Basic concepts of strategy

Chess strategy is the purposeful attempt to gain an advantage over your opponent. Unlike tactics, chess strategy involves long-term goals, usually related to king safety, pawn structure, space, piece activity, etc. Strategy is the overarching plan or set of goals you are hoping to achieve, and changing them is a slow, arduous, but still possible process. Tactics are the specific actions or steps you undertake to accomplish that strategy.

A review of the concepts Basically, any action undertaken in the game can be abstracted to tactical and strategical operations. The tactical ones are easy to grasp: direct threats, pins, forks, deflection, etc.

As for the strategical ones, we can distinguish between:

1) improving our pieces;

2) pawn play;

3) exchanges;

4) prophylaxis/restriction/provocation

1) Improving our pieces

2) Pawn play:

3) Exchanges

4) Prophylaxis/Restriction/Provocation