Tactical themes

“Chess is a terrible game. If you have no centre, your opponent has a freer position. If you do have a centre, then you really have something to worry about!” – Siegbert TARRASCH. On an empty board, every piece controls more squares from a central square than one on the side or in a corner….

The weakness of the last rank is notorious. The King can and should castle, but then it is behind a wall of pawns, unable to move forward, and vulnerable to a back rank mate. (Regis-Springall, Bernstein-Capablanca) Even if the King escapes, the enemy pieces can get behind the defences using the last rank. (Bartlett-Regis, Sunye…

“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…

King safety is the most important thing on the chessboard — ignore it and you will get mated! Kings are unsafe if they are stuck: uncastled in the centre (Wojciechowski-Weiss, Alekhin-Nimzowitsch) castled but exposed or in a weakened position (Liubarski-Soultanbieff) castled but outnumbered (Kasparov-Marjanovic) Ian Nepomniachtchi’s success in the 2022 Candidate’s Tournament was marked by…

Any attack on the Queen’s-side would count, of course, but we normally expect the target to be the Queen’s-side itself, and not a King that has castled on that wing. The usual ingredients for an attack are required: more space, better mobility, and/or a bigger gang. (Janowsky-Capablanca, Capablanca-Alekhin) The minority attack is an example of…

Here’s a list. There are different levels of appreciation, from Know-That to Know-How Anyhow, here’s the list, each linked to a post.