How do I go about studying the middlegame

While browsing these forums, and things online, it almost seems like the middlegame is a myth to most chess players. There seems to be a lot of people that swear upon their openings, and that their openings win them the games. And I guess that makes sense in some ways. But I tend to think the game doesnt literally end until the rooks are at least connected, which to my little knowledge, is the middlegame. And the area which I have the most trouble with.

I know how to finish developing, and how to win/draw an endgame. I have trouble not knowing what to do in the middle. And seems to be where I lose most games. By just flat out hanging a piece while trying to come up with a weak plan off the top of my head, or by sticking myself in a fairly basic(even for me) tactical line that I have no way out of. I dont know how to figure out weaknesses. Finding ONE weak square out of 64 seems insane to me at this point. I do understand that sticking a knight or one of those weak squares though can be a bit of a pain for my opponent.

Alright, all in all Im so lost I dont know how to word this lol. How do I practice/study the middlegame?

Is that you balaki?

It's hard to go wrong just following Reuben Fine's 10 middlegame rules. This is a slightly modified version, the original having appeared in his book, Chess the Easy Way:

http://www.academicchess.org/learn/Biographies/shoremans30rules.shtml

That, and work on your tactics, of course.

There are 5 visualization pattern memory banks:

1.Tactics visualization pattern memory bank

2.Mating Net visualization pattern memory bank

3.Endgame visualization pattern memory bank

4.Opening visualization pattern memory bank

5.Middlegame visualization pattern memory bank

The transition from the opening to the middle game is usually signaled by a pawn break which is the first move of the Middlegame plan of attack. The Middlegame plan of attack is determined by your opponent's choice of defensive system.

The choice of opening determines the plan(s) of attack to chose from against your opponent's position. By studying the openings you become familiar with the Middlegame plans of attack.

I will give you an example from one of the openings in my opening repertoire. As Black I play the Sicilian Najdorf if White plays 1.e4. A typical sequence of moves is: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 With this move White has chosen to transpose into the English Attack variation. I choose to respond with 6...e6 which transposes the game into the Sicilian Najdorf/Scheveningen. The reason I chose to play 6...e6 is because I know that with White's early 6.Be3 my ...e6 restricts the anti-Scheveningen systems that White can use against Black. At some point during the game, because I know of White's restriction , I will choose to transpose into the Scheveningen where the resulting position favors Black.

I hope this helps. If you would like to know more please let me know.

nice list, aronchuck. 

aronchuck and Yaroslavl implicitly, together make a great point. There is no shortcut. The middlegame is the most 'personal' and 'creative' area of  the chessgame. The opening is theory, the endgame is technique. In the middle is...creativity. There is no middlegame 'bookmoves' nor is there middlegame 'technique'. The middlegame is the sea, to either drown in or swim home. That's my understanding anyway. 

I try to watch some karpov, carlsen, rubinstein, capa games. Poisitional games. I know plenty of basic tactical shots that I feel a good position can grant me, so I try to play positionally while still working on tactics.

I just still feel like Im missing something, I still have those times where I have no clue on what I should be doing next. Im thinking maybe its pawn structures, because when that is mentioned, I dont really know what it means. I know an iso'd pawn is a target, and backward pawn is a target. And I think thats about it

To progress in the middlegame, I think you should try a mix of tactics and strategy.

Tactics: because, want it or not, the middlegame is a lot about tactics, so if your tactical eye is sharp enough to discover a line that wins a Knight, your position is basically winning. There is a lot of stuff online to exercise, puzzles, tactics, it should not be hard to find

Strategy: here is where you learn about pawn structures, weak squares, imbalances, static/dynamic positions. I personnally recommend "How to reassess your Chess" by Jeremy Silman, a great book.

The middlegame is about getting to a good endgame. Make logical moves, and you will win.

http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Chess-Middlegames-John-Nunn/dp/1906454272/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1386802773&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=understanding+chess+middlgegames

Just as there are patterns in the opening and the endgame, there are middlegame patterns also.  They are found in the tactical patterns and the positional themes that keep reoccuring.  I believe Silman's reassess your chess will teach you to see the positional themes.  Tactical patterns are best learned by solving tactics quizes.

Yeah, IMO work on pawn structures and endgames.  Both help a lot and give you a good strategic foundation for any kind of middlegame you play.

Also agree with playing over older games.  Not so much Tal and Nez IMO (unless you want to learn how to attack, in which case they're great) but players like Capablanca and Smyslov.

+1... Most excellent advice!

While I've only worked through the first 3 chapters so far, I think I can tell, that the Silman-Book "The Amateurs Mind" is mostly about the middle-game and also suited very well for amateurs, as the title suggests.

I already learned a lot from it.

But as others say: Strategical knowledge for a beginner is vastly secondary to avoiding blunders. I still lose every second game due to stuff like overlooking pins despite my strategical knowledge. ^^

Others have already said it, and you say it yourself, but tactics are most likely your biggest weakness. Of course, it won't hurt to study other positional aspects, pawn structures, etc, but your biggest improvement will come to not dropping pieces and getting into simple tactical lines.

The best way to fix that is to learn a lot of tactical patterns by doing tactics.

Oh yeah, if you're new, need to just work on tactics and not missing basic threats.  Learning strategic ideas may be fun, but without basic tactics will ultimately just be frustrating when you lose pieces.

This is quite literally exactly how I think, but for some reason I still feel a little lost at times, like Im missing something. And I think it is pawn structure. Unfortunatly I dont really have the money to be ordering books online, or paying for the diamond membership here

If you're on a shoestring budget, check out Dan Heisman's Novice Nook articles. His NN page breaks them down three ways; alphabetical, reverse chronology, and subject.

http://home.comcast.net/~danheisman/Articles/Novice_Nook_Links.htm

One of the most frequent mistakes I see made from total beginners and which I made myself:

Don't consider a piece that is protected only by a pawn as protected.

Yes, you can retake the exchange but it will be extremely easy for your opponent to pick up the seperated pawns later on an.

this is a game i just played, i feel i played it ok. he kinda gave it to me at the end. but maybe it could help see where im having problems.