Guide: How to Not Hang Pieces Principles?
Let's be real here! Everyone make blunders, even if you're a god at chess. We can't do much to stop making blunders forever, but at least making them less often is do-able.
First thing you notice when you blunders is either lost of material or checkmate. Both of these would make you resign or lose instantly. Even though you were sure that it wasn't a blunder before you moved the piece.
Here are the
1. Make sure your pieces are not hanging
This is a very common mistakes that many amateurs made. In this position, white would have been better or even winning if he had not lost the bishop pair.
Principles of Not Hanging Pieces in the Endgame!
- Opponent have a rook or two = No hanging minor pieces or pawns in ranks and files.
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- Opponent have a bishop = Avoid having anything in the bishop color ( Only if it's endgame or the opponent bishop would occupy many squares in your camp!)
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- Opponent have knights = Place your pieces as far away from the each other as you can (unless your pieces are knights)
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- Opponent have queen = A shelter for your king (Prevent perpetual), have pieces and pawns near king, and try to make fortress.
2. Connect pieces together
There are two ways you can bring the piece back to safety when it's hanged. It's moving away from the danger or just protect it with another piece, pawn, or king.
Principles of connecting pieces together
Opening
- Pawn protect knight : This is the most common way to protect the knight in the opening.
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- Protect pawn with bishop/knight : A good way to occupy and control the center.
- Protect minor pieces/pawns with the queen : This can occurs to rapidly occupy the center when the opponent just develop
Middle Game
- Rook and rook : This combo is the best and easiest way to prevent back rank weakness
- Protect knight using pawn : This method is often used to gain space or force a trade.
- Connect knight to knight : This one is often used to strengthen the protection of both knights (Frequently)and can target the weak squares behind the opponent's camp ( Not very often).
- Bishop and Queen : This is the only way to create a battery against the opponent camp with the bishop.( Both dark and light)(Quite often)
- Endgame
- Rook behind pawn : This can support the pawn from the start to the finish, since the rook can control both a file and a rank.
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- Bishop and pawn : The bishop and pawn both protect each other which prevent any trick from the queen and rooks. The bishop and pawn only worth 4 points, while queen is 9 and rook is 5.
- Pawn connect pawn : Two lonely pawns can be captured by the opponent king easily. On the other hand, if there's two connected passed pawn it's a different story. If the opponent king capture the backward pawn, then the king won't be able to catch up with the other.
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