How to Improve your Chess III; The middlegame

BoboTheFlyingSheep67

Jan 21, 2019, 10:50 PM | 8

How to Improve your Chess III; The middlegame

By BoboTheFlyingSheep67

Hi everyone! This is my 3rd article in the series "How to improve your chess". In this article, we will focus exclusively on the tactical aspect of middlegames, and in the next, we will focus on positional play. Enjoy!

Before we learn the different types of tactics, we must learn how to recognize when we should start looking for tactics. Here are a few rules (created by IM Jeremy Silman)

Silman's Rules of Recognition -

A weakened (or open) King. When a King has a poor pawn cover, has no defenders, or is otherwise weak, a combination is probably in the works
A stalemated King. When a King has no legal moves, tactics that produce a check also result in checkmate
Undefended pieces (not pawns). Any unguarded piece is subject to destruction by a double attack or fork
Inadequately guarded pieces. Such a piece appears to be safe, but a sudden double attack can place the piece in jeopardy by adding another attacker

If you recognize one or more of above factors, chances are there is a combination/tactic that you should look for. If none of these factors are present, it is unlikely that there is a combination (There are some exceptions to this rule) Now that we know how to recognize when a tactic might be present, we must learn the different types of tactics, starting with the double attack.

The Double Attack -

A double attack is an attack against two pieces at the same time (hence the name "double" attack). There are two types of double attacks

Discovered Attacks (when a piece moves out of the way and opens a file or diagonal for a queen rook or bishop and uncovers an attack against an enemy piece)
Forks (when one piece attacks two pieces at a time)

Discovered Attacks -

As I already mentioned, a discovered attack is when a piece moves out of the way and opens a file or diagonal for a queen rook or bishop and uncovers an attack against an enemy piece. There are three types of discovered attacks; double checks, discovered checks and pure discovered attacks. Let's look at a simple example of a pre discovered attack-

In this position, it is White to move and White can go for a discovered attack with a move like Bf4, attacking the black bishop. This is not a double attack, however, because two pieces are not being attacked, only one (the black bishop) is. To create a double attack, White can play Bd4, attacking the knight, while simultaniously uncovering an attack from the White Rook onto the bishop. Here, White would win a piece.

The second type of discovered attack is the discovered check. In this type of discovered attack, a piece moves out of the way and opens a file of diagonal to check the opposing king. Here is an example of a discovered check -

To create a discovered check, White can play Bd4+, attacking the knight, while simultaniously uncovering an attack from the White Rook. Once Black gets his king out of check, white is free to capture the knight.

The last type of discovered attack is the double check. This is the most powerful of the three types of discovered attacks because it forces your opponent to move their, thus paralyzing your opponent's army for one turn. Here is an example of a double check -

In this position, Black would love to take white's rook, however, its white's turn and white can use a double check to win the game. White can win by playing 1.Bg6++ (White has no time to capture the rook, since it is a double check and he must move the king) Kf8 2.Re8#

Now that you have grasped the basic concept of a double attack, try to solve these next few double attack puzzles -

3) CHALLENGE!

These puzzles should not have been too hard and they should take a maximum of 5 minutes each. Now, you are probably thinking to yourself, "why do I need to learn this? its not going to make me a grandmaster". Well actually, it is! Even grandmasters tend to overlook discovered attacks in their games! Here is a game played between Torre and Emmanuel Lasker (world champion for 28 years)

That concludes our study of Discovered Attacks, on to forks!

Forks -

Forks are tactical maneuvers where a piece attacks two enemy pieces at the same time. Any piece - including pawns and kings - can create a fork. Here is an example of a fork -

In this position it is White to move. White can play 1.Nd7+ attacking both the King and the Rook at the same time! (White is forking Black's King and the Rook) Here is another example of a fork -

In this position, its Black to move and he plays 1...Rb6+??. ("Patzer sees check, patzer plays check") White responds with 2.Kc5! and his King attacks the Black knight, bishop and rook all at the same time. Black will lose a piece and go on to lose the game.

Now that you have gotten the general gist of forks, try out some of these puzzles -

3) Find all the forks! (There are 6)

Finally, we will conclude our fork section with a game featuring a fork -

Pin -

A pin is a situation brought on by an attacking piece in which a defending piece cannot move without exposing a more valuable defending piece behind it. There are two types of pins -

Absolute Pins, where the piece is being pinned to the King
Relative Pins, where the piece is being pinned to a more valuable piece (that is not a king)

Since the absolute pin is the most dangerous, let's look at that type of pin first

Absolute Pins -

An absolute pin is one where the piece shielded by the pinned piece is the king. It is illegal to move the pinned piece out of the line of attack, because that would place your king in check. This is what makes an absolute pin more dangerous than a relative pin - the pinned piece cannot move. Not all absolute pins are "deadly". Absolute pins can be played in all phases of the game, but are especially common in the opening. A typical position with an absolute pin can arise from the Philidor Defence. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.Bb5. Here, the absolute pin isn't so dangerous because the pinned piece is being protected by a pawn and Black can easily break the pin with either Bd7 or a6 followed by b5.

Case Study, A pin themed opening trap

That being said, that doesn't mean absolute pins aren't deadly. Take a look at an opening trap in the Scandinavian defence -

Although its only the fourth move, Black has already lost his Queen! (we cannot move the queen, or else his king would be in check) This goes to show you the power of absolute pins.

Absolute pin exercises -

Here are a few diagrams which give more examples of absolute pins -

This is an easy example. In this position, White goes Qa4! and Black's knight is pinned and also cannot be defended. White wins a Knight here. The following example is how to use a pin in a petit combination -

Here. White goes Qh5+ (Black cannot capture because the g-pawn is being pinned) Kg7 2.Qxg6+ Kh8 3.Qh7# White took advantage of an absolute pin to win the game!

Now that we have covered absolute pins, let's learn about relative pins!

Relative pins -

As with absolute pins, relative pins occur quite frequently in games - especially during the openings. For example, in the Three Knights Defence 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 d6 4.Bb5 (Absolute pin!) Bg4 (Relative pin). The difference between the relative pin and the absolute pin is that White could move the f3 knight if he wanted to (But he would lose his queen xD), however with an absolute pin, it is NOT legal to move the pinned piece.

Breaking Relative Pins

As mentioned above, the difference between the relative pin and the absolute pin is that, in a relative pin, you can move the pinned piece and expose the more valuable piece behind it. This is not always the best idea, however, it could be extremely annoying in certain scenarios. For example, take this game in the Philidor Defence (in a trap known as the Legall's Mate Trap)

This is a great example of breaking a relative pin. It also shows you that you should never be to confident that a relatively pinned piece won't move. Whenever you decide to apply pressure to a pinned piece, you should always ask yourself if there is any way your opponent could break the pin.

Applying pressure on a pinned piece -

While sometimes your opponent can break the pin, when they CAN'T break the pin, it is best to pressure the pinned piece as much as possible

In this position, White pressures the pinned piece with 1.b5! forcing Black to either give up the exchange or the Knight. Black cannot defend the Knight (its being attacked by a pawn and it will be lost), so Black must move the Knight and lose the exchange.

Skewers -

In chess, a skewer is an attack upon two pieces in a line; with the attacked piece being the more valuable one, and the piece behind being the less valuable one. The opponent is compelled to move the more valuable piece to avoid its capture, thus exposing the less valuable piece so that it will be captured A skewer is sometimes described as a "reverse pin". Here is an example of a skewer in its most basic form -

In this position, White should play Rh6+, attacking the Black King, and once the King moves out of the way, White can pick up the Black Rook.

There are 5 different types of skewers; checking skewer, overloaded skewer, fatal attraction skewer, weak square skewer and an equal value skewer. I found a nice instructive video by Danny Rensch. that explains the different types very well. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMtk5StjlPQ)

Clearance Sacrifices -

A Clearance Sacrifice" is a term used to describe a deliberate sacrifice of material with the goal of freeing up either a square, diagonal, or file. Essentially, you are throwing away a piece, to "un-obstruct" a file or diagonal (for an attack)

The above definition and example are from Chess.com article - https://www.chess.com/article/view/chess-tactics--definitions-and-examples#clearance

How to spot a clearance sacrifice -

Visualize where you would like your pieces to be. Focus only on how to get them there. Don't worry about sacrificing material
Judge whether your clearance sacrifice is sound ("Do the benefits outweigh the negatives?")
Look for your opponent's plans. As pretty as your sacrifice looks, you should always try to check to see if your opponent can refute it with a zwischenzug. ("intermezzo" or an in-between move) Not thinking what your opponent might do is a serious mistake.

Game Featuring a Clearance sacrifice -

Puzzles -

2) CHALLENGE!

Deflection -

Deflection is a tactic which distracts an opponent's piece from doing its job, such as defending an important square, pinning a piece or blocking an open file or diagonal. Here is an example of a deflection -

In this position, Black plays Qxb2?? hoping to pick up a knight, after all his queen is defended by his Bishop. Unfortunately for him, his Bishop must also block any checks that White gives on the back-rank. (Black's Bishop is overworked). This is a disaster for Black after White plays Rd8+ Bf8 the only move and then since the Queen's defender's attention has been diverted, White is free to pick up Black's queen.

How to recognize when to use deflection -

When one of your opponent's piece is guarding an important square in your opponent's position.
When one piece is holding your opponent's position together ("overworked" piece)
When you opponent doesn't have many defenders

Famous Game with Deflection -

It's amazing how much impact one pawn can have on the position. Playing d6+ creates, as Agrry Kasparov himself says, "total havoc in Black's position" This game combines together the tactics of deflection/attraction, forks and skewers into one game.

Interference -

Interference is sort of like another form of deflection. Interference, as Kasparov puts it, "disrupts the harmony in your opponent's position and cuts the communication line between their pieces". Here is a simple example, where White literally cuts off the communication between Black's pieces -

In this position, Black has a decisive material advantage. Normally, this would be winning, however, here White can use interference. 1.g3 (forcing the rook onto g4) Rg4 2.f4! White literally disrupts the communication between Black's pieces and will pick up a rook, and be up 2 pawns. (if 2..Kf3 3. Ra3+ forcing the king to abandon the protection of the rooks) Let's look at another case of interference/deflection -

White's goal is to open up the Bishop (threaten mate on h7), however if he plays e5, Black will play f5 closing down the diagonal of the Bishop. The solution is simple; interference/deflection! 1.Rf6!! Kg8 (if 1...Bxf6 2.e5 and mate on h7 is inevitable) 2.e5 h6 3.Ne2 (Black resigned because material loses are inevitable)

Game featuring interference -

Okay, so that concludes the tactical aspects of the middlegame and my third article in the series. I hope you all enjoyed! (The next article is about positional play in the opening)

How to Improve your Chess III; The middlegame

How to Improve your Chess III; The middlegame

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