How One In-Between Move Can Turn the Game Around
Sometimes you don’t rush to take back material right away. Instead, you slip in a move that creates an immediate threat - forcing your opponent to deal with it first. And only then you recapture on your own terms.
That’s the idea behind an in-between move.
This idea is crucial - miss just one in-between move, and even a grandmaster can throw away a winning position in a single moment.
Black to move. What is the best line?
16... Rc1
Before taking material, force your opponent’s king toward the center - it will be weak there.
16... Qxb4? The most obvious capture doesn’t work well. 17. Qd2 Qc5 and Black ends up down material.
17. Kd2 Rxf1
18. Qxf1 Qxb4
Now it’s the perfect time to take that piece.
19. Nc3 Rc8
Put pressure on the pinned piece.
20. Qc1 d4
Put pressure on the pinned piece again!
Black will end up ahead in material and with a strong attack.
WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM IT?
- An in-between move is when you don’t play the obvious recapture right away. Instead, you make a move that creates an immediate threat - and only after your opponent reacts, you take what you wanted.
- Be extremely careful when playing an in-between move - a wrong one, or missing it completely, is one of the main reasons even grandmasters lose games. If they struggle with it, you can imagine how careful you need to be!
- The best candidate moves are checks, captures, and threats - look at those first.
- A king in the middle of the board during the middlegame is very weak.
- If you see a pinned piece - put pressure on it!
YOUR TURN - LET’S PUT IT INTO PRACTICE.
Black to move. Find the winning in-between move.
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