MIDDLEGAME TIPS: tip005

The ability to move If your pieces lose mobility, they will find it hard to organise a defence to new threats. Pieces can lack space or just find themselves in each other’s way with nothing much they can do . Pawns can also show notable power when mobile (Korchnoi-Szabo, Bronstein-Rojahn), and appear as weak targets…

“Mecking does not understand the significance of weak and strong squares. I have played him three times. In 1969 he lost to me owing to the weakness of his light squares. A year later he presented me with all the dark squares and again suffered defeat. And in the San Antonio tournament of 1972, Grandmaster…

“First restrain — then blockade — lastly, destroy!” — Aron NIMZOWITSCH A blockade is just that: a block, stopping the enemy getting past a point or a line. Fischer used it as a tactical idea against Benko Locked pawn chains are a common blockade, usually stopping both players from moving freely If there is a…