Transcript Chess Merit Badge Chess Strategy and Tactics: A Blueprint for Effective Plans by Joseph L.

Chess Merit Badge
Chess Strategy and Tactics:
A Blueprint for Effective Plans
by Joseph L. Bell
© 2011
Chess Strategy & Tactics
• Strategy
• Tactics
• Ways to find a Plan
“The opportunity to secure ourselves against
defeat lies in our own hands, but the
opportunity of defeating the enemy is
provided by the enemy himself.”
– Sun Tzu, The Art of War
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What is Strategy ?
• Strategy: Strategy in Chess is the
planning of how to get various kinds of
advantage in the game.
• Tactics: Types of moves that can result
in an advantage, if the opportunity
exists to use it
“Tactics flow from a superior position.”
- Bobby Fischer
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Elements of Strategy
• Common elements of Strategy are:
– 1) Exploiting Weakness
– 2) Force
– 3) King Safety,
– 4) Pawn Structure,
– 5) Space,
– 6) Tempo, and
– 7) Time.
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Exploiting Weakness
• Analyze where your opponent’s position
is weak and your pieces can take
advantage of that weakness:
– Unprotected pieces
– Two attacks on a piece defended once
– Poor King safety
– Pawn structure weakness
• Develop a plan to exploit the weakness.
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Force
• The relative power of pieces on each
side (usually evaluated by total point
value of the pieces)
• OR
• Using more pieces to attack than your
opponent can bring to defend a key
square.
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King Safety
• King safety means assuring that your
King is in a safe place.
• Castling is a way to increase King safety
• Later in the game, creating a space for
your King (called a “Luft”, which is
German for “air”) prevent back rank
checkmates
• Regularly review the safety of your King
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Pawn Structure
• Pawn structure is the arrangement of
pawns on the board
• Pawns that are isolated, doubled or
backward are weaker than other pawn
structures. Pawn chains are stronger
• Openings in the pawn structure either
allow or prevent attacks: Read the
pawn structure to identify likely attacks
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Space
• Space is the squares that your pieces
control
• More space makes it easier to put
pieces in position for an effective attack
• Less space can make it more difficult to
defend against an attack
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Tempo
• Tempo refers to moves. Being ahead in
tempo gives your pieces more mobility.
• Forcing your opponent to react can lead
to an advantage in tempo
• In a pawn race to promote to a Queen,
one tempo can decide the game
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Time
• Time can refer to “tempo”, or to Time
Control
• A player with much less time to
complete the remaining moves for a
time control can be under time pressure
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Tactics – The Basic Types
• Make Your Opponent’s Pieces Less
Mobile
• Give More Attacks Than Your Opponent
Can Handle
• Remove the Defender
“All men can see these tactics whereby
I conquer, but what none can see is the
strategy out of which victory is evolved.”
–Sun Tzu, The Art of War
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Make His Pieces Less Mobile
• Pins
• Skewers
• Interposing
• Zugzwang
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Zugzwang
• Zugzwang (TSOOKS-vahng), position in
which the move makes a worse result
• It is German for “tight spot”
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More Attacks Than He Can Handle
• Fork
• Discovered Attack
• Double Attack
• Zwischenzug (German: “In between move”)
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Fork
White plays 1. g5+, and the only
move for Black is 1. … h5.
Then With forks the King and
Rook with 2. Be2+ Kh4 3. Bxd1.
Knight forks are more common,
but the Queen, Rook, Bishop and
Pawn can also create a fork by
attacking two pieces with one
move.
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Discovered Attack
White has a discovered attack on
the by moving the White Bishop
to expose the threat from the
White Rook on d1.
1. Bxh7+ Kxh7 2. Rxd6
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Double Attack
White plays 1. Rg8, with a
double attack on the King
(called “double check”).
The only legal move for Black is
1. … Kxg8, and Black has no
answer to 2. Rg1# checkmate.
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Zwischenzug
(TSVEYE-shun-tsook)
• German for "intermediate move", is a
tactic where instead of playing the
expected move (commonly a recapture
of a piece that the opponent has just
captured) an immediate threat is made
that the opponent must answer, then
the expected move is played.
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Zwischenzug
After White played 1. dxe5,
Black plays 1. … dxe5 and
expects White to play 2. Qxd8.
Instead, White plays 2. Bxf7+,
and Black is forced to play
2. … Kxf7, and Black loses the
Queen to 3. Qxd8.
From the Sicilian Magnus Smith
Trap
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Remove the Defender
• Deflection
• Overloading
• Overprotecting
• Decoy
• Clearance Sacrifice
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Deflection
Deflection is a tactic that lures the
opponent’s main defending piece
away from what is being defended.
The Black Queen on e7 is
overworked, defending both the
Knight on f6 and the Bishop on a3.
1. Bxf6 Qxf6 2. Rxa3
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Overloading
Overloading is a chess tactic in
which a defensive piece is given
an additional defensive
assignment which it cannot
complete without abandoning its
original defensive assignment.
The White Bishop is busy with
the threat from the Black Bishop
on f3. Adding the Black Queen
on h3 is too much for White.
1. … Qh3 2. Bxh3 Ne2#
OR
1. … Qh3 2. Bxf3 Nxf3+
3. Kh1 Qxh2#
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Overprotecting
• Overprotecting is using more pieces
than are needed to protect a square.
• This tactic can prevent your defenders
from being removed, or create
opportunities for a defender to attack.
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Decoy
Decoy is a tactic that lures an
opponent’s piece to a square that
is bad for the opponent.
Playing 1. g5+ decoys the Black
King to g5, since there is no
other legal move.
1. g5+ Kxg5 2. Qf4#
The Black Pawns on g6 and h5
prevent the Black King from
escaping the checkmate.
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Clearance Sacrifice
Clearance Sacrifice is a tactic
that sacrifices one of your pieces
to clear the way for an attack
by some of your other pieces.
White could fork the King and
Queen if his own Queen was not
in the way, so it is sacrificed.
1. Qxf5 Rxf5 2. Ne6+ K-(any)
3. Nxc7 Rxf1+ 4. Rxf1
White ends up with a Rook and
Knight vs. a Bishop for a won
endgame.
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Visualize Checkmate Patterns
• Back Rank Mates
• Try to cover every flight square
• Consider killing defenders at any cost
• Practice: Solve direct-mate problems
“If the student forces himself to examine all moves
that smite, however absurd they may look at first
glance, he is on the way to becoming a master of
tactics.”
– Cecil Purdy, International Master
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Analytical Method in Chess Thinking
• Before each move, ask yourself:
1. Does my opponent’s last move contain
a threat? If so, deal with it.
2. Are my own pieces all adequately
protected? Has my opponent left a
piece exposed to capture for free?
3. Is my King still safe? Is the opponent’s
King vulnerable?
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Before Each Move (cont’d)
4. Did my opponent meet the threat
offered by my last move?
5. Do I still have pieces that need
development?
6. Can I move a Rook to an open file,
especially the d- or e- file? Is it
possible to double up Rooks or a
Queen and Rook on a useful open file?
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Before Each Move (cont’d)
7. Does my opponent have a weakness
that can be exploited?
8. If so, how can the weakness be
exploited? Make a plan to exploit the
weakness.
9. What could my opponent do to stop
my plan? Is it easier for my opponent
to stop the plan than it is for me to
launch the plan?
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Before Each Move (cont’d)
10.Does the move I plan to make
overlook something very simple – such
as the loss of a piece or checkmate?
“Methodical thinking is of more use in chess
than inspiration.”
– Cecil Purdy, International Master
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Piece Mobility Rules
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Look for opportunities to create, maintain, and increase your
piece mobility.
Central control is not an end in itself. Be prepared use central
control to strike out from the center into the enemy position,
including into corners where the King lurks.
Grab open files for Rooks and Queens.
Put Bishops on open diagonals – and a longer diagonal is
usually better.
Maneuver Knights in or near the center.
In the opening, keep your Queen at home unless there is a
compelling reason to move the Queen – like a winning attack.
Get the Queen in the middle of the fight once other pieces are
developed.
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