So Evokes Morphy, Smashes Kasparov | 100+ Modern Masterpieces Guaranteed To Improve Your Chess

In the first video in our Modern Masterpieces series, we looked at the importance of controlling the center. It is the VERY FIRST thing you need to in a chess game. The claims you and your opponent stake on the center in the first few moves dictate where you should develop your pieces, in which direction you should castle, and much more.

An interesting experiment my friend Jeremy told me about recently is to simulate chess engine games with different starting positions for the pawns. If White starts with all the pawns on the fourth rank, the position is already winning. Technically both players are equal in development, but without any space or control of the center, Black will not be able to develop while White quickly will.

Once you and your opponent both have a stake in the center, the next step is to DEVELOP YOUR PIECES. This means bringing them off of their starting squares to more central squares where they contribute to the battle against your opponent. New players are often unsure how to develop their pieces - there are so many choices! Here are five tips that will set you off on the right path!

1. Develop knights before bishops.

This is an ancient axiom, and there are many exceptions, but it's still a good idea in many cases to lead with your knights. The knights want to go to f3, f6, c3, and c6. The bishops have more good choices. When in doubt, develop the pieces first with obvious squares to go to. Wait to see what your opponent does to decide where other pieces will go.

2. Develop the pieces on the side you intend to castle on first.

If you will castle kingside, prioritize developing the knight on g1 and the bishop on f1 as White. If you are castling queenside, develop the knight on b1, the bishop on c1, and the queen. Again, these are tips with many exceptions, not hard rules, but they will often serve you well.

3. Castling is a developing move.

Some players develop the minor pieces (knights and bishops) and then IMMEDIATELY try to attack the opponent. Don't forget to castle. It's a developing move that includes one rook directly and enables coordination between both rooks, harmonizing the development of your whole force.

4. Don't forget the heavy pieces!

You aren't done developing until your rooks and queens are also included in the battle. They come in last, and by the time you can develop them, you may be getting distracted by the combat emerging on the board. Keep your eye on the development ball and get these powerhouses in as soon as you can.

5. Develop with threats!

While doing all of the above, don't forget that there's an opponent sitting across from you! Of course, you must pay attention to their threats and ideas, but you should also try to cross them up. Where possible bring your pieces out with threats and force your opponent to defend against them. With luck, they will soon be far behind in their own development as they respond to your threats. Then you may launch a vicious attack!

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In today's example game, the talented young Wesley So caught out the legendary Garry Kasparov in a blitz game. Kasparov is very arguably the greatest chess player of all time, and even after ten years of retirement, he was still a force when this game was played in 2016. He's won so very many great attacking games, so how did So catch him on such a wrong foot?

The key in this game was that Kasparov was trying to play a closed King's Indian Defense position. He won many great attacking games in this closed structure. When the pawn structure is closed, development is less important. In such a case, Kasparov can leave pieces on the back row for some time. Unfortunately for Kasparov, this was not a truly closed King's Indian position, and So seized on a pawn sacrifice to rip open the position.

With a massive lead in development, So offered multiple pawn sacrifices to open the position as much as possible. Soon, ALL of his pieces were developed while Kasparov's pieces were disjointed and many were still in their starting position.

After the sacrifice of a knight and a rook, So set up a bevvy of pins targeting the two valiant knights desperately defending Kasparov's king trapped in the center. With mate in four at most on the horizon, Kasparov resigned, ceding a stunning 25-move victory to So.