How to improve your Middlegame

As a chess player, you have likely cultivated some favorite chess openings and defenses to strengthen your game. Similarly, you may have polished your endgame. You know how to capture and defeat your opponent once the ground work is laid. All that is left to improve upon is the battle itself: middlegame. The middlegame is where the real action takes place. It is often the lengthiest portion of chess, since many established players have all but memorized the opening game. Aside from slight alterations to the familiar gambits and defenses, openings often play out by rote. The middlegame in chess is the battle. Though the opening sets the stage for how the battle plays out, there are specific choices to be made as to how to approach the protracted struggle. This is where it gets interesting. There are two different ways of approaching chess, and the emphasis of the middlegame depends upon a player's approach. One of the methods which was nearly perfected by chess champion Jose Capablanca, is to create a positional strong-hold early on and play a careful, progressive game that exploits the weakness in your opponent's position, slowly pushing a material advantage until you gain absolute dominance. For the careful mind that can exploit weakness, this is an effective method. Trainers and coaches also feel that it squeezes the joy out of chess. The best minds in chess have tended to be experimental. Some masters have this in common: They all experimented beyond the established boundaries of the game. These masters rejected the stronghold-and-advance method, sometimes to tragic end; but their experimentation also lead to some of the greatest victories in the history of the game.

The difference between the two approaches is that of an advancing army compared to tactical guerrilla warfare. A great chess mind can conquer the middlegame through positional advantage alone, even if they may seem impossibly outstripped in material. In fact, many brilliant chess players will sacrifice material for position. Controlling the center of the board is the goal in chess, but there are specific squares that a great player will seek to conquer.

For the experimental middlegame, these guidelines apply:

  1. Position over material.
  2. Give until it hurts.
  3. Do not trap your king.
  4. Be fearless.

Position over material means just that: Let go of your preconceived notions that a chess game cannot be won without a queen. Understand that there are opportunities that arise for those willing to sacrifice a rook for a pawn. You must have the skill to execute the trap once it is set, but a great player will disregard established rules of value on the board, and see each piece for it's capabilities alone. Value systems are often flawed, and it is a fact that the position of the lowliest members of chess rank, the pawn, often determines the outcome of a game.

'Give until it hurts' compliments 'position over material'. Do not waste valuable moves protecting pieces that are not intrinsic to your game plan. Once you see how to trap your opponent, determine which pieces are necessary, and allow others to be sacrificed by way of distraction, and to give your opponent a false sense of confidence.

The exception to 'give until it hurts' is 'do not trap your king'. You must protect your king or any elaborately set escapades in the middlegame are wasted. Be consistently aware of threats to your monarch, and do not hedge him into a position where he cannot escape. The experimental game requires attention to many pieces, so freedom of movement for your king is more important than a great fortress of pieces to protect him. You do not want to tie up all your material for defensive purposes.

Finally, the brilliant middlegame is not by nature consistent. You can not be a perfectionist and improve at the same time. Leave perfectionism for the safe, advancing middlegame players. Do not be afraid to fail, or you will find yourself too stunted to succeed.