Last time, I was putting an emphasis on the importance of developing your pieces, especially having a safe K. Castling a K often leads to a safe K, but not always. A sacrifice is often needed to break apart the pawn structure around a K to make it unsafe, but before we go into that, let's first look at how a K may become unsafe despite being castled.
Below is a K that is very safe:
Here, there is also a N and a R, but even without these 2 pieces around the K, the K is still fairly safe. The only way it is unsafe is if there are issues with the back rank as there would not be any breathing room for the K, so a R would be more useful than a N if you were to leave a piece to defend the K.
Below is a K which is castled into a fianchetto:
This K is very very safe with so many pieces around to protect it. The only problems are that R-pawns could be quite dangerous as the g pawn may act as a "hook". The main problem (and the way to make the K unsafe) is to remove the B by trading it off, as their will be a huge lightsquared weakness.
Below is a pawn cover which doesn't weaken a specific colour complex:
Of course, in all three positions, the N and R make the K quite safe, but you often must try to help them as much as possible by letting them into your plans. In the position above, the K has breathing room without too much of a colour complex weakness, but this pawn advancement may act as a "hook".
So, I have mentioned the term "hook", but what exactly is it? Hooks are advanced pawns which may allow the pawn cover to get destroyed, or open up pieces for your opponent. Since pawns cannot go backwards, be careful before making a pawn move to allow your K "breathing space" for the future.
In the following game below, I used the advanced pawn my opponent had committed to sacrifice a B to break their pawn structure. It was not a winning sacrifice, but it did not worsen my position either, but unfortunately my opponent hung a mate in 2:
With their doubled pawns, they were unable to open the position and punish me for not developing pieces, but I still should've tried to find a good square for the B. However, I hope it shows you why you should think before committing, or allowing a hook to be committed as these are what makes Ks unsafe.
Last time, I was putting an emphasis on the importance of developing your pieces, especially having a safe K. Castling a K often leads to a safe K, but not always. A sacrifice is often needed to break apart the pawn structure around a K to make it unsafe, but before we go into that, let's first look at how a K may become unsafe despite being castled.
Below is a K that is very safe:
Here, there is also a N and a R, but even without these 2 pieces around the K, the K is still fairly safe. The only way it is unsafe is if there are issues with the back rank as there would not be any breathing room for the K, so a R would be more useful than a N if you were to leave a piece to defend the K.
Below is a K which is castled into a fianchetto:
This K is very very safe with so many pieces around to protect it. The only problems are that R-pawns could be quite dangerous as the g pawn may act as a "hook". The main problem (and the way to make the K unsafe) is to remove the B by trading it off, as their will be a huge lightsquared weakness.
Below is a pawn cover which doesn't weaken a specific colour complex:
Of course, in all three positions, the N and R make the K quite safe, but you often must try to help them as much as possible by letting them into your plans. In the position above, the K has breathing room without too much of a colour complex weakness, but this pawn advancement may act as a "hook".
So, I have mentioned the term "hook", but what exactly is it? Hooks are advanced pawns which may allow the pawn cover to get destroyed, or open up pieces for your opponent. Since pawns cannot go backwards, be careful before making a pawn move to allow your K "breathing space" for the future.
In the following game below, I used the advanced pawn my opponent had committed to sacrifice a B to break their pawn structure. It was not a winning sacrifice, but it did not worsen my position either, but unfortunately my opponent hung a mate in 2:
With their doubled pawns, they were unable to open the position and punish me for not developing pieces, but I still should've tried to find a good square for the B. However, I hope it shows you why you should think before committing, or allowing a hook to be committed as these are what makes Ks unsafe.