens Knight into the attack on the Black Queen: Ne7-g6.
16. … h5 Now the hunt for the White Queen gets underway.
17. b5 … White begins the Queenside attack, belatedly. He may have too many goals now: nullifying the Black Queen, preserving his own Queen, and attacking on the other side of the board. The queenside attack and rescue of his own Queen may be seen as a single effort, but not enough time exists to also attack the enemy Queen because the free Knight is the only piece available for the job.

17. … Bh6
18. Qe5 … This is the only square available to the Queen! Both Queens are being hunted, but the pressure is lessening on the Black Queen.



18. … Rae8
19. Qf6 Rhf8 The door slams shut on the Queen.
20. Nxe5 … Banzai! The gallant knight rides to the rescue, but it simply delays the inevitable.
20. … cxd5
21. c6+ Kc7
22. Bd2 … Can White wriggle out?
22. … Re6 Another door slams shut!
23. b6+ axb6
24. Qxe6 Ng3+!
25. fxg3 fxe6+
26. Ke2 Qg2+ The former prisoner is now the attacker. White resigned.

Many Queen hunts begin early in the game, when the Queen comes down the board too early. I liken the Queen to an aircraft carrier. She is the most powerful weapon in the fleet. When the aircraft carrier goes into enemy waters, she always goes with escorts! Destroyer escorts engage enemy forces targeting the carrier. The queen, too, needs the protection of the minor pieces when she sallies forth. Here are the first moves of a recent game on ChessManiac.com, where the Queen comes out too soon, and escorts are left in port:

White Black
1. e4 e6
2. d4 Qh4 There are many good moves for Black, 2. … d5 is the most frequently played, but this Queen sortie is a major mistake. White begins the hunt, now, on only the third move of the game!
3. Nf3 Qxe4+



This is what Black wanted from the sortie; a pawn with check and with a possible attack on the rook. But White has a knight on the field, and now a bishop will come into play.
4. Be2 f6
5. Nc3 Qg4
6. 0-0 Bd6



At last, the Black escort appears; but it is already too late. White’s pieces control the field of play. The Black Queen moves that are used to capture a pawn and to evade capture result in a great advantage in development for White, because of tempo gain.
7. Ng5 Qh4
8. g3 Qh6 The lady is running out of space.
9. Bh5 g6



The Queen is lost.

10. Nxe6 dxe6
11. Bxh6
White loses two minor pieces in the skirmish, but ends up with the Queen and a winning position.



Sometimes the Queen hunt begins deep in the middle game; and sometimes saving the queen requires giving up material, space and time! Here is an excerpt from another recent ChessManiac.com game, this is the position after move 26:



White Black
27. Rh4 … White attacks. But d6 needs more protection, or the queen needs some escape.
27. … Bd3
28. Bc2 Rfd8 Blacks rooks support an attack on the queen by supporting c6, c7 and d6
29. Bxd3 Nxd3
White can temporarily save the queen by giving up a rook and allowing a strong attack by white by playing 29. … Rxd3, but he goes down swinging:
30. Rg3? Rc1+



The Queen is lost.

Today’s moral is: Treat your Queen with loving care, or she will elope with your rival! And be alert for a trapping opportunity if Her Majesty is separated from her escort; The Queen hunt forces the opponent to focus on saving the Queen, and you can exact tribute, in the form of development, tempo and sometimes material, for any attempted rescue. Al

The Ideal Square In Chess

In his book; Guide to Good Chess: First Steps to Fine Points (Purdy Series), J.S. Purdy offers four points for placing a piece on it’s “ideal square” in the opening:

1.The piece can go there in one move. Quick development is important. The first object of development is to clear your back line in as few moves as possible so you can get your rooks active. “The absurdity of these huge pieces locked away in corners never seems to strike the average player.”

2.The piece will be effectively posted there. “Effectively” initially means the piece will be bearing on the center, directly or indirectly.

3.The piece will not suffer from exposure. The most common exposure is moving your queen out too early. Generally move the queen only one square, to free the rooks. Generally, move the rooks to open files, or files likely to be opened, but keep them on the back rank in the opening.

4.The piece will not unduly obstruct any of its own forces. The most common example of this is playing d3 (…d6) before developing the f bishop and to avoid playing e3 (…e6) before developing the c bishop. It is usually wise to reserve c3 and f3 for the knights.

Purdy says that #3 is the most important. Exposed pieces on the chessboard allow the other side to attack those pieces while developing his own. Moves are used up protecting and retreating the exposed piece.

Here is an example of the third point in relation to the queen:

White Black
1. e4 e5
2. Qh5 … This is in violation of point 3. It is played by beginners, who envision a fast attack. They envision 2.g6 and the fork Qxe5+, winning a rook; and so they begin this attack on f7.
3. … Nc3 This is the antidote. Black secures e5.



4. Bc4 … Persisting in the attack on f7.
4. … g6 Now this move is effective, the Queen cannot take e5.



5. Qf3 … Still persisting on an “attack” on f7, White occupies f3 with his queen, denying the square to his knight!. He is now violating point four.
5. … Nf6 Blocking the Queen, developing a piece, preparing for castling, attacking e4 and supporting d5.



In five moves, Black has taken over. He has the initiative and a better position on the chessboard.

In this position, White cannot develop the Kings Knight to it’s best square (f3) without using an extra tempo. His center is under attack. Black is developing in accordance with points 1 and 2. Here we see White occupying the wrong square with his queen. Meanwhile, Black is occupying the ideal squares with his pieces.

Players encounter difficulties when they play randomly in the opening. The chess opening determines the later game, you don’t want to go into the middle or end game in poor positions. The problem is compounded when inexperienced players ‘try’ new chess openings.
They begin building a bad habit of never playing an opening often enough to fully understand it. Ideally, a player should play only one opening for a consecutive hundred games or so. In that time that player will learn many things, including:
1.What middle game and end games does this opening lead to? Are they satisfactory for me?
2.What is the defense played most often against this opening. Is this satisfactory, or should I avoid it?
3.What ‘chess traps’ exist in this chess opening? Are they favorable to me?
4.How difficult is it to learn all of the lines I may play against using this chess opening?
5.Can this chess opening be easily thwarted? If it is thwarted can I, or need I transform?

When playing the chosen opening with the White pieces, It will take many chess games in order to grasp the flow of the game. First, a player should not try an opening with the thought of ‘winning’ with it! Remember, you are learning and you will make errors. The number of errors you make is unimportant. What is important is MAKING EACH ERROR ONLY ONCE! Learn from your mistakes. In time, you will be familiar with every error that could be made, and you will no longer make them. You will be on your way to becoming expert in that opening. To find your glaring errors, simply analyze each game you lose. To find smaller errors, get someone to analyze the game for you!

I suggest picking only one chess opening to play with White. Observe the chessboard closely on every move of that opening, the chess opening is like a puppy; it will do strange things from time to time – but you must accept ownership of it.

The problem will be handling all of the most probable defenses. As you play your opening, you will encounter and learn them all. FIND THE ONE THAT GIVES YOU THE MOST TROUBLE AND STUDY IT! Make this opening the first opening you play with Black, and play it with black at every opportunity. You may see ways of improving your game with White when you play against it, and you will have a synergistic situation.

As an example, if you chose 1. e4 because you enjoy tactical play, (and there are fewer difficult lines than with d4/Nc3/c4;) you will need to know how to play against a number of different responses. At first, you need only look at two major responses (which you may find in 80% of your games! They are e5 and c5. There are many good chess openings you can play after 1. e4 e5, so you should pick an objective: Perhaps the Ruy Lopez (Spanish Game), or the Giuoco Piano, or a gambit.

However, after 1. e4 c5 you will face the Sicilian Defense. You must have a plan for that contingency. I chose the Morra Gambit because it avoided all of the deep analysis of other lines, and it gave me the open, tactical game I enjoyed.

The defense that gave me the most difficulty when I began was the Berlin Defense. I made the Berlin my Black defense against e4. (If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em). As I played it my White game improved, as I played the Ruy against the Berlin, my black game improved. The Berlin can transform into the Two Knights in some cases. Since the Two Knights is a very effective defense against the Giuoco, I took this as my second defense against e4.

This is the way a successful repertoire is built, not by trying out the latest fads, but by persisting in improving your existing opening. You can be a jack of all and master of none, or you can be an expert at the few you will need. I always recommend that a player firm his white opening before looking at any black opening. Here on Chessmaniac, you can look for regular games where you only play white. Later, when your white opening is such that you can keep the most favorable lines for more than five moves, you can just play Black for a while with your chosen Black opening. In all, your starting repertoire should consist of one white opening and two black openings, one against e4 and one against d4/c4/Nf3.

My repertoire began with only three openings, one playing white and two playing black. I recommend the method.

Persistence is the great conqueror. At first, you learn the opening for five to eight moves in all major variations, then you begin to learn deeper. I can go ten to fifteen moves with familiarity in my openings. A Master may go twenty or more moves with familiarity of all variations and deviations to that point. I cannot do it with EVERY opening! Only with MY openings. Don’t play a different chess opening just because Anand wins with it. You are NOT Anand! He doesn’t win because he has a superior opening. He wins because he is Anand.

Case in point: Bogolyubov famously said: “I win with White because I am White. I win with Black because I am Bogolyubov!”

Your confidence will increase as you win with YOUR opening. Do not be discouraged by your early losses when trying your opening. Losses are normal with unfamiliar material. Your winning percentage will increase as the depth of knowledge of your opening increases. There is a natural tendency to abandon an opening because of poor results; the poor results are not because of the opening, they are because of habits that you have that you must overcome. Do you think that great bowlers kept changing lanes in order to score better? Do you think that they kept changing balls? Or, do you think they threw their share of gutter balls at first, and gradually picked up some spares and strikes as they built their habits. It is practice that builds skill. You can master nothing without practice. Babe Ruth struck out more than 3000 times, but he never stopped swinging.

In general, I have learned these things about openings:

1.It is best to get a pawn into the center in order to begin control of the center and to open lines by providing one of the bishops and the queen good lines on which to come into play.

2.A second pawn will need to be moved somewhere in the opening, in order to get the second bishop into play, but it can usually wait until the knights are developed. Avoid too many pawn moves; pawn move effect future positions.

3.The knights usually belong on f3/f6 and c3/c6. If you develop the protecting knight, or attacking knight when a pawn is in the center, you may save tempo. Keep the knights off the edge of the board; “a knight on the rim is dim.”

4.The first three pieces developed are normally the knights and the king’s bishop.

5.Remember that once a pawn is moved, it cannot go back. The pawns are initially needed for protection of the planned kings position, for preparing to control the center, and for clearing lines for the line-going pieces (particularly the rooks.) Also consider their positioning for an endgame. It’s easy for a pawn to be moved to a bad square, one that hurts your position.

6.In the opening, rooks remain on the rear rank. It is important to connect them by getting the other pieces out of their way. The rooks will go to an open file, so be patient until you know which files are likely to open; you want to avoid moving a rook twice to get it on the right file.

7.In general, the queen should only be developed to the second rank in the opening. Taking her downfield too soon can result in losses of tempo and sometimes material. e2 and c2 are the squares that are normally friendly to the queen and give her some range.

8.When you select an opening, note which pieces are important to the position that will be reached, and what the pawn structure should look like.

9.Every tactical opportunity should be considered in light of the value of the pieces in that opening. As you gain experience in an opening you will see the traps and the combinations that come from the positioning of pieces and pawns.

10.The greatest value in knowing the opening better than the opponent is that your opponent may trade a valuable piece that he will need later for attack or defense. You will not make that mistake. He may place a pawn in a position that hinders his later play. You will not make that mistake, either.

11.I think of the beginning of the middle game as the real opening. I see the opening as an opportunity to position pawns and pieces for a strong tactical middle game. When you know your opening really well, you can visualize the position that will transit to the middle game.

12.You may still be in your opening when your opponent gets into his middle game. You are out of the opening when a deviation from your known lines occurs. At first, this can happen on the second , third, or fourth move! As you learn the opening through the eighth move in all variations, your opponent may run out of opening on the fourth move and must now begin a middle game. Obviously, it is better to know what is happening than to it is to wonder what is happening. REMEMBER: When you do not know the next move in an opening, you are then in the middle game!

13.When you know your opening, you will expect certain moves by your opponent. When the opponent deviates from your expectation, you must pause and see if it is a solid line or if he has made an error. Even a slight mispositioning can create later difficulties. A deviation from expectation is an alarm! Take time considering your response. Most deviations in the opening result in inaccurate positioning.

14.Keep in mind that there are three elements in the opening, as in the body of the game: Material Force, Time (tempo), and Space. Do not give up any part of these three without good compensation.

Here is an illustrative example of a middle game position reached from a given opening. Examine the Force, the Time, and the Space of the two sides. These were gained or relinquished in the opening. This is a Morphy variation of the Ruy Lopez. Here is the position after White’s sixteenth move:



Do you think that both players are happy with their positions?
Do you feel that White is comfortable and may have foreseen this position?
Do you feel that Black is comfortable and may have foreseen this middlegame position?
Material is almost even, White has an extra pawn.
White has more space. His pawns do not block his bishop and there are holes in blacks pawn structure that will allow white’s bishop great mobility.
The Black bishop is restricted by the White pawns and the black piece placement.
There is only one open file, and Black has a rook at the base. Whites rooks can more easily bring their combined force onto a single file.

Here is the rest of the game, if you have an interest. The middle game is very short. So is the endgame.:

16. … Nd7 Heading to e5?
17. Bg5 … Attacking the Black rook on d8, who is a virtual prisoner of his own pieces, he has less space than any of his pawns. His value would be negligible, if the file were not so important.
17 … Nf6 Back to his previous square, entering a self-pin in order to block the bishops’ diagonal.
18. c4 h6
19. Bd2 Nd7 The knight movement has created tempo for White, who already has the initiative, the space and the force advantages.
20. Bc3 Ne5 At last, the knight reaches his desired square.
21. Red1 Nxd3 Certainly Black needs to reduce the power directed at his position. Ideally, the knight would rather be traded for White’s bishop; but the bishop is too mobile to be caught by the knight.
22. Rxd3 g6
23. Rad1 … White wants to control the square d5, with a subsequent breakthrough.
23 … Kc7 Holding d6
24. c5 Black resigns.

Here we could see the good bishop vs. the bad bishop, the pawn structure resulting from this opening, black’s lack of space, and his gifts of tempo.

Invest now in your game. Choose a single white opening and play it every time! Analyze each of your losses to see where you can improve the next time you face that position. Once you know your white opening for five or more moves in every major variation, you can start on your two black defenses. You can keep your repertoire short while improving your game dramatically.

Choose your openings carefully, you want an opening you can continue to play with for a long time. Good Chessing! Al

Play chess for free!

Playing the board, not the piece. An example of playing the lines and squares.

In my first games on Chessmaniac I played against some fine new players. Here is a player whose elo was listed as 13xx, but he played at a much higher level!

The Game is a Morra Gambit, accepted. When I first played chess I preferred open games, so I played 1. e4. I was usually met with e5. In time, as my level grew and my opponents became stronger, I began to increasingly meet 1. e4 with c5, the Sicilian. Soon, the Sicilian was being played against me in more than 50% of my games. The problem I faced was in trying to learn all of the lines and variations. The Sicilian has more lines and variations than any other chess opening I know! I felt it would take me years to learn to play against it effectively. I eventually learned that this is typical, and it caused me to develop a particular repertoire in order to continue my growth as a player.

In developing that repertoire, I needed a weapon against the Sicilian, something to take Black out of his favorite variations and into a line with which he may not be at home. I found the Morra. (It was originally called the Morphy Gambit!) I liked it because it gave me a lasting initiative, it took my opponent out of his pet line, it was a violently attacking offense, and it was not known well by most players. I call the Morra the “Anti-Sicilian”, and play it routinely against the Sicilian, as you can see from my games. It normally generates a fine queenside attack, with open lines.

Playing white in the Morra, it is essential to focus on certain lines and squares. I will help focus on them during this discussion of the game.

Now, to the game, keep your eye on the board, not on the pieces. Note that the emphasis is not on moves, it is on maintaining an initiative and improving the board in favor of White:

White Black
alfredjwood deep56

1. e4 c5 The Sicilian! A fine defense!
2. d4 … The Morra Gambit.
2. … cxd4 The Morra Gambit Accepted.
3. c3 dxc3
4. Nxc3 … Let’s take our first look at the situation: White has a knight developed, and open lines for his two bishops and queen. Black has a pawn.



4. … e6 The two major continuations for black are e6 or d6, e6 is played most often.
5. Nf3 Nc6 Normal.
6. Bc4 …

Let’s look at this, a typical position:



White has developed both knights and a bishop, his remaining bishop and his queen can develop in one move each. He holds d5! d5 is one of the critical squares in this opening. Black’s d-pawn is backward, allowing d5 as an outpost or pivot point for white. Black has developed one knight.

6. … a6 This is a necessary move, but it is premature. Black is behind in development and should attend to his development first. In the Morra the key squares are usually on the queenside: d5, b5, and e5. Other squares which become important with normal development are b6 and c7. White will be playing to control the key squares. This move, a6, disputes the key square b5, but it may be premature.
7. Qe2 … The queen must come to e2 or c2 in order to vacate d1 for the occupation of the kings rook after castling. White’s two rooks will play to control the open c and d files. In similar positions, Qe2 is correct unless there is good reason for Qc2.
7. … d6 This is a typical position in this opening. Black is playing the opening well.
8. 0-0 … The first step in bringing the rook to the important e-file, where it will pin the black e-pawn against the black queen.
8. … Be7 A developing move, but perhaps Nf6 is stronger, disputing d5 and attacking e4.
9. Rd1 … The rook seizes the d-file, pinning the black d-pawn against his queen.



9. … b5 This is the first inaccuracy by black. Still, it is often played by strong players. White now has a target on the key square b5.
10. Bb3 Qc7 This is a good square for the black queen. The pin on the d-file is relieved and the queen is developed.
11. Bf4 … This develops the bishop, and pins the black d-pawn against the queen on the b8-h2 diagonal!



11. … Bb7 Black brings the queens bishop into play, striking at d5 should the c6 knight move. In the game Whitby vs. Basman in 1962 (Whitby was the Under-18 British champion), Black played Ne5 and subsequently lost the game. The square d5 must be contested because of its importance.
12. Rac1 … This is a typical position of the white pieces in this opening. Let’s look at it:



Whites pieces are all active. The rooks hold the c and d files, bishop, knight, rook and pawn hold d5, bishop and knight dispute e5. Queen and knight dispute b5. All critical squares are covered by white. Black’s position looks solid, but appearances are deceiving.

12. … e5 A typical move. Black must try to gain some center. Unfortunately, it results in a backward pawn on d6, and removes a defender from e5!
13. Nd5 … With this move, white occupies the outpost d5. This occupation restricts blacks options, and the knight strikes at important squares in the black position. Except as a defender of the castled position, a knight is normally offensively weaker than a bishop when it is on the first three ranks, but a knight becomes stronger than a bishop when it reaches the fifth rank! An outpost for the knight on the fifth or sixth ranks is highly desirable.
13. … Qd8 The queen returns to the home square. White has gained tempo from this double Queen move.
14. Be3 … Joining the knight on the strike on b6.
14. … Rc8 Disputing the c-file.
15. a4 … Beginning an attack on b5. Remember, this is a critical square in this opening.

15. … Nf6 The knight comes into play, disputing d5 and attacking e4.
16. axb5 … Beginning the attack on the queenside with the assault on the key square.
16. … Na5
17. bxa6 … Continuing the assault.
17. … Nxb3
18. Qb5+ … The beginning of the end. White controls the critical lines and squares. Let’s look at the position:



18. … Qd7
19. axb7 Nxc1
20. Nxf6 Bxf6
21. bxc8(Q)+

An example of the need to see the board, not the piece: to play the board, not the piece.
My compliments and appreciation to Deep56 for an interesting and enjoyable game!
Al
Play Free Online Chess

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE INITIATIVE IN CHESS

In chess, there are two basic principles that must be respected:
1.Without blunders, only the attacker can win the game. A game is always won by an attack. As long as your opponent is attacking you are occupied by parrying that attack.
2.Only the player with the initiative can successfully attack! The player that does not have the initiative can often bring forth a sortie, but in order to gin up a successful attack the player must have the initiative.

Couple this thinking with the fact that white has an initiative by virtue of the first move. Thus, white is favored to win. He will win if he can hold the initiative. He can lose if he loses the initiative. In many games the initiative changes hands, sometimes it changes often: perhaps because it is not respected; or because both players value it and fight for it.

Statistically, White wins 54% of games decided, Black wins 46% of those games. It seems clear that White has an 8% advantage due to the first move! This is the initiative with which White begins the game. There are two ways that White can lose the initiative:
First, he can voluntarily trade a unit of time (tempo) for a unit of power (pawn or piece). We see this in gambits, and sometimes in sacrifices.
Second, he can make unnecessary moves that allow Black to gain tempo. We usually see this when white makes unnecessary “preventive” moves, the most common being a3 or h3 denying b4 or g4 to Blacks’ pieces, when it is not clear that black wants to place his pieces on those squares. In other words, making moves that require no specific response by Black.

This works both ways, Black can also give up valuable tempo with unnecessary “preventive” moves. If, however, the move is made at the right time, no tempo is lost. That is; if Black waits for White to pin his Knight on f6 with the bishop, and then plays h6, that pawn move now requires a responding move by White, and no tempo is lost. The most common “good” preventive move I see is a6 by Black in the Morra gambit. In this case, denying White the b5 square is prudent and often essential. Still, if it is premature, White can collect a penalty.

With these thoughts, I believe that any plan in the play of the game must include either maintaining an initiative, or seizing the initiative.

The initiative is a result of tempo. If we can gain tempo in a game we can seize or buttress an initiative. Although our opponent can voluntarily yield the initiative, he will do so less frequently as his playing strength increases. However, it is common to trade one element for another: a player can trade any of the following three elements, which are at play in a game of chess:
a)Force/power. Force can often be directly related to power. We can discuss the concept of force and power in a later piece, but the player with the greater force has an advantage. Power is the material advantage; Force is the kinetic application of power.
b)Space. The player that controls the most space has a distinct advantage. Space depends on holding lines and squares. We can look into this concept in a subsequent piece.
c)The principle of Time: This is the key to improving most games. Time is conserved by moving pieces to their best square on the initial move of the piece, or as early as possible in the game, and then making moves which carry a threat causing our opponent to defend. Remember, only the attacker can win, if we play with threat, our opponent is occupied with meeting that threat and cannot easily gain the initiative.

We refer to a unit of time as a tempo. We can lose tempo if we move the same piece twice in the opening. Or by making an unnecessary move. We can gain tempo by achieving two or more objectives on the same move.

A solid initial plan in any game is to own the initiative, forcing the opponent to respond to threats and allowing the optimum positioning of our force. With White we want to hold the initiative, and to prevent our opponent from seizing the initiative. With Black we want to wrest the initiative from White. Although this concept itself is simple, in play it can be quite difficult. If we play a gambit, and our opponent accepts that gambit, he will use a move to capture that could have been used to improve his position. That gives us tempo. He has traded a unit of power for a unit of time. He will have an extra pawn or piece, but he will have given us time by the capture.

If our opponent uses two moves to get a piece to the best square, he has donated a tempo to us. When playing black, it makes sense to play openings that give the opponent a strong opportunity to yield a tempo.

My own games are more often won by Time than by material! I am often behind in material when I mate or my opponent resigns. Think of it this way: A street lamp can use 200 watts to light a circle on the ground directly below that is usually less than eight meters in diameter. An automobile headlamp uses about 40 watts to light the roadway 50 meters ahead. The difference is focus, creation of a beam aimed on an objective. In chess, Force is focused. (Power is static, Force is kinetic).
It takes time (tempo) to bring power into an attack and become translated, through focus, into Force. Concentrated Force wins!

Although the opportunity to gain tempo exists throughout the game, the easiest way to see it is by looking at openings. Let’s first look at a few gambits played by white. Here are three common gambits:
The oldest is probably the Kings Gambit: 1. e4 e5, 2. f4 exf4. Here we have the kings gambit accepted. Black has lost one tempo. White has a center pawn, black has none. White has given up a pawn (Power) for the opportunity to make an extra move (Tempo).
Then, look at the Danish gambit: 1. e4 e5, 2. d4 exd4, 3. c3 dxc3, etc. White has again yielded material in order to gain tempo (and, in both cases, Space as well).
In some cases, the tempo is gained by black. In the Semi-Slav, the white bishop often moves twice in the opening in order to reach a good square: 1. d4 d5, 2. c4 e6, 3. Nc3 c6, 4. e3 Nd2, 5. Nf3 Nf6, 6. Bd3 dxc4! Now, after 7. Bxc4 b5!



White must retreat the bishop to d3, giving black a tempo, having moved the bishop three times. Add to this the easy development of Black’s queen bishop on the queenside, nullifying the block on e6, and Black has taken away the initiative with which White began the game. Black may gain a successful queenside attack without exceptional moves. Still, Black has kingside opportunities as well and a solid defensive position until the attack can be generated.

The Two Knights defense is an attack in disguise. Black often comes out of the opening with an initiative. In a similar sense; the Berlin defense appears passive/defensive, but is like a coiled spring. The Berlin pawn structure hampers White, and Black has the bishop pair with which to utilize the initiative, once gained. When I was young I liked the Sicilian Dragon for the ‘coiled spring’ effect against an impatient opponent. The French can work the same way, but requires the patience of a Saint or a Steinitz!

As an example of seizing the initiative with Black, I offer the following game. This game was played in 2007. I played Black. I have not asked the other player to reveal his identity.

White alfredjwood
1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 Nc6
3. Bc4 Nf6


The Two Knights defense is a favorite of mine because I believe that it gives Black an early opportunity to seize the initiative. This is a decisive point for White. He can play to gain a pawn by 4. Ng5, or he can play to hold the initiative with 4. e4. Both moves are good. If he goes for the pawn (Ng5), however, he can yield the initiative!

4. Ng5 d5
5. exd5 Na5
6. Bb5+ c6 (Bd7 is also good)
7. dxc6 bxc6
8. Qf3 Rb8 The pawn can be protected by Qc7 or Bd7, or a counter-attack can be made by h6. I believe the White knight will return to f3 without disrupting the kingside pawns and the initiative is more likely to come to Black by getting the rook onto an open file.


9. Bxc6+ Nxc6
10. Qxc6+ Nd7
11. d3 Be7.


The initiative has passed to Black, at a cost of two pawns. I continue with the game to show use of the initiative. In many of my games it takes 15 moves or more before the initiative is seized.

12. Nf3 0-0
The moves by the white knight and the quest for a pawn have resulted in a position where white has succeeded in gaining two pawns, but at a terrible price: All of Black’s pieces are mobilized, White has four pieces still requiring development, and has the White Queen afield.

23. Nc3 …
Not a good move. It develops the knight to it’s natural square but allows it to be pinned, and neglects the queen which can come under attack by four (!) Black pieces. Withdrawing the queen may have been more prudent.

13. … Rb4
This allows Bb7 without blocking the rook. At this post, the rook takes away three escape squares from the White Queen, and holds the b-file. The Queen hunt is on!

14. Nd5 Bb7
15. Nxe7+ Qxe7
16. Qc3 …
The Queen retreats to the only available square.


16. … Rc8
17. Qd2 …
There is no choice. The c1 bishop is blocked, locking in the a1 rook. Black is gaining space from his initiative.

17. … e4
Black plays to open the board for the attack.

18. Qe2 Rxc2
19. Qe3 …
Obviously, White cannot take the invading rook, but the e5 pawn remains pinned.


19. … Nf6
Black protects the pawn a fourth time, and positions the knight to attack the White Queen.


20. Nd2 Nd5
21. Qxe4
Strange as it seems, the Queen must give herself up. There is no better move. With five marauding pieces, a protected king, and the attacking e-pawn, Black has a won game.

The remainder of the game is simple mechanics, and of little interest.

If you are just beginning to play chess, I urge you to use the opening to get each piece to its’ ideal square in one move. Your opponent, if he is a beginner, will squander a move or two early in the game. A player at 1500 elo will give up the equivalent of a pawn in the first fifteen moves. Early attempts at mate work with beginners, but as your skill grows you will find that you are playing opponents who know how to turn your early attempts into tempo for themselves. The Fool’s Mate, the Shepherd’s Mate, the Fegatello attack, even the Fried Liver, are all easily rebuffed by an experienced player and result in his acquisition of tempo, and consequently, the initiative.

When you don’t know the ideal square, move the pieces where best placement is known. The placement of Knights are generally known first, then one or both of the bishops. By this time perhaps the placement of a rook or the queen may be known. Let your opponent move his pieces while you calmly configure the board.

Still, you must respect each move. Think of the move not as putting a piece, think instead of improving the board in your favor. Do not surrender the initiative, and play to seize the initiative if you do not hold it.

Al
Play Free Online Chess

CHESS TALENTS

There are three major skills in chess. If we possess one of the three we can play chess. If we possess two of the three we can play chess well. If we possess all three, to a high degree, we will become expert at the game. These, like all other skills, are honed with practice or ‘calisthenics’. Let’s look at each of the three, briefly.

First is memory. Playing mental games often hones memory, but few of us will use more than a tenth of this ability in our lifetime. In chess, the openings require memory. What is important is not memorizing the moves, but in memorizing the position arrived at by the moves. Let’s look at an example: A few months ago one of my students wrote and told me that he wanted to play the Semi-slave with Black; but his opponents were taking him out of the opening. He pointed to a game where the moves were: 1. d4 d5, 2. Nf3. He was looking for the move 2. c4, to which he would have responded 2. … e6. Because he was looking at the moves and not at the positions, he could be shunted aside by an unexpected move.

I wrote back, explaining that the ‘starting’ position of the Semi-slav could be arrived at by NINE DIFFERENT PATHS! In other words, if he had looked forward to the position, and not looked at the moves, he could have arrived at the desired position without distraction. Try it yourself. Here are the moves that lead to the desired position:
1.d4 d5, 2. c4 e6, 3. Nc3 c6, 4Nf3 Nf6.
There are eight other move orders that will reach this position. Can you find them? The key move is the timing of White’s Nf3. On that move, black must play Nf6. The sequence can be picked up after Nf6.
Here is that position:

Set up the desired position, then when you see an opponent move “out of order”, you can visualize the desired position rather than memorizing a series of moves.p

The only way to excel at end-games is to memorize the position. The same endgame can occur from a multitude of openings! Memorizing moves is almost useless. Even in the simplest endings, errors are made because one of the players does not recognize the position. Here is the most basic example:


With white to move, he must simply keep the opposition with 1. Kc3. Then, if 1. … kb4, 2. Kb3, kc4, Ka4. The position desired is:


If we simply can picture the end in our memory, the moves are simple. Here are the rules of the moves: a) The white king must control the square directly in front of the pawn, so that the black king cannot control it. b) The first move of the pawn can be to the third rank or the fourth rank, depending on favorable opposition. Just play it through a few times, and you will see the pattern and know the winning and losing positions when they appear on the board. Black can prevent the pawn from queening if he attains vertical opposition at the instant that white’s king is on the square in front of the pawn. The black king then may simply stay in front of either the king or the pawn and the pawn cannot queen.

Use your memory to memorize the board, not the moves. Your game can improve dramatically. Let’s look at a variation of the Noah’s Ark in the Spanish Game:

White has just captured the pawn: Nxd4. It is Black’s move.
The winning move is simply 1. … Nxd4, 2. Qxd4, 2. Pc5, followed by Pc4 winning the bishop. If White had simply committed the Noah’s Ark to his memory, he would have played differently. It is not the moves, it is the position that must be known.

Next is Reason and Logic: This is the ability to solve puzzles, to calculate a series of moves, to determine what the opponent has in mind. It is a vital part of the game. A world champion once said that the opening required reason and logic, but the middle game required observation. Picture a game in which you have a rook and your opponent has two knights and a bishop. Reasoning will tell you that you have a draw if you simply exchange the rook for the bishop. Two knights cannot mate and the game is a draw. Now you must see the way to make the exchange. If your opponent interposes the bishop to block check, you have your draw. If your opponent allows a skewer, where the bishop is behind the king on the same rank or file on which you can check, the king must move, and you exchange for the bishop or simply take the bishop. You can decide whether you want an open game or a closed game by your choice of opening, the choice depends on your reasoning. You can decide whether to accept or decline a gambit; that’s logic and reasoning. Here is a little example of logic to gain a win:

Use logic and your power of reasoning: White to move. Which is the better move for white, 1. Rg6, or 1. Ng6?

The third ability is perception through observation. I believe that improving observation is the quickest way to improve the player’s game. Opponents often tell me: “I missed your move.” When a blunder occurs, is it because of some reason other than failure to see it? Do you see you’re your own blunders before you make them? I watch players depend on mistakes by their opponents, at the same time that the opponent is depending on a mistake by his opponent! That may work up until elo 1700, but after that the game of He Who Depends On Blunders is compromised. With good perception, you can see the potentials and possibilities being missed by your opponent! You can see what is normally overlooked! You can relate the normally unrelated.

The difficulty is that the eyes of the beginning player are not tuned to the board, they are tuned to the piece. He moves pieces; he should be using the move to improve the board in his favor. To do that he needs to see the board, not the piece. Unfortunately, when we study chess we do so from game scores rather than from pictures of the board. Thus, Be4 draws our eyes to the bishop. Our eyes should be drawn to e4! When a young player’s hand hovers over a piece, I know he has not yet seen the board. Many years ago I removed blunders from my game by following four simple steps: After my opponent moves, I ask myself:
1.What lines on the board just opened as a result of that move? How does this affect the position?.
2.What lines on the board have closed as a result of that move?. How does this affect the position?
3.What squares is that piece now aimed at that were not aimed at by the piece prior to the move? How does this affect the position?
4.What squares have been released by that move? How does that affect the position.
Students resist this discipline. They believe that they already see everything. They also believe that it takes too much time during the game. I usually try to teach it during analysis.

The fact is that it only takes time when you first start doing it. Any new behavior takes time. As a player does this, the time required speeds up! I have no difficulty performing this on every move and still make time controls. At first, I needed more time. I believe that blitz chess requires good memory, sound reasoning, and thorough observation. I cannot do it in blitz chess, so I do not play blitz. I do not want to build a habit that will hurt my normal games.

How often does a player go wrong intuitively? Things are not always what they seem. Here is a sample of observation by a great master. The game is Taimanov-Kusminich, 1950.

White to move. If you are distracted by the pieces, you can miss the squares, files, and diagonals! Watch as open lines magically appear!
Here is the game from this point:
1. N-g6 N-h7, 2. Rxe6 Pxe6, 3. Qxd8+ QxQ, 4. Bxe6++
Did you visualize this mating position? At each move, did you see the changes to the board?

Train yourself to become an observer, not just a spectator. It is worth the effort if you intend to increase your elo. It is the thing that can break a plateau, a ceiling, that a chessplayer has reached.

Alfred J. Wood

Play Free Online Chess at ChessManiac.com

In Online Chess You Must Plan Your Play And Play your Plan Part 2

I discussed many ideas in the previous article; if any of those ideas don’t seem clear, take your time, work through them. There is no reason to rush through this course. If I talk about a position, set it up on your chess board; Look at it on the screen. Take your time and make sure you understand the idea of my plan. Remember, in general, when you are studying chess, if your brain hurts, if you are pushing yourself, you’re stretching your mind, then you are learning. If you are just playing through variations, if you don’t strain to try to understand subtleties of the position, then you are not going to be learning. Basically, you are going to get out of chess as much as you put into it.

One of my teammates has asked me some questions related to my first piece. Here is his message:

I am curious to find out how you determine a plan. I know that the opening is the main factor in determining a plan, but after each side has done their best possible moves how do you determine a plan after you’ve developed your opening?
It seems that it is hard to make a plan that remains consistent throughout the game, which brings me to the basic question, what types of attacks are there and how can you recognize an attack like queenside attack based on early to mid game positions? I ask these questions in a game where there are no immediate advantages or obvious gains. An example opening that I have difficulty with is the four knights game which is exactly even. I am able to recognize attacks based on weak positions but I find it hard to maintain that plan when the best move is employed by my opponent. What type of plan would you go with on this type of opening? I sometimes find myself just trading off pieces with no endgame objective and a mess of pawns to clean up. How can I overcome these problems? Thanks.

I found that the answers could be of much help to other players on chessmaniac.com, so please read it patiently. If you have any comments, feel free to share with me…


It will be easier if you think of a plan as a wish, something that you want to happen. As an example, in the Morra Gambit (1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Nxc3), white's initial plan is to quickly develop all of the pieces. Then Black's d-pawn should be backward. It is on d6 and cannot be defended with another pawn because the c-pawn has been exchanged and the e-pawn will be on e5.
This is the resulting position in the main line of the Morra Gambit; it appears after (4…Nc6 5.Nf3 d6 6.Bc4 e6 7.0-0 Be7 8.Qe2 Nf6 9.Rd1 e5 10.Be3 0-0 11.Rac1).



Note that black cannot force an exchange of the knight vs. bishop by playing 11…Na5 because of 12.Nxe5! Black cannot capture the knight by the d-pawn because it is pinned to his queen.

Therefore, white's logical plan is: Hold d5 square so black's weak pawn cannot advance, keep pressure on the d-file with the h-rook on d1. Use the d5 square as an outpost. When the attack comes, use it to transfer forces to the side of the board where they will be needed. Force black to defend this weak d-pawn, tying up his forces; not capturing the pawn until it is tactically favorable to do so. The normal attack from this position is Queenside, using b5 as well as d5 for positioning of the minor pieces.


The decision to attack kingside or queenside is made by either pawn position, piece position or both. In an unbalanced pawn front, as occurs in many opening where one side (we will say White) has three pawns on each side of the board and the other side (we will say Black) has two pawns on one side and four on the other, it will be natural for either players to attack on the side with the pawn majority. This is always an attempt to force a passed pawn, although it sometimes leads to a mating attack when it occurs on the kingside.

Although, the minority attack is often used, this is to restrain the majority and make it more difficult to establish a passed pawn. The overall plan in this case deals with gaining or preventing a passed pawn.

Most of the gambits are played with the plan of developing quickly and attacking the kingside. The f-pawn is a usual target. Look at a typical King's Gambit and White's plan is very clear: Attack f7 before Black can get the king to safety. It depends on development and tempo.

Some themes for plans are:
a. Opening the board or closing the board. This depends on several factors:
First, which side do open lines favor? Second, which side does time favor? Third, is the player Steinitzian or Morphian? Which does the player prefer, a tactical game or a positional game?
b. The passed pawn. Gaining a passed pawn is a huge step toward winning.
c. The two bishops. The two bishops on an open board are much more powerful than any other minor piece combination.
d. Attack on the king; Bringing about a position that enables a successful attack on the King's position.
e. Weakening the pawn structure; Creating doubled or isolated pawns, opening lines to the opposing king.

I base my plan primarily on pawn structure, when faced with an equal adversary. When faced with a weaker adversary I base the plan on rapid development, and continuous attack.

Here is what I look for in pawn structure:
1. Opening lines. I want open files for my rooks. The opening determines which pawns will exchange and therefore the square on which I should place a rook.
It's easy in gambits: Kings Gambit, the f-file will open, so my h-rook goes quickly to f1. In the Morra gambit, the c-file and the d-file will open, so my rooks jump to d1 and c1 quickly.
In closed games, I pick the file I want to open, this becomes my PLAN.
Once the file is open, I want to do two things: first, get both rooks on a file or adjacent open files. Second, transfer the rooks to the seventh or eighth files. That becomes my plan.
I want open diagonals for my bishop(s). If I have one bishop and my opponent has a bishop of the opposite color, I want to use my pawns to trap it or to block it. I prefer blocking an opposing bishop with his own pawns, where possible. Where I have the bishop pair and my opponent does not, I want to trade off the entire center pawns to open up the board for the bishops. This becomes my plan.

2. If there is a weakness in the opponent's position, wear it down. An example is the backward pawn.

Here is a less obvious example from the Rossolimo variation of the Sicilian defense: (I played this game few years ago in a local rapid tournament, I was white) 1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Bb5 g6 4.Bxc6 bxc6 5.d3 Bg7



The Black bishop enjoys a fine diagonal and it is the only piece Black has developed. The plan now is to restrict this bishop:
6.f4! White must now strengthen his center, leaving his knight on g2. This interferes with early castling.
6...e6? (a strategic suicide! d6 is better because it somehow prevents e5 by white).
7.e5 Our plan has succeeded, the bishop is restrained. Now we can consolidate the position and attack on the queenside! The Black kingside knight and bishop are out of the action and the Black king remains in the center. Black's center pawns block his pieces.
7...d5 8.Nf3 a5?! (a dubious move; black is ignoring his development by trying to get space on the queenside. Much better was 8...Ne7 preparing short castle.)
9. Na4! (This is the most direct way to punish black for his immature play. Nimzowitch says: "First restrain, then blockade, finally destroy." Black has totally lost the strategic battle, so it is time to bust him up. )
9... Qe7 10.c4 Ba6 11.b3 h6



It is very interesting that only after making 11 moves, black is now in huge trouble! White to move, can you find the best move here?

Note that black's c5 pawn is very weak. It is defended only by his queen and cannot be defended once again right away. It is also attacked by my knight on a4; so if I can add another attacker to it, I will win it. You found the right move?
Yes, 12.Ba3 with a winning position. My opponent resigned after a few moves.

3. A strong pawn center can provide a winning plan.
Here is such a plan developed on move #16:



(This is from Sakaev vs. Belov, Krasnoyarsk 2003.)

16.f5!! Brilliant; White gives the knight in order to consolidate his center pawns!
16...exd4, 17.cxd4 Now, the center is imposing!
17. ... Rfe8, 18. f6 Bf8, Qc1!



Now, white plans: Bh6, Bxf8, Qh6, Qg7#.


4. Restricting an opponent is a good plan. Here is a position seen in a match of Carlsen vs. Malakhov, 2005:



Here it is Black to move. The position appears peaceful, but black must achieve the c6-c5 advance in order to prevent a bind on the queenside.

10...Nbd7, This appears to be a reasonable move, but the c-pawn requires Black's attention. Even a sacrifice by c5 immediately is only a temporary sacrifice and frees up Blacks' position.
11.e4 Nb6 12.Bf4 Be6 13.Qc2 Bc4 14.Rfd1 Rc8 15.Rac1 Bxe2 16.Qxe2



White's options include:
1. Pressure along the c-file, attack the backward c-pawn with doubled rooks and
Ne5, Exploit the hole on c5 by putting a knight on it. Notice that we cannot do both of the latter two. We must choose.
2. Pawn advance in the center: e4-e5 would drive the knight from f6, strengthening a white king-side attack, clear the way for Ne4 and Nc5 to exploit c5, lessen the scope of the bishop on g7.
3. Direct attack on the kingside: advance h4-h5 to open the h file and undermine g6, challenge the defensive bishop with Bh6, maneuver the queen to h4 and play Ng5.

Carlsen decides that the way to set Black most problems is with e4-e5, Ne4 and Nc5; seizing c5 and a kingside attack.

16...Qd7, 17.h3 Qb7, 18. Bg5 Rfe8, 19. e5! Nfd5, 20 Ne4 Nd7, 21. Qd2! Qb8, 22. Bh6 Bh8, 23. h4!



Very mature play by the young grandmaster, and the plan is well on the way to fruition.

5. Exploiting a positional weakness: This is the highest level of planning, what to do when the position offers you no obvious path forward; such as attacking the king, turning a pawn majority into a passed pawn, or picking up a weak pawn. Exploiting intangible positional weaknesses is an indicator of a strong player. In master play, you rarely see obvious blunders; instead, the one who better exploit tiny little weaknesses in opponent's position will prevail.

Here we will look at exploiting a hole; this is a match of Cheparinov vs. Ivanchuk 2005:
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 (The Benko Gambit; interesting but risky opening) 4.cxb5 a6 5.b6 (Declining the gambit is a sound strategy against black's opening preparation!) d6 6.Nc3 Nbd7 7.a4 a5 8.e4 g6 9.Nf3 Bg7 10.Be2 0-0 11.0-0 Qxb6



White sees a weak square on b5. His plan is, therefore, to place a knight there and support it. This will deprive Black of counterplay against b2 and also keep him from attacking the center with e7-e6. This will secure my queenside and keep my space advantage in the center, so I can start a kingside attack based on f2-f4 without being disturbed.

Let's see how it works out:
12.Nd2! Ba6 13.Nb5 Rfb8 14.Qc2 Qd8 15.Nc4! Nb6 16.Nca3! (All aiming for b5-square) Ne8 17.Rb1 Nc7 18.b3 Bxb5 19.Nxb5



White is not winning yet, but his strategy is dominating.
You can find these games that I reference here on chessbase.

Finally I would like to give you some clues on how to plan the game in “The four knights game”.

Start with reaching the following position: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bb5 Bb4 5.O-O O-O 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.d3 Bd6 8.Bg5 h6 9.Bh4 c5 10.Nd5 g5 11.Nxf6+ Qxf6 12.Bg3



Black to play: you can select your plan from each one of these three options. It depends on how you would like to continue your game.

Plan A: Take advantage of the Bishop Pair.

I think the most significant strategic element in this position is possession of the Bishop pair against Bishop & Knight. To get the most from this advantage I must try to open up the game and free my Bishop on d6 which is currently trapped by Pawns. I would also like to get rid of my doubled Pawns on the c-file.
I therefore decide to play 12...Be6 with the intention of continuing ...Rad8 preparing the advance ...c4.
The idea is to give the position a more dynamic character (opening of the d-file and the a3-f8 diagonal) so as to take full advantage of the Bishop pair. If, to thwart this plan, White decides to play c4, this would seriously weaken his d-Pawn and give me an excellent objective.

Plan B: Attack on the Kingside.

In contrast to Plan A, I think I have to keep the center closed as this element allows me to organize an attack on the Kingside using the Pawns of my castled position which are in any case well on the way up the board.
However, White’s King is solidly protected and there are no breakthrough points. So I decide to play ...Bg4 with the intention of profiting from the pin on the Knight on f3 so as to organize the opening of the f-file, e.g. by ...Qg7 and ...f5.
To prevent this plan, White will probably answer with 13.h3 on which I intend to continue 13...Be6 having achieved the goal of weakening my opponent’s King’s position to create a breakthrough point (h3). My idea then is to prepare the thrust ...g4 by ...Kh7 and ...Rg8.

Plan C: Trap the Bishop on g3.

The unhappy position of the Bishop on g3, which is stymied by my Pawns, suggests that I can engineer a simplification favorable to me. As in Plan B, I play 12...Bg4 but after the likely ...13.h3 I intend to continue 13...Bxf3 and if White retakes with the Queen I will also exchange Queens. In the ending arising out of this simplification, the Bishop on g3 will be completely immobile because on h4 I can maintain the Pawn vice by ...f6. Thus for the rest of the game I would virtually have an extra piece. To free his Bishop, White would have to give up a Pawn and waste precious time.

So, in conclusion:
I choose my openings partly because of the type of endgames they produce. Sicilian setups, for instance, are typical for attacking players because they offer chances at directly attacking the opponent's King.
But usually something alters my original plans. Then I often picture myself a realistic setup of where I want to be in 15 or 20 moves. I look at what I need to do to get there and start executing the “plan.” My choice is often based on weaknesses in the opponent's position. Is his Kingside a fortress? Then I focus for example on queening a Pawn, if not, the other way around.
If I don’t see a clear path, I focus on where my own strengths lie in the position and then try to reinforce that strength. I do (try) keep it simple and realistic... where things become too complicated I try to simplify.
Another important issue is checking statistics on an opening and/or position. The perfect website to do this is http://www.chesslive.de/
You can enter the position and see for yourself what kind of results it produced.

Alfred J. Wood and Alex Dion
Play free online chess at ChessManiac.com