[blind-chess] Chess Article #44 Chess Strategy
- From: Roderick Macdonald <rmacd@xxxxxxxx>
- To: Blind Chess Mailing List <blind-chess@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 6 Jun 2010 19:10:38 -1000 (HST)
Chess Article #44
Chess Strategy
Adapted and Condensed from
Wikibooks, the Free Encyclopedia
1. Strategy Basics
You may choose different strategies depending on what type of
opponent you are playing, and what kind of player you are. Strategy
starts with the opening, and continues through the middle game, and
on to the end game.
Games are considered open if the central pawns have been captured,
and closed if they have not. Semi-closed games refer to games where
some mix of the center pawns have been captured. These games are
called open or closed because there is more mobility for one's
pieces in open games, and usually determine the complexity of the
game. Specifically, recognition of open versus closed games is
important because closed games are more conducive to Knights,
whereas open games see more involvement with longer range pieces
such as Bishops, Queens, and Rooks.
Strategic Openings: If you choose to play a long-range, theoretical
sort of game, you may want to choose a complex opening such as the
Queen's Gambit, the Ruy Lopez, or the English. In these types of
games, especially when you are playing the closed variations, you
are likely to venture into close positions where positional
maneuvering predominates over tactical shots. From there, you can
focus on strategic elements like controlling files, pawn structure,
and other long range development considerations.
Tactical Openings: If you are more interested in sharpening your
tactical play and focusing on combinations, you may choose a more
tactical opening. Some of these openings include the Sicilian
Defence (especially the Dragon and the old main line of the
Najdorf), the Gr|nfeld Defence, and the older variations of the Two
Knights' Defence.
By initiating exchanges you can always simplify the game, and it
will become more computational. If you don't want that to happen,
you have to be very guarded and conservative.
You should always be thinking about how many squares a piece
controls (i.e. can attack), and which squares are controlled. In
the beginning you should aim to control the center of the board. As
the game progresses you may want to attack one flank, especially if
the King has castled onto that side.
2. Material
Having more pieces on the board than your opponent means you have
a material advantage. If your position is equal, you will be more
likely to win. Since not all pieces are equal, many people use the
following point system to determine which player has a greater
advantage.
Letting the pawn be the basic unit of value, you have the following
relative values:
* Pawn = 1
* Knight = 3
* Bishop = 3
* Rook = 5
* Queen = 9
These are simply relative values; each piece's value must be
treated in a case-by-case system.
(Note: Yasser Seirawan in his Pro Mentor DVD emphasizes that one
should attribute
* King = 3.5
and the knight and bishop's value are only 3 in his opinion. When
calculating the value of a position, dividing the board in
Queenside and Kingside, it will be seen that it matters that the
king is worth 3.5 points. The calculation of forces on either side
will determine the stronger side. This side, usually can become the
attacking one, all other things considered.)
The value of the pieces also changes as the game progresses,
because there is less material on the board to get in the way of
some pieces. Rooks usually become more powerful because there are
fewer pawns in the way, and a rook has the opportunity to control
more squares. Bishops can travel great distances if unobstructed,
while knights have a more local presence. So, knights shine when
the board is cluttered in a closed game because they can "jump"
over pieces whereas Bishops are generally stronger in open games
where they have the run of the board.
The King especially changes in value as the game progresses. Its
strength as an attacking piece becomes greater in the endgame. It
is generally reckoned to be stronger than a knight or bishop but
weaker than a rook, but assigning a point value doesn't make sense
since this one piece is the object of the entire game!
Knights are more powerful if they have a safe outpost in enemy
territory - a knight on the 6th rank that can not be attacked by
opposing pawns can be as powerful as a rook in the right
circumstances. This type of knight, if guarded by a pawn, is called
"a home away from home".
A bishop never leaves its own color, so if one of the bishops is
captured, half the board is now out of reach of a bishop. So
trading 1 bishop for a knight tends to favor the person losing the
knight, who is left with two bishops. However, trading the second
bishop isn't quite so hurtful. So trading a Bishop for a Bishop
where one side has only 1 bishop to begin with helps the side with
fewer bishops.
Knights can not cover both sides of the board at the same time,
while a bishop can, so in an endgame where there are pawns on both
sides of the board, the bishop is stronger.
Bishops can not attack pawns that are on the opposite color, while
a knight can. Furthermore, in a game where there is a short pawn
chain, a knight can stand at the head of the chain and attack the
pawn supporting it, so a knight is often more effective attacking
pawns as long as they are limited to one side of the board.
It is important to keep in mind what sorts of positions will
benefit the pieces that you have. For example if you have 2 knights
and no bishops and your opponent has 2 bishops and no knights then
it would be good for you to keep the center cluttered with pawns by
avoiding pawn exchanges. If you do this then your opponent's
bishops will have hampered mobility whereas your knights can hop
over the pawns. Also if you have the bishops and your opponent has
knights then you should play to keep the center clear so your
bishops can have more mobility. Also, this idea can help you decide
on whether or not to trade a bishop for a knight or vice versa.
Usually more pieces are more valuable -- two bishops beats a rook,
two rooks beat a queen -- but this is conditioned on proper co-
ordination between the pieces. It may be worthwhile to sacrifice
two pieces for a rook if this results in long-term damage to the
enemy's piece co-ordination. Usually this means tying down the
extra pieces to the defense of weak pawns, so that they cannot
cooperate in attacking friendly pawns.
3. Compensation
Material values only matter in the context of position.
Compensation is a term used in chess to describe the trade off
between material and positional advantage. A strong position can
make up for a material deficiency. For example if your opponent has
all their pawns on white squares, a black bishop is worth more than
a white bishop.
Typically having compensation for a piece means that an attack
against the enemy's king or strong points cannot be repelled or may
only be repelled by the enemy returning the material he is up.
Often compensation can refer to having the initiative or in
trapping the opponents king in a vulnerable position. A pawn
majority on one wing or a passed pawn can also sometimes be
considered compensation for a minor piece. Generally the player who
is down on material has to act quickly and avoid exchanging pieces
to prevent the enemy from making his material advantage count.
4. Pawn Strategy and Pawn Chains
In the end game, pawns gain strength as they advance because they
pose the threat of promotion, so a pawn on the 6th or 7th rank is
worth significantly more than a pawn on the second rank - often as
much as a piece. However, in the opening and middlegame, an
advanced pawn is less likely to queen and more likely to be in need
of being defended. It is also unable to defend the center and often
leaves "holes" in your territory that can serve as outposts for
your opponent's pieces. An overadvanced pawn is then often a
liability.
In the opening and middle game, pawns in the center of the board
block paths and support outposts. So they tend to be more valuable
than end pawns. However, in the end game, a wing pawn is usually
the hardest to get to and block or capture and is therefore more
likely to queen. So in the endgame, the edge pawns are often more
valuable than the middle pawns (Note: this is not necessarily true
in some basic pawn and king endings, where a pawn on the edge leads
to only drawing options).
A passed pawn has only pieces stopping it from queening, so it is
considered more valuable - especially if it is protected with other
pawns.
5. Tempo
Tempo is the effective number of moves required to reach the
position on the board. Moving a piece twice to reach a position it
could have reached in one results in a net loss of one tempo -
moving a piece back to its starting place usually results in a loss
of all its tempo - unless other pieces moved that could not have
moved otherwise. Also the capture of a piece means all of the tempo
it gained is lost as well.
Essentially, tempo is one way of showing how many effective moves
you have made. So the gain of a tempo is basically like getting a
move for free. Three tempi is usually considered equivalent to a
pawn in terms of advantage.
Example:
FEN: rnbqkbnr/
ppp1pppp/
5n2/
3p4/
2PP4/
PP2PPPP/
RNBQKBNR/
Position after 1. d4 d5 2. c4 Nf6
In the position above there have been 2 tempi played on each side,
play continues with:
3. cxd5 Nxd5
4. e4 Nf6
FEN: rnbqkbnr/
ppp1pppp/
5n2/
8/
3PP3/
PP3PPP/
RNBQKBNR/
Now white still has 2 Tempi (one for d4 and 1 for e4) while black
only has 1. The captured pieces lost the tempo they had gained in
moving and the knight lost the tempo it had when it captured.
For argument's sake, lets assume play went as follows:
5. e5 Nd5
6. Bc4 Nb6
7. Qd3 Na4
8. Nc3 Nxc3
9. Qxc3 e6
FEN: rnbqkbnr/
ppp2ppp/
4p3/
4P3/
2BP4/
2Q4/
PP3PPP/
R1B1K1NR/
Now black still has only 1 tempo (e6) while white has 6 (2 queen
moves, 3 pawn moves and a bishop move). This has let white develop
2 pieces, control the center and give black a cramped position.
Also, while both sides can castle kingside in the same number of
moves, White can connect his rooks (position them so there is
nothing between them on the back rank) 2 moves sooner than black.
Chances are, white will complete development and launch an attack
before black is able to. This means white will have an advantage
when the middlegame is reached.
6. Quality
6.1 Active and passive pieces
An active piece is one that has the potential to make a threat. A
passive one is usually relegated to defending a piece (or worse -
a pawn).
FEN: rnbqk2r/
ppp1bppp/
4pn2/
p2B1/
2PP4/
PP3PPP/
R2QKBNR/
In this example, white's bishop on g5 is considered active, while
black's bishop on e7 is considered passive.
Piece activity depends on whether it can move and attack. A piece
can be rendered passive if it is stuck protecting another piece or
if it is restricted from being able to get into play by its own
pawns.
6.2 Good vs. Bad Bishops
As noted above, a bishop can only travel on squares of one color.
This leads to a situation wherein one bishop may be effectively
blocked out of the game by the pawn structure. In general it is
better to have your pawns on the opposite colored squares to your
bishop. For example, if you as black have pawns on e6 and d5, your
queen's bishop is likely to be a "bad bishop." It is bad because it
is hard to do anything constructive with it; developing it to g4 is
impossible and "fianchettoing" it via b7 is ineffective since your
pawn on d5 blocks any influence it may have over the centre.
When one has a bad bishop there are two methods to improve the
game: exchanging the offender and freeing up the game. In general
it is profitable to try to exchange your bad bishop for an
opponent's bishop or knight, as your bad bishop has little value.
However, it is important to bear in mind that in the end game
having two bishops is considerably stronger than have two knights
or a bishop and a knight. Therefore you should always be wary of
exchanging bishop for knight in situations where an endgame is
likely. The other method to rid yourself of this weakness is by
freeing up the game through making pawn moves.
6.3 Overloaded pieces
Overloaded pieces are pieces which defend too many other pieces and
therefore cannot be considered to defend all of them at once. For
example, a rook can defend up to 4 pieces, but if one is taken, and
the rook takes the offending piece, 2 of the other pieces are
undefended.
7. Initiative
The player with the initiative is the player who is making the
threats to which the other person must respond. Having the
initiative is advantageous because it forces your opponent to place
his pieces in essentially defensive formations. A piece that is
defending a square generally has less mobility (freedom of
movement) than a piece attacking the same square.
Having the first move, it is generally white who has the initiative
in the early part of the game. Therefore trying to maintain the
initiative would be prudent strategy.
8. Zugzwang
A Zugzwang situation occurs when any move a player makes will
weaken his/her position, but he/she is compelled to move in
accordance with the rules. An example of the zugzwang is as
follows:
Black: King at d8, Pawn at a5
White: King at c6, Pawns at a3, d7
1. a4
White moves the pawn, making a zugzwang and forcing Black's king to
move.
Black: King at d8, Pawn at a5
White: King at c6, Pawns at a4, d7
Position after 1. a4
Black: King at e7, Pawn at a5
White: King at c6, Pawn at a4
Position after 1. ... Ke7
The black king is forced to move away from his current position
because he now has no other move.
2. Kc7
Black: King at e7, Pawn at a5
White: King at c7, Pawns at a4, d7
Position after 2. Kc7
2. ... Ke6
Black: King at e6, Pawn at a5
White: King at c7, Pawn at a4, d7
Position after 2. ... Ke6
3. d8-Q
Black: King at e6, Pawn at a5
White: King at c7, Queen at d8, Pawn at 14
Position after 3. d8-Q
White gains a queen and wins the game easily.
9. Combining attack with defense
A winning strategy in Chess often involves balancing several
considerations against each other. Moves that maximize immediate
material gain might expose a vulnerability or yield a difficult
position as the game progresses. Similarly, material sacrifices for
position may be disadvantageous if they cannot be parlayed into an
effective attack. Thus, a key consideration should be balancing
attack with defense. A profitable move would be one that both
furthers your attack and solidifies your defense.
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