Don't Know What to Do? -> Improve the Worst Piece
Hey Impressive Chessers!
I'm sure something like this has happened in your chess career-You've developed all or most of your pieces, you've castled your King, you have good central control, basically you've done everything "right". But, your insolent opponent just plays on like nothing has happened-why don't they have the common courtesy to recognize your chess genius and just resign right now? After a dozen or so moves, you start to notice, that your opponent's pieces are getting better and better and they're closing in on your King. After another dozen or so moves you now feel compelled to resign. What happened?! How could a seemingly great position get so out of control, so fast? I'm hoping by the end of this blog you'll have the tools necessary to combat a situation like this. But for now I offer a quote that might give you some respite:
Click --> here to go directly to Puzzle #1
Click --> here to go directly to all other Puzzles and Full Game
How to Think in Chess
You should always first start with the question: is my opponent threatening anything? If the answer is yes, then you should meet their threat with a Phase 4 or 3 move. If you don't know what I'm talking about with the phases, please visit: The Phases of a Chess Player Revisited
If your opponent has no threat, then next on the agenda is to look at our Forcing Moves
When You Don't Know What to do - Improve Your Worst Piece
Ok, your opponent doesn't have a threat and your forcing moves don't look great. This is where chess gets hard, but also fun! It's where you can differentiate yourself from other good players. For instance, if we take Spielmann's quote literally, this is the difference between the World Champion Alekhine and a very good player like Spielmann. Let's take a crack at this with some puzzles:
Puzzle #2 (The Diagrammed Position)
How can White Improve Their Worst Piece?
Puzzle #3 (What is Black's most popular response?)
Conclusion
Chess isn’t just about flashy tactics or complex strategies. Often, the simplest ideas—like improving your worst piece—can have the most profound impact on your game. Have you faced positions where this principle helped you turn the tide? Or are there moments when you’ve struggled to find the right piece to improve? Share your experiences in the comments below! Let’s learn and grow together so that we can...
Stay Impressive!
NM Craig C.
