How To Convert An Advantage
I have a student who used to complain a lot about his opponents not resigning when they were down significant material. "When are you going to resign?", he would type in the chat whenever his opponent would lose a piece but kept playing.
One day, I told him to see it as an opportunity to practice his ability to convert an advantage, rather than as an act of disrespect. That's when he admitted, "That's the problem—they keep playing and I end up losing!"
We all have been there: We know we are winning, but we cannot turn our advantage into a win. I personally have a simple method to bring the full point home once I'm ahead in material, which I will share with you in this article and demonstrate with some examples.
Position 1
I ask myself two simple questions:
- How can I ruin this?
- What's the easiest way to convert?
Let's take this position as our first example.
I was playing Black against a WFM and the moment I saw myself up an exchange, I asked myself the key questions.
Question 1: How can I ruin this?
- I could lose this game if I drop a piece. So, I'm being very careful before I move my pieces to make sure I don't hang them. Did you think only beginners do this? Nah—welcome to the club!
- I could lose this game if I let my opponent's pieces get too active. Especially if they start attacking my king.
- I could lose this game if I don't develop/activate my pieces to defend properly. Yes, I'm talking about my c8-bishop in this case.
Question 2: What's the easiest way to convert this?
Well, the first thing that comes to mind every single time I'm ahead in material is to simplify the game—trade pieces of the same value. I would do this even if I'm only up a pawn. In this particular game, imagine if I'm left with my extra rook vs my opponent's extra knight. My rook would have an easier time capturing the enemy pawns and eventually one of my pawns would rush to promote.
Also, don't forget that the fewer pieces my opponent has, the harder it is for them to attack me and complicate the game. It's crucial to not give them any counterplay—nada!
Here again I asked myself the key questions.
Question 1: How can I ruin this?
- I could lose this game if I drop a piece. So, I'm being very careful before I move my pieces to make sure I don't hang them.
- I could lose this game if I let the white queen check my king. If you think knights are annoying, wait until a queen checks your king in perpetuity to the infinity and beyond.
Question 2: What's the easiest way to convert this?
I don't know if you noticed, but the moment the g2-pawn captured on f3, my h7-pawn became a passed pawn. So, the easiest way to convert this now is to push that h7-pawn. That way, my opponent has to at least sacrifice one of her pieces for my passed pawn.
After the queens are traded, Black has an extremely easy game to convert, but feel free to set the position up and play it against an engine.
Position 2
This position is from a game played between GMs Bent Larsen vs Svetozar Gligoric in 1956. What would you play next as White?
This game is a beautiful example of how to play chess backwards. What do I mean by playing chess backwards? Well, Larsen knew exactly what endgame he wanted, and made simple decisions to get to it. I don't think he used my questions to find his next move, but we will go over them anyways.
Question 1: How can I ruin this?
- I could lose this game if I drop a piece. So, I'd be very careful before I move my pieces to make sure I don't hang them.
- I could lose this game if I let my opponent's queen and bishop coordinate an attack on my king.
Question 2: What's the easiest way to convert this?
Answer: Trade down pieces—especially the annoying black queen.
I hope you noticed our pawn majority on the queenside. We have two pawns (b2 and c2) vs one black pawn (b5). That could be turned into an outside passed pawn, which makes the endgame easy to win.
One other thing I would like to highlight about this game is how White had an attacking position, and yet Larsen switched gears to go for a simple endgame. It's important to keep in mind that, while an attack on the enemy king is an attempt to deliver checkmate, if they give us material we should consider the possibility of transitioning into an easy endgame.
Position 3
I got the following position in a classical game against NM Theodore Slade. He was expecting me to play my favorite King's Indian Defense, but I ended up surprising him with a Grünfeld, and I think that got him off balance.
What would you play as Black?
Time for our questions again.
Question 1: How can I ruin this?
- I could lose this game if I drop a piece. So, I'd be very careful before I move my pieces to make sure I don't hang them.
- I could lose this game if I allow my opponent to complicate the game by exposing and attacking my king.
Question 2: What's the easiest way to convert this?
Answer: Trade down pieces—especially the annoying black queen. Then, activate my king and try to promote the c5-pawn.
What should Black play next?
Once more, feel free to play this position against an engine and try to convert all the way to checkmate.
Conclusion
I would like to leave you with something that has helped me immensely with my game in general, but more specifically with this concept of converting an advantage. Remember that chess is three games in one. It's like playing checkers, dominoes and chess. Three different games with their own set of rules.
What am I talking about?
The three games I'm talking about are called opening, middlegame, and endgame. Each one of them requires different things in order to win.
- To win the game called opening, we must develop our minor pieces, castle and control the center as quickly as possible. If you win that game, then you start the second game called middlegame with a head start.
- In the middlegame, we are essentially trying to attack the enemy king and capture pieces. Of course it is more complicated than that, but you get the idea. If you get an advantage in this game and trade down, then you can start playing the third game called endgame.
- In the endgame, we use different rules such as bringing the king to the center of the board. Exactly the opposite of what we do in the middlegame. Likewise, we are often trying to get one of our pawns to be promoted. Yes, it is a completely different game and many players don't give it the importance it deserves.
If we become aware of this simple phenomenon, our ability to convert an advantage improves dramatically. I know how basic this sounds, but so many players struggle with it. Sometimes I think it would be better if we had to physically stand up and move to a different board when we finish the opening and transition into the middlegame. And then to a third board when we go from middlegame to endgame.
Anyway, I hope this article helped you look at the arduous task of converting an advantage from a simple and practical angle.
