o Don’t stop looking for your own opportunities. Many games have been lost that could have been drawn or even won (don’t I know it!). But also, people resign with a saving move available on the board – they were just going through the motions until resigning, instead of planning their comeback.
2. Passed pawns should be advanced as rapidly as possible.
2. weakness of the eighth rank
* Very often the first priority in the early middle game in closed positions is to see where you can open a file. (Like in the French defence: after 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Black should immediately see about opening up space on the Queen’s-side with 3…c5.)
All pieces, except pawns, can move backwards. But because the opponent’s pieces are trying to attack us, we get used to them moving down the board towards us, and our pieces moving up the board in the other direction. So that means, backwards moves are sometimes hard to spot. Here are some junior players missing…
Dynamic positions require energetic play. You must make the most of your own chances, and not just react to threats or coast along until you have to do something.
A weakness is typically a pawn that can be attacked (Chekhover-Rudakowsky) or a square that can be used (a hole or outpost) (Smyslov-Rudakowsky) [Sorry, Master Rudakowsky!] The King’s position can be weak, when an attack is more likely to succeed (Tarrasch-Mieses) The principle of two weaknesses in the endgame says that one weakness may not…
