Tactical shots, sacrifices, and mating attacks are usually the most appealing to those who are just starting in chess. Here is a quick overview of the strategies we are covering: You can also use combinations to get a better structure, weaken your opponent’s position or force the trade of one of our bad pieces, for example. Moreover, you can use tactics to gain a certain positional advantage.Īlthough we are mostly used to looking for tactical ideas in order to winmaterial, keep in mind that this is not always the case. In the same way, a game that started in a dynamic way could be finally won with the use of strategic ideas. However, most of the time, the two go hand in hand, and a game that had a slow, quiet start, could finish with a beautiful sacrifice. There are games that can be classified as positional and games where the tactical, attacking ideas dominate. The material disadvantage is not important since the attack leads to checkmate.Chess Strategy and Tactics are two big parts of this game. The example above shows the well-known "Greek gift," where one player sacrifices a bishop to expose the opponent's king. It's not uncommon for players to sacrifice material to expose the enemy king. Having an unsafe king can be a losing disadvantage because it might cause you to get checkmated. King safety is one of the most critical strategic concepts in chess. Conversely, players who lack space might have a hard time moving their pieces to attack or defend. The player with a space advantage can control more squares and enjoy more freedom to move their pieces. For the moment, White controls more squares and has more freedom to move their pieces. A player might have more space on the queenside, kingside, center, or in all of those sections of the board. Space is related to the number of squares a player has behind their pawns where they can move their pieces. If you want to learn more about pawn structures, check out this interactive lesson by GM Aman Hambleton. Morphy won this game in just a few more moves: Black's kingside, on the other hand, is not in the game. White is down material, but almost all of his pieces are active. The image above comes from the famous Opera Game played between Paul Morphy and the duo Duke Karl and Count Isouard. White is down in material but has much more active pieces. A player can have less material than another yet have more active pieces, which can lead to a decisive advantage. Piece Activityĭifferent from material count, piece activity is more of an abstract concept. Another way to win is by using a material superiority to overwhelm the other player's defenses to checkmate the king. The player who has a material advantage can usually win the game by trading pieces to simplify the position and enter a winning endgame. If a player knows how to count the total piece value for each player, they can also determine who has a material advantage. Material count is the most straightforward strategic concept to understand since it's also the most concrete. Those are material count, piece activity, piece mobility, pawn structure, space, and king safety. However, learning a few principles can improve your play and help you win more games. Basic Strategic ConceptsĬhess strategy is a complex subject that requires many years of study and hard work to master. Karpov was one of the greatest strategic players in history. Playing against a strategically solid player is a difficulty that few players like to undertake. World champions like Jose Raul Capablanca, GM Tigran Petrosian, and GM Anatoly Karpov excelled at chess strategy. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat. Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat." Indeed, relying solely on your opponent falling for a tactical shot might work well for beginners but is a losing approach for more advanced players. You can look at strategy as the breeding ground for tactics.Īccording to the renowned Chinese general Sun Tzu, "Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. There is a famous saying that points out that "chess is 99% tactics." If that is true, why is studying strategy so important?Īlthough tactics can indeed define a game's outcome, good strategic play creates the opportunity for tactical shots in the first place. Karpov is strategically winning in this position, and Kasparov eventually resigned. Unlike tactics, chess strategy involves long-term goals, usually related to king safety, pawn structure, space, piece activity, etc. Would you like to have that same power? If you do, then you have to learn the concepts of chess strategy.Ĭhess strategy is the purposeful attempt to gain an advantage over your opponent. Do you know that great chess players can glance at a position and quickly assess which side is winning? Not only that, but they can also determine the best moves and ideas for each side.
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