500 Elo Guide to Positional Play

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500eloGoEasy

Jan 8, 2017

Welcome to the forums ladies and gentlemen. Allow me to introduce myself. I'm a strong Canadian self identified grandmaster rated well over 500. In this guide I will attempt to challenge players of all levels from beginners to the world's elite grandmasters in their understanding of positional play. Allow me to start with a quote. Nimzowitsch once said, "My original conception of positional play as such: the well known idea of the accumulation of small advantages is only of second or third significance. Of much greater importance is a prophylactic applied both externally and internally" (Nimzowitsch, 1925, My System). In this article I will attempt to expand this idea of prophylaxis into one that is both easy to understand and also challenging at the same time to readers of all levels.

What do I mean when I say prophylaxis? Well, to quote Mato Jelic quoting a quote, "a picture is worth a thousand words". So then I will show you a game and then explain from there.

In this game, black's failure in prophylaxis allowed white to create a combination taking advantage of the pin on the queen resulting in a winning endgame (also he was under time trouble and blundered in the end).

Another example shows how to stop the opponent's counterplay with prophylaxis. This game was played in the candidates tournament in 1987. Myself was white and my opponent was a strong russian grandmaster rated over 2600.

Hopefully these two games along with the commentary have provided some insight on the idea behind prophylaxis and how correct usage of the technique can result in a crushing advantage.