Learn from your own mistakes!
Today I want to show you that learning from grandmasters’ games is important - but you can learn from almost any game. The key is analysis. And often, you learn the most from your own mistakes.
The position below comes from a game one of my students played as Black. White is better developed and controls the open file. What should Black do to improve the position?
Despite having a slightly worse position, Black’s setup is quite solid - White's rook cannot enter through the d-file, as all the key squares (d8, d7, d6, and d5) are defended.
But if Black wants to improve the position, that problem has to be solved.
Another issue is development - the knight can’t be developed so easily.
So to equalize, Black has to fix those two problems.
The best idea is to bring the king to e8. That allows Black to play Nbd7 and later bring the rook to the d-file to challenge White’s rook.
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1... Kf8
White has no direct threats and follows the principle - activate the king.
2. Kf1 Ke8
3. Ke2 Nbd7
4. Nxd7 (4. Nc6 doesn’t help White - Black plays Bf8 to keep the bishop and later Rc8)
4... Nxd7 with the idea to play Rd8 and reach an equal position.
My student, unfortunately, didn’t find that plan during the game - but there are a few good lessons to take from it (see below). As they say, you either win or learn something.
- Usually, the best way to improve your position is to activate your pieces.
- If there’s one open file, the side that controls it has the advantage. Try to put your rook on that file to neutralize it - even if you can’t take control, it’s better if your opponent doesn’t control it either.
- In positions with an open center (no pawns in the middle), the bishop is usually stronger than the knight.
- In the endgame, activate your king.
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