Strategy

Space and potential (mud, mud, glorious mud)

How do you play against the Hippo? It's all about Space and Potential. At risk of sounding like an estate agent, I propose to describe my limited understanding of these issues...

Space

All else being equal, it's an advantage to have more space. More space means you can get about the board more easily, organise an attack more easily, and sometimes all your opponent can do is sit tight while you work out how to win: 

 
[Event "Top 10 endgames: "]
[Site "Arnstadt"]
[Date "1926.??.??"]

Middlegame gym

"Failing to plan, is like planning to fail.” ― Stephen McCranie

Test positions in PDF with comments about planning in general

Remember, this is more a guide of how to play positions where you have no idea what to do to start with; if you understand the opening systems you play better and better, that shouldn't happen so often!

Test positions and suggested solutions in PGN file

cheers


D

Isolated Queen's Pawns - another go

Submitted by DrDave on

Isolated Queen's Pawns - another go.

If you have an Isolated Queen's Pawn, you have outposts on c5 and e5, a half-open e-file, more space, more mobility, and more chances of attacking - on either side, I guess, but the e5 outpost suggests the King's-side. On a good day, it works like this:

Botvinnik-Vidmar 1936

What are we going to do now? 1/2

Submitted by DrDave on 

[Event "PC2 12/7/11 23:45"]
[Site "Palm Handheld"]
[Date "2011.07.12"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Southall, Chris"]
[Black "NN"]
[Result "*"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r1bq1rk1/2pn1pbp/1p1p1np1/pP2p3/2P5/2N1PN2/PB1PBPPP/R2Q1RK1 w - - 0 10"]
[PlyCount "26"]
1.. d4 {Chris says: "Move 10 was where I wasn't sure what to do. I had
developed my minor pieces and felt like I needed to challenge black's solid

Mysterious moves

[Just testing pop-up games using PGN4Web]

"We perceive after a careful consideration of the evolution of the chess mind that such evolution has gone on, in general, in a way quite similar to that in which it goes on with the individual chess player, only with the latter more rapidly." -- Richard RETI

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