A strategy is a plan. Chess strategy usually involves a long-term plan that is not necessarily based off of winning material. Instead, it creates a positional advantage by building up on small advantages over many moves. Examples of strategical play could be improving your piece to a better square, stopping an opponent’s plan, or making your whole army work together in harmony.
Open files are like open highways for rooks to go fast on the chessboard. Rooks and queens really love them!
When the center is closed, or partially closed, sometimes you want to open it. It is an especially good idea to open the center if you are ahead in development, or if your opponent's king is there, or if there are weaknesses.
FM Mike Klein explains what outposts mean and why they are so strong.
How do you combine the power of your pieces in chess? IM Daniel Rensch teaches you this important skill.
Which piece is better, the bishop or the knight? Even though both are worth three points on paper, IM Rensch will show you that sometimes one is much better than the other.
In the late middlegame and endgame, rooks have a special place from which they radiate power: the seventh rank!
The "real" value of a piece depends on what it can do in a specific position.
FM Mike Klein teaches you what to look for when deciding where to aim your next attack.
A direct attack on the king is only one method of winning, but it is a good one! Learn how to attack a king which has sought safety in its castled position.
When an enemy piece invades your territory, what do you do? You kick them out, of course! However, it is not always easy to know how, when, or even if to kick out your opponent's pieces.
In chess, time to get things done on the board is determined by a unit called a tempo. Controlling the game by making forcing moves is very important. Keep your opponent reacting to what you do, rather than allowing them to do their own thing!
A "battery" in chess occurs when a player lines up two linear pieces (rooks, queens, or a bishop) so that they work together to attack the same point.
The chessboard consists of 32 light squares and 32 dark squares. Quite often, one player might be weak on a particular color of squares. This is usually due to the positioning of the diagonal-attacking pieces - the bishops and the pawns.
FM Mike Klein shows you the best ways to stop your opponents’ pawns from advancing down the board.
Two bishops are worth far more than twice what one bishop is worth. This is because the bishop's greatest weakness - its ability to aim at only one color - is unimportant when a player possesses both bishops. They are a great team!
Sacrificing the exchange (rook for minor piece) is an advanced tactic. Although rooks are usually more valuable, in some positions a minor piece might be better.
An unusual material imbalance is created when a queen is traded for two rooks. This can happen a lot, but which is better?
Castling is usually important. A player who does not castle often gets into lots of trouble. But sometimes, there are situations where you don't want to castle.
Chasing the opponent's king far from his home and eventually checkmating him is one of the most spectacular elements of chess. Learn how to begin and then finish off a king hunt.
When the kings go their own way and castle differently, it's a race to make an all-out attack before your own king is mated.
Rooks usually need open files in order to become active. However, there is a method by which they can be lifted up and over the pawns in order to obtain activity.
When one side has a light-squared bishop and the other a dark-squared bishop, it is called "opposite colored bishops." This creates new strategies, since each bishop attacks what the other cannot defend.
In chess it often takes a detective to figure out the reason a move was played. But that doesn't mean the move is bad! Often mysterious moves have a hidden, clever purpose.
Controlling more of the board is obviously an advantage in chess!
On the whole, a bishop is a tiny bit better than a knight, but in some positions a bishop can be blocked by its own pawns. This bishop is then a "bad bishop."
Strategic retreats are very common and powerful. Sometimes you have to move backward to come forward!
It often happens that two different rooks can be used to occupy the same square. Then, you’ll have to decide which one to use.
Some of the methods needed to save the king at the last moment.
Anatoly Karpov was not known as the kind of player who engaged in flashy and risky attacks. Rather, his style consisted of solid positional play, accurate calculation, and especially prophylactic play in which he limited his opponents' active chances.
When faced with a threat, often we have the choice between defending our weak points and counterattacking those of our opponent.