It is said that in the middle game pieces should be traded. Is that always true.
How do you win the Middle game(in depth)
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May 19, 2018
0
#4
You have to have a plan and I list at the end of this message two excellent books specifically about planning for the middlegame and a few more worth studying -not just reading.
You can also plan to simply not give away pieces - though you won't win without making threatening moves, but that will only get you to certain level, not as high as those who make a real plan.
When I coached a very successful high school team, I steered them into playing just a few openings, ones that often result in positions where it's easy to make a middlegame plan. For example, the Bishop's Opening often involves, for White, playing f4 early, then O-O-O, then launching a K-side Pawn Storm. For Black, the French, Caro-Kann, and Slav Defenses often attack Q-side and often fail if Black doesn't play a timely ...c5 to set it up.
But you also need to know key concepts about tactics and strategy - especially tactics. The more tactics and combination patterns you recognize, the more tools you have have to plan with. Likewise, if you can recognize more strategic and positional motifs, like finding a good Knight Outpost or isolating or doubling your opponent's Pawns, the more tools you have to plan with.
An excellent book for those of us who are not master candidates is Fred Wilson's Simple Attacking Plans. It provides four principles, including, "If possible, point all your pieces at your opponent's king." It provides 37 games to illustrate how those plans are put together. I've also looked over master games that I can play through online or watch on YouTube and I see how the winner follows those four simple principles so often.
At a little higher level, another excellent book is Michael Song's and Razvan Preotu's, The Chess Attacker’s Handbook: fourteen principles demonstrated by games and with example problems.
For tactics, I'm thrilled after discovering Martin Weteschnik's Chess Tactics from Scratch, by far the best book I've studied on tactics! It not only has examples, but principles behind how to create pins, discovered attacks, etc. Plenty of diagrams so you can follow in book alone.
Also required reading my high school team were chapters from two other books that are excellent throughout:
Keres and Kotov, The Art of the Middlegame, Ch.2, “Strategy and Tactics of Attacks on the King” – perhaps the best 50 pages of chess instruction ever written.
Aaron Nimzowitsch, My System, Ch. 14, “Overprotection,” - the entire book is the Bible of modern chess.
May 19, 2018
0
#5
Pieces should NOT be traded unless it produces a tactical or positional advantage or reduces a disadvantage EXCEPT when you are ahead in material. A good example is when each side has connected rooks on their back ranks and there's a file where opposing rooks face each other. The side that attacks and trades rooks loses control of the file. A simple example:
Possibly helpful:
Simple Attacking Plans by Fred Wilson (2012)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708090402/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review874.pdf
http://dev.jeremysilman.com/shop/pc/Simple-Attacking-Plans-77p3731.htm
Logical Chess: Move by Move by Irving Chernev (1957)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708104437/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/logichess.pdf
The Most Instructive Games of Chess Ever Played by Irving Chernev (1965)
https://chessbookreviews.wordpress.com/tag/most-instructive-games-of-chess-ever-played/
Seirawan stuff:
http://seagaard.dk/review/eng/bo_beginner/ev_winning_chess.asp?KATID=BO&ID=BO-Beginner
http://www.nystar.com/tamarkin/review1.htm
50 Essential Chess Lessons by Steve Giddins
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708100833/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review534.pdf
http://www.gambitbooks.com/pdfs/50_Essential_Chess_Lessons.pdf
Simple Chess by Michael Stean
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708104258/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review400.pdf
Amateur's Mind by Jeremy Silman
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708094419/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/ammind.pdf
Chess for Hawks
https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/9041.pdf
Chess Strategy: Move by Move by Adam Hunt
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708093249/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review890.pdf
How to Reassess Your Chess (4th ed.) by Jeremy Silman
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708095832/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review769.pdf
The Chess Attacker's Handbook
http://www.gambitbooks.com/pdfs/The_Chess_Attacker's_Handbook.pdf
Chess Strategy for Club Players by Herman Grooten
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708101926/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review696.pdf
Pawn Structure Chess by GM Andrew Soltis (2013)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708101523/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review908.pdf
The Power of Pawns by GM Jörg Hickl (2016)
https://chessbookreviews.wordpress.com/tag/the-power-of-pawns/
https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/9034.pdf
One can get some idea of the lasting scope of the respect for My System by looking at:
https://www.chess.com/article/view/the-best-chess-books-ever
Still, it might be noted that My System apparently did not occur to GM Yasser Seirawan as something to include in his list of personal favorites, and Aaron Nimzowitsch was not identified by the GM as a very worthy author.
https://www.chess.com/blog/RoaringPawn/an-open-letter-to-the-four-time-us-chess-champion-gm-yasser-seirawan
https://www.chess.com/blog/GMYAZ/open-letter-response-user-radovics-letter-to-me
My System has accumulated some direct negative commentary over the years.
"... I found [the books of Aaron Nimzowitsch to be] very difficult to read or understand. ... [Nimzowitsch: A Reappraisal by Raymond Keene explains his] thinking and influence on the modern game in a far more lucid and accessible way. ... The books that are most highly thought of are not necessarily the most useful. Go with those that you find to be readable; ..." - GM Nigel Davies (2010)
In 2016, IM pfren wrote:
"My System is an iconoclastic book. A lot of things in there is sheer provocation, and it does need an expereienced player to know what exactly must be taken at its face value.
I love 'My System', and I have read it cover to cover one dozen times, but suggesting it to a class player is an entirely different matter."
Also: "[Some things] ARE wrong, and it's not easy for a non-advanced player to discover those wrong claims.
Nigel Short has claimed that 'My System' should be banned. Stratos Grivas says that the book is very bad. I don't share their opinion, but I am pretty sure that there are more useful reads for class players out there."
Although he is a fan of My System, IM John Watson similarly acknowledged (2013) that:
"... Not everything in it has stood the test of time, ..."
http://theweekinchess.com/john-watson-reviews/john-watson-book-review-108-of-eplus-books-part-2-nimzowitsch-classics
One last point to keep in mind is that, even if My System would eventually help a player, it might not necessarily be helpful to a player now.
"... Just because a book contains lots of information that you don’t know, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it will be extremely helpful in making you better at this point in your chess development. ..." - Dan Heisman (2001)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140626180930/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/heisman06.pdf
For those who have never seen it, a My System sample can be seen at:
https://www.qualitychess.co.uk/ebooks/MySystem-excerpt.pdf
A Chess Praxis sample can be seen at:
https://www.qualitychess.co.uk/ebooks/ChessPraxis-excerpt.pdf
Various samples:
https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/9027.pdf
May 19, 2018
0
#9
Based on your rating, and level of play. Middlegames are something you shouldnt be concentrating on.
Opening Principles:
1. Control the center squares – d4-e4-d5-e5
2. Develop your minor pieces toward the center – piece activity is the key
3. Castle
4. Connect your rooks
Tactics...tactics...tactics...
Pre Move Checklist:
1. Make sure all your pieces are safe.
2. Look for forcing move: Checks, captures, threats. You want to look at ALL forcing moves (even the bad ones) this will force you look at, and see the entire board.
3. If there are no forcing moves, you then want to remove any of your opponent’s pieces from your side of the board.
4. If your opponent doesn’t have any of his pieces on your side of the board, then you want to improve the position of your least active piece.
5. After each move by your opponent, ask yourself: "What is my opponent trying to do?"
"... The game might be divided into three parts, i.e.:- 1. The opening. 2. The middle-game. 3. The end-game. There is one thing you must strive for, to be equally efficient in the three parts. Whether you are a strong or a weak player, you should try to be of equal strength in the three parts. ..." - Capablanca
"... Batsford's new edition of Logical Chess: Move by Move, written in 1957 by Irving Chernev, ... is definitely for beginners and players who are just starting to learn about development, weak squares, the centre, standard attacking ideas, and the like. In many ways, it would a wonderful 'first' book (or first 'serious' book, after the ones which teach the rules and elementary mates, for example), and a nice gift for a young player just taking up chess. ..." - IM John Watson (1999)
http://theweekinchess.com/john-watson-reviews/assorted-recent-books
For a player of your strength you need to play more and solve lots and lots of tactics. Watching some youtube videos of GMs or IMs playing blitz online will really improve your chess as well. for books i recommend that you get 2 or 3 beginner to master books written by a 2200+ player as that will explain to you all of basic rules of thumb in chess
The middle game is really hard and how do you win the middle game.