Finding the Best Places for your Pieces

Sometimes, creating a plan in a chess position can be quite difficult. One of the ways to create a plan is to "think like a genie." This basically means to imagine where your each of your pieces (except for pawns) would feel best. So in this blog I'll show you the best places for your pieces.

1. King

In the opening and middlegame, you just want to keep your king safe. But in the endgame, you need your king to be as active and centralized as possible, or else you'll lose. 

2. Queen

The queen is often plays an important role in attack, being the most powerful piece. In most attacks, the queen is well placed on g4/g5 if the opponent castles kingside and b5/b4 if the opponent castles queenside. But usually, when you "think like a genie," you should more focus on the other pieces.

3. Rook

The rook's best spot depends on the current phase of the game. In the middlegame, rooks are best placed on open/semi-open files. But if you get another rook on that file, that makes it two times better. 

In the endgame, white rooks are best placed on the 7th rank, and black rooks are best placed on the 2nd rank. 

4. Knight

Knights like to occupy holes, or weak squares, in the opponent's position. Usually the best squares for a white knight are on the fourth, fifth, and sixth ranks, and the fifth, fourth, and third ranks for a black knight. Here is a portion of @Silman's article The Eternal Battle: Bishops vs Knights:

Knight On The Fourth Rank, Sitting On A Delicious Hole

Knight On The Fifth Rank, All Hail The Knight!

Knight On The Sixth Rank, Lording Over The Universe

5. Bishop

While knights are more powerful in closed middlegames, bishop rule in open middlegames. The bishop is very strong when controlling a long diagonal.

And that ends the blog! Well-placed pieces create tactics and winning ideas, but badly placed pieces cause your destruction, so make sure your pieces are in the right places. If you are ever stuck on what to do in a position, think like a genie.