The Ultimate Strategy : Improving the Pieces

Maybe the most important ingredient of a successful middlegame strategy is to know when and how to improve the position of your pieces, making them both active and effective participants in your major plan on the board. Oftentimes, this step requires the recognition of the worst placed piece and the creativity to come up with the most efficient way to improve its inferior position relative to its opposite-colored counterpart. Look at some grandmasters' games. They sometimes demonstrate their creativity and precision when it comes to the middlegame, crushing their opponent in positions where even Rybka, Houdini, Stockfish, Fritz and other types of high-level chess players would feel helpless.