Weak Squares and Outposts Part 4 - Mikhail Botvinnik

Creating a strong outpost in the enemy's camp and using it for our pieces is always very uncomfortable for the opponent. In the next game, Mikhail Botvinnik demonstrates how such a piece can limit the activity of the enemy pieces, and how this can ultimately lead to a winning position:

Although we typically think of weak squares and outposts in terms of our opponent's territory, it does not necessarily have to be the case. Sometimes such a square might be formed on our own side of the board, and we can use it to improve our pieces.

The most common piece to bring to such a square is a knight, as it will control other important squares in the position. Let us watch Mikhail Botvinnik create a strong outpost in his own house by sacrificing a pawn and occupying the void with a knight.

Certain openings yield inherent weaknesses. When we play those openings we allow those weaknesses of our own volition in hopes of achieving some other positional goal. In the next game, a weakness is created on d5 by Boleslavky's Variation of the Sicilian Defense, and Mikhail Botvinnik methodically zero's in on that weakness until he at last wrests complete control of it.

Studying these games can help us in our own games when we reach similar positions. The following is an Example in which Grandmaster Adrian Mikhalchishin took the page right out of Botvinnik's score book and glued it into his own.