TIP 52
1. Study your own games!; look long and hard for an improvement.
2. Often Attack is the best form of defence.
3. Sacrificing to drive the King up the board to Checkmate, is a pleasing way to win!
1. Study your own games!; look long and hard for an improvement.
2. Often Attack is the best form of defence.
3. Sacrificing to drive the King up the board to Checkmate, is a pleasing way to win!
1. Playing ambitiously with the black pieces is a double-edged sword.
2. When one has sacrificed material, but has a lead in development, it’s normal to open the position even more before the defender has a chance to consolidate.
3. Games are often decided quickly once a vital pawn is captured.
1. A large mobile pawn centre is a major strategic asset.
2. When pawns are far advanced, close to promotion, always be on the lookout for tactical tricks involving promotion.
3. Don't be afraid to sacrifice to press forward to your Main strategic goal.
1. Play in the center has more effect than play on the wings but it is all too easily forgotten in the heat of battle.
2. Before playing a spectacular combination, check to see whether there is a simpler and safer way to win cleanly.
3. Always analyse variations with double checks extremely carefully - however improbable they may look.
1. Look out for sneaky knight moves. It's very easy to overlook annoying ones which secures advantage.
2. A queen sacrifice, based on a forced Checkmate, is a pleasing way to end the game!
3. Open files should be studied carefully because sometimes they are the most important feature of the position.
1. Don't dither with your plan!, Be direct!
2. Look out for the unexpected. Sometimes pedestrian developing moves can be replaced by a sudden idea which causes your opponent immediate problems.
3. A move which looks to have merely one purpose but in fact contains some heavily concealed threats, often produces the desired result.
1. Try not to be too upset by a loss. Setbacks are inevitable and it is useful to view each as a learning experience.
2. If the opponent allows you to win a center pawn, take it unless there is a very good reason not to.
3. It can be well worth sacrificing a pawn to gain a superb square for a piece, particularly if it is near the enemy King.
1. There are no general rules on whether to defend an awkward position by keeping the position blocked or by engaging in a hand-to-hand skirmish.
2. Successful handling of semi-blocked positions depends on being able to maneuver the right pieces to the right squares quickly enough.
3. Don’t let the opponent dissuade you from attacking just because he has sacrificed. If your position is better, you still have the right to attack.
1. Always be careful to study carefully the consequences before allowing your pawn structure to change.
2. It is often worth giving up material to kill off any chances of counterplay.
3. If your opponent shocks you in the opening, don't panic into moving quickly. Try to weigh up the novel idea in objective fashion. You'll find often the new move is not any better than it's predecessors and that it's main strength is indeed it's Surprise value.
1. A queen on an open board can overpower a large number of uncoordinated pieces.
2. Great ingenuity is needed to break through a defensive wall. It may be necessary to loosen the opponent's position by play on both wings, and to sacrifice material to divert Crucial defensive pieces.
3. When facing a massive sacrificial attack, keep calm and try to find ways to interfere with the smooth operation of the attacking pieces.
1. It is risky to start an attack before you have brought your pieces into play and safeguard your king by castling.
2. The Correct response to a flank attack is usually a counterattack in the center.
3. In wild complications, piece activity is often more important than a material head-count.
4. If your opponent has sacrificed material for an attack, it may be possible to stifle his attack by returning the extra material.
1. The advantage of moving first is a valuable but fragile asset - take good care of it!.
2. In symmetrical positions a single Tempo can play a decisive role.
3. The first player to undertake aggressive action can force his opponent into a permanently passive role.
4. Two bishops attacking the enemy King along adjacent diagonals make a dangerous team.
1. Brilliant defence can be just as powerful and imaginative as brilliant attack.
2. Rook activity and king activity are powerful tools in the endgame.
3. It takes practice and time to be an absolute master of rook and pawn endgames.
1. Learn from the past masters. Countless grandmasters admit they are influenced by the top players from the yesteryear.
2. Always be aware of back-rank mates. They can often give rise to some surprising tactics.
3. A world champion is a genius!.
1. In queen's pawn openings, c4 followed by Nc3 is usually more active than c4 followed by Nbd2.
2. Bring every piece you can into your attack - invite everyone to the party!.
3. The double bishop sacrifice is a standard technique for demolishing the opposing kingside. It usually requires at least a queen and a rook for support.
1. Believe in your own abilities and have the confidence to face up to challenges.
2. When defending, developing your pieces is usually more important than grabbing material.
3. José Capablanca really was a genius!.
1. Spare a thought for your back rank. If it is possible to open up some 'luft' , an escape-hatch for your king, without a serious loss of time or weakening of your king's defences, it is well worth considering.
2. If your opponent's position is only hanging together by a slender thread, use all your ingenuity to find a way to cut this thread.
3. If you want everyone to believe that you really did play a fantastic combination, be sure to play it in a tournament game!.
1. If you have an isolated queen's pawn, it is necessary to play energetically and aggressively.
2. A weakness is not a weakness unless it can be attacked.
3. When the opponent's position is paralyzed on one wing, see if you can take advantage of this by making additional gains in other parts of the board before undertaking decisive action.
4. In a winning ending don't give the opponent any more counterplay than you have to - and ideally stamp out his activity altogether.
1. If your opponent is building up an attack, it is essential to take defensive measures in good time.
2. Sacrifices are not necessarily short-term investments; sometimes they only pay off after 15 or 20 moves.
3. If the defender has no active plan, then the attacker can afford to take his time and bring all his reserves into play.
1. When you have control of the center, it is usually a good policy to maintain or increase the tension - rather than release it.
2. " A bad plan is better than no plan at all ".
3. Zugzwang is normally seen more in the endgame rather than the middlegame, but when it does arise in a complex position, it is extremely powerful weapon.
1. Even if no material sacrifice is involved, playing for an attack usually involves a positional commitment which may prove a handicap if the attack fails.
2. Advantages do not increase of their own accord; purposeful play is necessary to increase an advantage.
3. A knight firmly entrenched in the middle of the opposing position is often a decisive advantage.
1. Don't be intimidated because your opponent knows a lot about an opening. If you play sensible moves you should get a reasonable position.
2. A positionally justified plan of attack can be just as effective in an ending as in the middlegame.
3. Initiative, piece activity and mating attacks are a part of endgame play too - be prepared to sacrifice for them.
1. Central control is an important objective of opening play, but this does not necessarily mean the occupation of the center by pawns; control can be exerted by pieces from a distance.
2. A single badly-placed piece can poison one's entire position.
3. Stay flexible. Be ready to transform advantages from one type to another, or to switch from positional play to attack.
1. A fianchettoed bishop combined with a pawn advance on the opposite wing is a standard technique for exerting strategic pressure.
2. Active counterplay is better than passive defence.
3. In order to play a game that is characterized by tactics it helps if you can calculate at least ten moves ahead!.
1. Timid opening play by White often gives Black the opportunity to seize the initiative.
2. Even very strong players sometimes fall victim to the weakness of f2 (f7 for Black).
3. Your next move may seem forced, but it is worth taking a few seconds to see if there might be an alternative.
1. The Nimzo-Indian is one of the soundest defences to 1 d4.
2. The art of restraint is a very important concept - every restraining action is the logical prelude to an attack.
3. Every immobile complex tends to be a Weakness and therefore must sooner or later become an object of attack.
4. Positional domination is often the precursor to a decisive tactical flourish.
1. The power of the two bishops increases as the position opens up. If you have two bishops against a bishop and knight (or two knights) then look for pawn thrusts to open lines.
2. Changing your plan mid-stream is usually a bad idea.
3. An advanced passed pawn which cannot be blockaded usually costs the opponent a piece.
1. If White does not seize the initiative from the opening, then Black will - and in an Open Sicilian he will do so very quickly.
2. A pawn-break in the center is a powerful weapon - always analyse such moves to see if they might work, even if there seems to be enough pieces preventing them.
3. The introduction of a queen into an attack often has devastating effect; the defender should be very careful to avoid an unwelcome royal visit.
1. An attack based on the gradual advance of a central pawn majority may take a long time to develop, but generates tremendous force.
2. Believe in yourself and your ideas.
3. When there is a far advanced passed pawn near the enemy King, be on the lookout for tactical methods - utilizing threats to the king inorder to free a path for the pawn.
1. If the position is equal, then playing too hard for the advantage is risky.
2. Piece activity is often more important than a small amount of material (such as a pawn or the exchange for a pawn).
3. Be flexible. Just because a bishop is active on one diagonal doesn't mean that another diagonal might not be even better.
1. Accepting a complex of weakened pawns can be equivalent to offering a gambit, with all the risk and commitment that a gambit entails.
2. Pieces that have advanced far into enemy territory may turn out to be useless in defending their own king.
3. When the opponent suddenly turns defence into counterattack, don't panic. Calmly reassess the position and look for your best hope of salvaging something from the position.
1. There is much more to opening play than developing your pieces! The choice of plan in the opening often sets the tone for the whole game.
2. Having embarked on a heavily committal course, there may be no way back. If the only way to achieve your strategic aims is by sacrificing material, then this is the path you must take.
3. Splitting the opponent's position in two with a pawn wedge is a powerful idea, especially if your pieces can be brought into the an attack on the enemy King.
1. Blocking the pawn structure alters the whole course of the game and so deserves careful thought.
2. Keep your eye open for surprise tactics. Such opportunities often only last for one move so you are unlikely to get a second chance.
3. If the pawn structure prevents defensive pieces from coming to the aid of their king, the attacker may have a local superiority of material even if he has made heavy sacrifices.
1. "Playing to win" is often a less effective way of getting the desired result than simply playing good Chess.
2. It is not essential to capture a sacrificed piece. Always have a look to see if there is a good alternative to accepting - or a good zwischenzug that can be played before taking the material.
3. Even two rooks may not constitute an effective attacking force if they lack sufficient back-up from the other pieces.
4. Central control, as always, is a major factor in supporting (or refuting) an attack.
1. Players with a predictable opening repertoire are easy to prepare for.
2. In the King's Indian it is often worth Black's while to sacrifice a pawn or an exchange to blast open the dark squares.
3. Three well coordinated minor pieces that have plenty of squares where they are securely defended generally prove stronger than a queen that has few targets to attack.
1. A new move in the opening is not necessarily a good move.
2. Rooks are not normally developed via the third rank, but it can be a way to switch them quickly into attacking positions.
3. The elimination of defensive pieces is often the key to a successful attack.
1. If the opponent seems to have taken a few liberties in the opening identify any concrete drawbacks in his scheme, and let this guide your choice of plan.
2. When under attack, always try to find the most active, constructive defensive moves.
3. To consolidate an advantage, subduing enemy counterplay is more important than grabbing extra material.
1. Opening principles exist for a reason. The really great players know when to break, and when not to break the rules, but lesser mortals should beware.
2. Material sacrifices are always more likely to work if your opponent's king is stuck in the middle and central file is open.
3. It is possible that a good move can be played on intuition rather than calculation!.
1. Study the classics, but don't let the ideas from them cloud your thinking in completely different positions.
2. Don't be intimidated by extremely messy positions. The play still tends to be based on simple tactical ideas - just a large quantity of them.
3. Never give up hope. Even when defending against the most massive of attacks, there may well be a saving resource.
1. When facing strong center, it's vital for any development advantage to be exploited immediately, before the opponent has a chance to consolidate his position.
2. Sometimes keeping an attack going can be a good practical choice over cashing in for material.
3. Massive king-hunts often involve one silent but deadly move.
1. Sometimes it is more important to create counterplay than it is to avoid weaknesses. Wounds need not be fatal, but suffocation normally is.
2. In a difficult position it is far more important to activate pieces than it is to grab pawns.
3. Immobilizing and pinning down the opponent's pieces is a very convincing way to round off a game.
1. A preventive pawn move in front of the castled king may just prove to waste time and create a Weakness.
2. Don't automatically recapture material if doing so distracts you from the attack.
3. " Flashy " moves aren't necessarily good, and tend by their nature to randomize the position - but they can be very useful for secret agents in a hurry!
1. Once you are committed to a sacrificial attack there is no turning back.
2. It is important to recognize that it is difficult to conduct a prolonged defence against a vicious attack.
3. It very often happens that one error leads to another. The realization that something has gone wrong can easily prove a distraction and lead to a loss of concentration.
4. Be especially careful after you have made a mistake - another one may be lurking just around the corner.
1. The Winawer French can lead to positions that are extremely difficult for both sides to play.
2. All of Black's counterplay springs from the fact that he has an open file against the white king, which he can exploit to the full.
3. Perpetual check is a common outcome when neither king has much protection and there are rooks and queens flying around the board.
1. Decentralizing, even to eliminate a key attacking piece, is a risky venture.
2. It is well worth sacrificing an exchange to dislocate the enemy pawn structure and deny the hostile king long-term safety.
3. Any line of play that drags the enemy King up the board deserves careful analysis, even if there is a substantial sacrifice involved.
1. It is worth sacrificing a pawn to activate your pieces and catch the enemy King in the center.
2. No matter how many pieces are being sacrificed, they can only be taken one at a time!
3. Connected pawns are far more valuable than isolated pawns in the endgame.
1. In a cramped position, it is normally useful to seek to ease the congestion by exchanges.
2. When fianchettoing your King's bishop, always be very wary about exchanging this piece later on, as trading it will undoubtedly lead to a weakening of the kingside.
3. A pair of connected passed pawns on the sixth rank, and in the center, is a priceless weapon!
1. Accepting an isolated d-pawn can be a double edge sword. You have to weigh up the activity it can give you against the actual weakness of the pawn itself.
2. Be sure to look for stronger continuations before reclaiming material after an initial sacrifice.
3. Chess history is full of too many premature resignations in drawn or even won positions.
1. Broken pawns in front of a castled king spell danger.
2. When defensive pieces are overburdened, look for a tactical solution.
3. Outrageous looking moves do sometimes work - but not very often!
1. A big pawn-center can be used to cover for an attack. Even if the center cannot survive indefinitely, it may buy enough time to launch the offensive successfully.
2. King Safety is an important positional factor.
3. If there is some tactical problem with your intended line of play, don't give up on it but try to find a way to circumvent the difficulty.
1. It takes a lot of courage to sacrifice a piece on the basis of general considerations.
2. If a sacrifice seems justified and there is no obvious defence for the opponent, it may very well prove successful.
3. Defence demands just as much creativity as attack.
4. When mopping up after a successful attack, don't get obsessed with trying to force mate - just concentrate on finding an efficient way to win.
1. Be very wary of " going for the win " as Black. Your chances of doing so are best if you adopt a measured approach and at least equalize first.
2. The exchange sacrifice is a powerful weapon. Rooks can be clumsy pieces in defense, especially when the king is being attacked along diagonals.
3. The more combinational patterns you are familiar with, the easier it will be to recognize the possibilities for them at the board.