Experienced players, County players, KS4
Not isolated, but semi-detached — a small island where both pawns are loose They are weak and can be attacked (Fischer-Spassky), but central hanging pawns can dominate space (Bertok-Fischer, Sokolsky-Botvinnik) Click […] to see list of games
“An isolated Pawn spreads gloom over the whole chess board” — Xsavery TARTAKOWER A Pawn with no pawns of the same side on neighbouring files Such a pawn can always be protected by pieces, and so may be a weakness Isolated Queen’s Pawns (IQPs) are a special case, where the owner of the IQP has…
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…
“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” — PROVERB “This (move) reduces all of White’s attacking prospects. Petrosian has a knack of snuffing out such dreams twenty moves before they even enter his opponent’s head!” — Bobby FISCHER Prophylaxis is a fancy way of saying prevention. It’s another idea popularised by Nimzowitsch…
A pawn break brings a pawn into contact with an enemy pawn, hoping to free the position, open lines or force some other benefit. “A break is generally an unexpected or sacrificial pawn move that can serve multiple purposes, including, but not limited to: Opening up files or diagonals Directly attacking opponent’s king Gaining space…
A hole in a chess position is a square in the pawn structure that cannot be defended by a pawn. It is a square that your opponent’s pieces might be able to sit in and you can’t get them out. (Steinitz-Blackburne) It’s like having a nail in your shoe… A hole used like this is…
Thank you for filling in the opening questionnaires online, and I’m sorry we didn’t get time to look at your responses on Saturday. But here is what I might have said: Systems for White Scotch Game (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4)My main recommendation for a first opening system, leading to an open game with chances…
“I detest the endgame. A well-played game should be practically decided in the middlegame.” ~ Dawid JANOWSKI “In order to improve your game you must study the endgame before everything else; for, whereas the endings can be studied and mastered by themselves, the middlegame and the opening must be studied in relation to the endgame.” ~ CAPABLANCA…
Co-ordination at its simplest is when pieces help each other — as when your Bishop and Knight gang up on f7 (first example), or fail to help each other, when they are pointing in different directions (also the first example). When it works, you can feel the pieces ‘flow’ nicely on the board, having a…
