Creating Advantages in the Middlegames

Once you have developed all of your pieces to their most effective squares, you reach the middlegame. The middlegame is sometimes a difficult part of a chess game because a player will not know what to do once they achieve complete development. This is where critical thinking and planning come into play. Every chess player should learn the typical strategies that are used in the middle game.

“Strategies require thought; tactics requires observation.” – Max Euwe, former World Champion

In order to win a chess game, one side needs to achieve an advantage. This advantage can be static or dynamic. A static advantage is a long-term one that involves a somewhat permanent weakness in your opponent’s position, such as doubled or isolated pawns. A dynamic advantage is a short-term temporary advantage, such as an uncastled King or undeveloped pieces. Your goal and strategy should be to try to create as many of these static advantages as possible besides dynamic advantages with outstanding tactical play.

MATERIAL ADVANTAGES
Material advantages usually arise due to a calculated tactic or combination. So, the first step in trying to achieve a material advantage is to discover tactics that will win your opponent’s pieces. Always be on the lookout for forks, pins, skewers, x-rays, sacrifices, discovered attacks and others. One of the keys of having a material advantage is typically to trade down, because in the end, the player with the material advantage will prevail quite easily.

SUPERIOR PIECE MOBILITY
Knowing where all the pieces go is an important concept to learn. Anyone can learn how the pieces move, but knowing where the pieces should be placed is a whole different story. That said, a general principle for piece placement is to find the most active, effective square that coincides with your strategy. More specifically, for example, Knights should be posted at support points, squares guarded by pawns usually that cannot be attacked by enemy pawns or if pawns attack it severely weakens your opponent’s position. To be most effective, Knights should be placed on the 4th, 5th, or 6th ranks. Knights are effectively used for forks and double attacks. Bishops are long-range pieces that belong on long, open diagonals. They do not like being locked in by their own pawns, i.e. a bad bishop. Bishops are most effectively used for pins, skewers, and discovered attacks. Rooks should be placed on the open file, a file without one of your own pawns obstructing the path. Rooks are also effectively placed on the 7th and 8th ranks where they can do considerable damage to their opponent’s position. Rooks are typically used for double attacks, pins, and discovered attacks. Queens should be moved with care and not too early in the game, as they can be attacked relentlessly by your opponent’s pieces, thereby losing valuable time for development.

SUPERIOR PAWN STRUCTURE
Specific pawn structures lead to static advantages. By creating weak pawn structures for your opponent, it becomes easier to formulate a strategy that attacks the weaknesses in the position. For example, an isolated pawn is a pawn that has no other pawns around to defend it. By piling up your pieces on this weak pawn, you create a target and will eventually win that pawn creating a material advantage. Many of these structures involve targeting the weakest pawn and crushing your opponent’s position. Thus, knowing which pawn is the weak point in a position is crucial to obtain this kind of advantage.

MORE TERRITORY
Usually, the more space that a player obtains, the easier it becomes to maneuver his pieces around to form an attack. The easiest way to create space is advancing your pawns in a logical fashion. Once past the 5th rank, pawns create a cramping feeling for your opponent and thus, more space for your position. However, you must be careful not to overextend your pawns so much that you lose control of them and in turn, create bad pawn structure.

SAFE KING POSITION
Most attacks in the middlegame occur in the center of the board, this is the reason that most players castle to the kingside or queenside. Castling creates a static advantage for yourself since your king is unlikely to move for a long time maybe until the endgame. Making sure the king is safe should be a top priority as the ultimate goal of chess is to checkmate the king.