In the middlegame, there's always quiet moves for improvement of your position
E.g. - restricting opponent's piece mobility with a simple pawn move, active placement of your minor and major pieces according to positional imbalances, piling pressure on your opponent's weakness (being so early in the game, perhaps there's a weak pawn somewhere), looking for exchange lines that break your opponent's pawn structures while maintaining the strength of yours (being cognizant of material outcomes as well); all of it quietly making your position, and its pieces better than your opponent's. There's also the possibility for a tactical shot you can play that you may have overlooked. All of this is very general and perhaps of little use, but that's how I always find something to do. It is said that the board tells you what to do. I'd like to add that if it isn't telling you what to do, perhaps there's a hole in your practical understanding of positional imbalances?
Hello, I'm fairly new to Chess Mentor, but have been working through the lessons and finding it extremely helpful and interesting. This is an excellent way to learn! I've completed all the new Intermediate courses, which I found easy enough, and several other random courses and lessons in the 1200-1600 range.
I'm looking for a suggestion here as to what course to follow for a particular weakness in my game. I always seem to be at an impasse just at the end of the opening, where the middle game begins. I think I have a pretty reasonable grasp of opening strategy, but then as the middle game is launching, I don't really know how to translate the opening positions into an advantage. Theoretically, yes, but practically, it is difficult to find promising moves. I see the potential problems but not the solutions.
If anyone could recommend some good course for to educate me in this area, much appreciated. My Chess Mentor rating is about 1600, but this is too high for my real playing level. My actual game play ELO (against Shredder, anyway), hovers around 1350. And in Tactic Trainer, which I've been using for a couple months, it's around 1300.
Thanks for any advice! Video suggestions appreciated also.