10 Things You NEED to Do After the Opening- Calculation Part III
It's understandable. We've all had trouble with it at one time or another.
When does the middle game start?
Usually, the middle game begins when one or both players have developed their pieces away from their starting squares and into the action, ensured king safety by castling, and have connected their rooks.
Simply put, it often starts after the opening principles are implemented.
So what are the main principles of the middle game, and which ones are most important?
1) King safety
2) Capitalizing on your opponent's mistakes
3) Finding forcing moves
4) Major piece safety
5) Minor piece safety
8) Tempo
9) Avoiding bad trades
10) Making good trades
Today, I'll focus on the first three principles and give you my perspective.
Let's look at an example!
It's black to move. Take a few minutes to gather your thoughts or, better yet, write them down.
Go through each middle game principle for both sides of the board. It's black to move, but which side would you prefer to play, and why?
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Here's my analysis, and then we'll look at what the computer suggests later this week.
Hopefully you were focusing on most, if not all of these pieces in your initial analysis. If you missed a few, don't worry! That just means you have an opportunity for growth! We all do! 
1) King Safety
I'm noticing that neither king is under attack or threatened to be attacked any time soon by major or minor pieces.
However, black's bishop is lined up with the white king; if the center breaks open or the pawn on d4 ever comes off the board, there is at least a pin of the f2 pawn that could be useful later.
Black's king is sitting pretty in this situation with no direct threats of attack any time soon.
2) Capitalizing on your opponent's mistakes
There are no hanging pieces for either side currently.
The only pieces now threatened on either side of the board are white's pawns on c2 and d4 and white's knight on e7.
The pawn on c2 is protected by only one piece, white's queen.
It can't move until the knight on c3 moves out of its way, so inherently, it and the pawns to the side of it may be weaknesses throughout the game.
The pawn on d4 is a backward pawn protected by white's knight and queen.
If the f2 pawn ever moves, the d4 pawn would be pinned to the king and unable to protect e5.
If the d4 pawn ever moves, it could pin f2 to the king and make g3 a weakness for white.
The knight on e7 is protected only by black's queen and is pinned to it by white's dark square bishop. I'll go into more detail on this when we discuss potential trades.
3) Finding forcing moves
Obviously, taking either pawn on c2 or d4 is terrible.
For one, I instantly lose material.
Second, both are weaknesses I can use against my opponent later in the game.
Leaving them is a much better plan than removing the shortcomings in their position.
If I don't do anything, white can trade my knight for his bishop. (More detail in the trade section)
I can threaten his bishop with my pawn on f7 or h7 by moving them to f6 or h6.
The h6 square would be guarded by his bishop and my pawn on g7.
If he takes on h6, I'll take it back, but the idea is to determine if gaining his bishop for my pawn is with weakening the safety of my king.
Does he have any follow-up attack with multiple pieces that can threaten a mate or regain his material and/or an advantage in overall position?
Do I gain anything by him retreating? Can he take any other pieces and/or gain tempo? (More on this in the trades/tempo sections)
The f6 square would be guarded by his bishop, his pawn on e5, my pawn on g7, my knight on d7, and my rook on f8.
A move like a5 does create an attack on b4, but because the pieces are of equal value and white has the a3 pawn to defend, it's not entirely forcing.
However, it may benefit black to push the pawn to a4 instead of taking on b4. In that case, white must at least to consider the move, but it's not entirely forcing.
Other moves force white to react, but they are all just awful. For instance, any move of a black piece to c5 instantly loses material and tempo and improves black's position. We can discard these without further analysis.
After this example, it's clear that chess is a highly complex game with many considerations in the middle game. Still, when we break each part down into smaller portions and have a hierarchy to follow, understanding positions can become more manageable.
There are many moves and factors we still need to examine further.
Still, we'll discuss this position more in tomorrow's middle game analysis.
Until then, keep learning, keep improving, and most of all enjoy every moment!
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Were there any parts you missed in your analysis of 1-3 or any that you think should have been covered but needed to be added?
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Share your thoughts in the comment section below!
If you would like to improve your opening, catch up on parts one and two of the Calculation Series!
When to Ignore Opening Principles - Calculation Part I
The 5 Opening Principles You Need to Know - Calculations Part II
