- We are often told to get at least a stake in the centre in the opening. Without this, you might get pushed off the board (Boleslavsky-Scitov, Hage-Nimzowitsch)
- With less space, swap pieces if you can. You might find the home of your pawn structure now fits.
- If you have more space, it might not be obvious where you should attack. In this case, try little threats on either side of the board, and your opponent's cramped pieces won't be able to organise a defence. (Capablanca-Treybal). Or you can just build up in one spot where your force can be overwhelming (Tarrasch-Marco).
Click [...] to see list of games
[Event "Moscow"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1933.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Boleslavsky, Isaak"]
[Black "Scitov"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C54"]
[Annotator "centre and space"]
[PlyCount "27"]
[EventDate "1933.??.??"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. cxd4 Bb6 {[#]} 7. e5 Ng4
8. h3 Nh6 9. d5 Ne7 10. d6 Ng6 11. Bg5 f6 {[#]} 12. exf6 gxf6 13. Qe2+ Kf8 14.
Bxh6# 1-0
[Event "Simultaneous Exhibition"]
[Site "Arnstadt, Germany"]
[Date "1926.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Hage, H."]
[Black "Nimzowitsch, Aron"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A80"]
[Annotator "Top 10: endgames"]
[PlyCount "84"]
[EventDate "1926.??.??"]
{I have a vision of a perfect game, where on move one I lay claim to a square,
and I keep collecting squares until my opponent resigns on move 63, facing
inevitable mate. This is the nearest I can think of: with every exchange White
gets more cramped! - DR} 1. d4 {Notes by Nimzowitsch} f5 2. e3 d6 3. Bd3 e5 4. dxe5
dxe5 5. Bb5+ c6 6. Qxd8+ Kxd8 7. Bc4 Bd6 8. Nf3 Nf6 9. Nc3 {A better line of
play would be a4 with b3 and Bb2 or Ba3.} Ke7 10. a3 Rd8 11. Bd2 b5 12. Ba2 a5
13. O-O b4 14. Nb1 c5 15. Bc4 e4 16. Ng5 Ba6 17. Bxa6 Rxa6 18. axb4 axb4 19.
Rxa6 Nxa6 {Black's blockade shows the same component parts as in the
preceding game, namely the d-file, the central square e5 and the qualitative
majority on the K side. Added to this there is the Q side, which is
threatening in a blockading sense.} 20. c3 h6 21. Nh3 Ng4 22. g3 Ne5 23. Kg2 g5
24. Bc1 b3 25. Nd2 c4 26. Ng1 Nc5 27. Ne2 Rg8 28. Nd4 f4 {If now 29 exf4 gxf4
30 Re1 then e3 31 fxe3 fxg3.} 29. Nf5+ Ke6 30. Nxd6 f3+ 31. Kg1 Kxd6 {The
White position now looks hopeless.} 32. Rd1 Ke6 33. Nb1 Ncd3 34. Na3 Kd5 35.
Nb5 Rb8 36. Na3 Ra8 37. h3 Kc5 38. Kf1 Nxc1 {This leads to an immediate win.}
39. Rxc1 Nd3 40. Rb1 {[#]} Nxb2 41. Rxb2 Rxa3 42. Rb1 b2 {A genuine
blockade-game with a blockading net covering both wings as well as the centre.
Without belittling the operations on the wings, we feel inclined to attach
greater importance to the central manoeuvres around e5 and d3 : the blockade no
doubt originated in the centre.} 0-1
[Event "Wien Imperial Jubilee"]
[Site "Vienna"]
[Date "1898.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Tarrasch, S."]
[Black "Marco, Georg"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C42"]
[Annotator "space: breakthrough"]
[PlyCount "67"]
[EventDate "1898.06.01"]
[EventRounds "36"]
[EventCountry "AUT"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 Be7 6. Bd3 Nf6 7. O-O O-O 8.
h3 Be6 9. c4 c6 10. Ng5 Na6 11. Nc3 Nc7 12. f4 h6 13. Nf3 Qc8 14. Qc2 Rb8 15.
f5 Bd7 16. Bf4 b5 17. b3 c5 18. d5 b4 19. Ne2 a5 20. g4 Nh7 21. h4 Qd8 22. Bg3
a4 23. Kh1 Ra8 24. Rae1 {!} (24. Rac1 {is given online} Ne8 25. Nf4 Bf6 26. Ne6
axb3 27. axb3 Qb6 28. Nxf8 Kxf8 29. g5 hxg5 30. hxg5 Nxg5 31. Qh2 Kg8 32. Nxg5
Bxg5 33. f6 g6 34. Bxg6) 24... Ne8 25. Nf4 Bf6 {[#] White's domination of
space is crushing, but Tarrasch needs a way in. The focus of the White
structure is at e6, and here he finds a decisive sacrifice.} 26. Ne6 {!} axb3
27. axb3 Qb6 (27... fxe6 28. fxe6 Bc8 29. Bxh7+) 28. Nxf8 Kxf8 29. g5 hxg5 30.
hxg5 Nxg5 31. Qh2 Kg8 32. Nxg5 Bxg5 33. f6 g6 34. Bxg6 {1-0 tarrasch-marco 1-0
(34) Tarrasch,S-Marco,G space I: breakthrough sacrifi 1902 [Regis,Dave]} 1-0
[Event "Karlsbad-04 International Masters"]
[Site "Karlsbad"]
[Date "1929.08.11"]
[Round "10"]
[White "Capablanca, JR."]
[Black "Treybal, Karel"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D30"]
[Annotator "space: play on both wings"]
[PlyCount "119"]
[EventDate "1929.07.31"]
[EventRounds "21"]
[EventCountry "GER"]
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 e6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. Bxe7 Qxe7 6. Nbd2 f5 7. e3 Nd7 8. Bd3
Nh6 9. O-O O-O 10. Qc2 g6 11. Rab1 Nf6 12. Ne5 Nf7 13. f4 {[#] the
Anti-Stonewall formation: White has a Queen's-side initiative} Bd7 14. Ndf3
Rfd8 15. b4 Be8 16. Rfc1 a6 17. Qf2 Nxe5 18. Nxe5 Nd7 {seeking exchanges...}
19. Nf3 {...but not finding them} Rac8 20. c5 Nf6 21. a4 Ng4 22. Qe1 Nh6 23. h3
Nf7 24. g4 Bd7 25. Rc2 Kh8 26. Rg2 Rg8 27. g5 Qd8 28. h4 Kg7 29. h5 Rh8 30. Rh2
Qc7 31. Qc3 Qd8 32. Kf2 Qc7 33. Rbh1 Rcg8 34. Qa1 Rb8 35. Qa3 Rbg8 {[#] Just
when Black has had to cover the h-file...} 36. b5 {...White opens a file on
the Q-side. Black's pieces have to rush back, but get in a tangle because they
have so few squares.} axb5 (36... cxb5 37. h6+ Kf8 38. c6+) 37. h6+ Kf8 38.
axb5 Ke7 39. b6 Qb8 {[#] a sad decision: now Black won't be able to oppose
rooks on the a-file. This is the concrete manifestation of what I described
earlier: White switching the focus of activity from side to side until Black
is wrong-footed.} 40. Ra1 Rc8 41. Qb4 Rhd8 42. Ra7 Kf8 43. Rh1 Be8 44. Rha1 Kg8
45. R1a4 Kf8 46. Qa3 Kg8 47. Kg3 Bd7 48. Kh4 {White spends a little time
wondering where to put his King; he has the luxury of seeing how it looks on a
few squares before the final push.} Kh8 49. Qa1 Kg8 50. Kg3 Kf8 51. Kg2 Be8 {
[#] the last ingredient for the breakthrough is the Knight} 52. Nd2 Bd7 53. Nb3
Re8 54. Na5 Nd8 {[#] Ready or not, here we come} 55. Ba6 bxa6 56. Rxd7 Re7 {
else the a-pawn will simply go after Nb3} 57. Rxd8+ Rxd8 58. Nxc6 {[#] this
'family' fork is decisive} Qc8 59. Nxe7 Kxe7 60. Rxa6 1-0