Middle Game Plans

Samantha212

| Oct 16, 2015 at 10:33 PM

| Posted in: Samantha212's Blog

| 2920 reads

| 8 comments

Hello Chess Fans,

Most of our games are decided in the middlegame,

making it immensely important to understand
middlegame positions to create constructive
strategies and effective plans. Here are a few
concepts to keep in mind the next time you're
confronted with a relatively equal middlegame and
you're
not
sure
how
to
proceed:

General

Middlegame

Plans:

1) Improve the position of your pieces. For

example, put knights on outposts, bishops on open
diagonals and rooks on open files.
2) Does your opponent have a weakness you can
attack? For example, isolated pawns, idolated
double pawns, an IQP, a backward pawn on a halfopen file, a potentially trapped piece with limited
mobility? Or possibly a Weak Square? Then gang
up your pieces to gain a decisive advantage.
These tactical articles may be helpful - Playing
Against an Isolated Queen Pawn and Trap It Then
Win it.
3) If a piece is badly placed and cannot be
improved, can you exchange it for one of your
opponent's better placed pieces?
4) Create weaknesses in your opponent's pawn
structure. For example, creating double, isolated
pawns or forcing pawn moves that leave behind
weak
squares
for
outposts.
5) If you yourself have weaknesses, can you
eliminate them? If not, guard them well, like an
IQP or a backward pawn on a half-open file.
6) Keep your pieces coordinated and see if you
can disturb the coordination of your opponent's

pieces. Review previous articles on Interference

Tacticsand Removing
the
Defender.
7) Keep your king safe and look for opportunities
to compromise your opponent's king position.
8) Look for transpositions into favorable
endgame positions. For example, trading down
pieces so you're left with two bishops vs two
knights or two bishops vs a bishop and a knight in
open positions.
9) Look for opportunities to bring your rook to the
2nd/7th rank, infiltrating your opponent's side of
the board.
10) Take advantage of your Pawn Majority. Review
the article to refresh your memory on taking
advantage of kingside & queenside pawn
majorities.
11) Look for opportunities to create a passed
pawn. Review this article to refresh those
skills: Pawn Breakthroughs.
12) Attack's on your opponent's king are not
always justified. It may work at a beginner's level,
but a stronger player is usually able to refute an
unfounded attack. When executing an attack there
must be something to attack - A Weakness. If
your opponent has no weaknesses, then your
attack could be powerless and you risk ruining the
coordination of your own pieces.
13) Your best approach is to Accumulate
Advantages. A single advantage, like a knight on

a central outpost, is a start but alone is not enough

to win. Your aim is to amass as many advantages
as you can before dealing your lethal, attacking
blow with as many pieces as possible. BAM! Of
course, if your opponent makes a mistake or
blunders then it may come more quickly, but don't
plan on it. Slow and steady improvement of your
position is the best way to go.

Grandmaster Games
The following examples are from Grandmaster
games. To access your own thinking (shortcomings
and strengths), think about each position first and
create a plan. Afterwards, we'll review the plan
that was played in the actual game. The Master's
agenda is clearly explained to enrich your insight
into
middlegame
planning.
You're Mission: Take away the ideas presented
here and use them in your own future games.
Good Luck!

Position
...Kxg7.

#1: Black

just

played

Sergey Makarichev (2500) vs. Robert Bellin

(2425)
Hastings, Englan | Dec 1979 | ECO: C55 | 1-0

1. e4e52. Nf3Nc63. Bc4Nf64. d3Be75. Bb3O-O6. OOd67. c3Bd78. Nbd2Be89. Re1Kh810. d4Nd711. Nf
1Bf612. Ng3g613. Bh6Bg714. Bxg7+[[Kxg7When we
evaluate the position from this point we notice that the
dark squares around Black's king are very weak. His LS
bishop is trapped by his own pieces and both of his
knights are defending the e5 pawn.
15. a4Sergey has a very active bishop who controls a

center diagonal. He makes this preventative move to

maintain the bishop's activity along the diagonal if the
knight should attack it.
(15. h4If he began his kingside attack
first 15... Na5Black's knight could attack the bishop and
he's either captured or forced to move to a more passive
position. 16. Bc2)15... a5Black responds in like to
prevent white from pushing the pawn to a5, which would
take away the b6 square from the knight. The c5 square
is already controlled by the white pawn, limiting the
squares the knights can move to.
16. h4BAM! This is White's main plan. To attack the
weakened kingside with an h-pawn push
16... h5Black stops the pawn's progression but it also
weakens the g5 square to use as an outpost.
17. Ng5POW! The knight immediately makes use of the
outpost. Black can not presently push the f-pawn to f6 to
kick the knight away because it would allow the knight to
fork the king and queen.
17... Qe7The queen moves to prevent the fork and
defends the e6 square.
(17... f6If this move is made. 18. Ne6+Devastating for
Black. )18. f4Sergey wants to break open the pawn
center.
18... exf4Bellin takes the pawn
19. Ne2The knight swings over to capture the pawn

19... Nd8Black puts another defender on the e6 square.

After the knight captures f4, White will have 3 attackers
on the e6 square.
20. Nxf4c6This pawn push defends the d5 square,
preventing the knight from attacking the queen with Nd5
21. Qd3A queen lift accomplishes three things: 1.She's
on a more active square. 2.After the e-pawn pushes, she'll
have a bee-line to g6 and 3.She can slide over to g3 if
needed.
21... Rh8Defends the h-file.
22. Re2This quiet rook move allows the a-rook to join the
party of attackers, either on e1 or f1.
22... f6The f-pawn attacks the knight but it also weakens
the e6 square.
23. Nge6+OF COURSE! Where else was he going to go?
With White's pieces in place, the attack is under way.
23... Nxe624. Nxe6+Kh725. Rf1POW! The rook slides
over to keep pressure on the f-file.
25... Nf8Black is looking to exchange knights.
26. e5BAM! The e-pawn pieces into Black's center to pry
apart his remaining defenses.
26... dxe527. dxe5Nxe628. exf6Attacking the queen.
28... Qc5+She cleverly checks along an open diagonal.
29. Kh1White's king is adequately defended and Black's
pieces aren't coordinated to follow-up with an attack.
29... Nf8Retreats the knight from being captured by the

rook.
30. Re7+CAPOW! The rook infiltrates the 7th rank!
30... Kh6Retreats
31. Qe4You may be questioning this move. Sergey wants
the queen to defend the rook so the f-pawn can push
forward, allowing the rook to maintain his pressure on the
7th rank without being captured by Black's queen.
31... Nd732. f7Pawn pushes
32... Rf8Rook pins the pawn to the f1 rook.
33. Bc2WHAM-BAM! The decisive bishop/queen battery
attacks g6 and Black resigned.
33... Qd6If the queen defended g6
34. Qe3+White has this check.
34... g5If he blocked with the pawn
(34... Kh7If the king retreated 35. fxe8=Q+The pawn
promotes with a discovered check. As they say,"The Jig is
Up" )35. Qxg5#MATE

J#,.@
Middlegame Summary - What did we learn?

1.GM Makarichev started defensively by preventing

a well-placed bishop from being kicked-off the
center diagonal.
2.Then followed it up by pushing the h-pawn to
further weaken Black's kingside pawns.
3.He took advantage of outposts created by Black's
pawn pushes, and immediately placed a knight on
them.
4.We saw the knights exert their power over a
weak square (e6) with the help of the bishop.
5.He utilized both rooks to control the center,
kingside files.
6.Repositioned his queen to a more active square
with attacking options.
7.Once White's pieces were in position, Makarichev
released a well-executed attack landing one, two,
three & four punchs that allowed the rook to
breakthrough to the 7th rank.
8.Then further supported the rook to allow the
pawn to promote.
9.The bishop/queen battery was the nail in the
coffin.

Rg5.

Position #2: White just played

Alexander Tolush vs. Vladimir Alatortsev

URS Championship | Riga, Latvia | 1954 | ECO: C50 | 0-1

1. e4e52. Nf3Nc63. Bc4d64. d4Be75. d5Na56. Bd3c

57. c3b68. Nbd2Nf69. h3O-O10. g4Ne811. Nf1Bd71
2. b4Nb713. Rb1b514. Qe2c415. Bc2a516. a3axb41
7. cxb4g618. Bh6Ng719. Qe3f620. Ng3Rf721. Nd2Q
c722. Rc1Nd823. Ke2Bf824. Rcg1Re725. Qc3Nf726.
Be3Ree827. f3Ra628. h4Rea829. Nb1Be730. Rg2Qd
831. Kd1Qc832. Rhg1Bd833. Qd2Be734. Nf5Bf835.
f4exf436. Bxf4Ne537. Bxe5dxe538. Nh6+Kh839. g5
Nh540. gxf6Rxf641. Qg5Bxh642. Qxh6Qa6[[43. Rg5
When we look at this position we notice that White's

attempting to mate in 2 moves. He's threatening to

capture the knight on h5 and mate with Qg7 after Black
captures. But White has handicapped himself by not
attacking with all his pieces. His bishop & knight passively
defend squares on the queenside and can not quickly get
to the kingside. Black needs to defend his position but
how? There are 2 types of defense. Passive Defense like
we saw in the game above and Active Defense where you
create a counter threat. Whenever a position allows you
to actively defend DO IT!
(43. Qe3This was the move White should have made. The
queen defends the weak dark squares along the diagonal,
preventing Black from infiltrating White's
position. )43... Qb6POW! This is an Active Defensive
Move...The queen attacks the rook and threatens to
infiltrate White's half of the board. If such a move isn't
available, then you always have ...Rg8 but since it can be
used, Do It!
(43... Rg8If you saw this defensive move...it doesn't have
the devastating effects that that the queen variation has.
This is a Passive Defensive Move, which responds to an
opponent's threat but doesn't improve your position or
create counter
threats. 44. Rxh5gxh545. Rxg8+Kxg846. Qg5+White gets
in a check but there's no follow through to mate the
king. 46... Kh8Now, white's queen is more active in the

game and a mate will not occur as quickly. )44. Re1The

rook retreats to defend the queen from entering on e3.
44... Rf2BAM! Enters the 2nd rank to exert more
pressure on white. Notice that White's queen is blocked
by his own rook to enter in the defense
45. Kc1Retreats off the d-file.
45... Nf4WHAM! The knight retreats from the rook's
attack, occupies an outpost and further blocks the
queen's diagonal...INTERFERENCE TACTIC. The knight can
also jump into other squares to attack the king in the
future.
46. Rg3The rook further defends the 3rd rank but it's
already too late.
46... Rxc2+This is a great example of a CLEARANCE
TACTIC. The rook clears out of his square with a decisive
capture to make room for the queen to take his place.
47. Kxc2Qf2+CAPOW! Forking the king and rook.
48. Nd2Knight blocks the check
48... Qxg3Queen picks up the rook
49. Qg5White's trapped queen offers a desperate
exchange.
49... Qd3+Nothing doing! Tolush checks the king.
50. Kc1Qxa3+After this move, White resigned. Black's
knight is defending his escape square on e2 and the
queen and rook on the a-file will wrestle the king to
submission.

f
J#,.@
Middlegame Summary - What did we learn?
1.When Active Defensive Moves are available, take
advantage of the counter threats they create
against your opponent.
2.Tolush took control of the 2nd rank as soon as
White's attack was stopped.
3.He placed the knight on an outpost that also
interfered with his opponent's ability to mobilize his
queen.
4.A beautiful example of a Clearance Tactic
with ...Rxc2+, allowing the queen to occupy the
square the rook just vacated.
Read this
articleClearance Tactics to refresh those skills.
5.Most importantly, ALL of Black's pieces were in
active roles whereas White had 3 pieces that were
uncoordinated and limited in their mobility. White's
hands were literally tied while Black's pieces
pummelled the king's position.

...f6.

Position

#3: Black

just

played

Octavio Troianescu vs. Carlos Benitez

Moscow olm Prel | Moscow, Russia | 1956 | 1-0

1. e4e52. Nf3Nc63. d4exd44. Nxd4Nxd45. Qxd4c56.

Qd1d67. Bb5+Bd78. Bxd7+Qxd79. O-ONf610. Nc3B
e711. Bg5O-O12. Qd2Rad813. Rad1Ne814. Rfe1Nc7
15. Bxe7Qxe716. Re3Rd717. Nd5Qd818. Nxc7Qxc71
9. Rd3Rfd820. c4[[f6When we evaluate this position we
immediately notice the heavy activity on the d-file. Both
sides have equally attacked and defended the d6 pawn,

which is very weak because there are no other pawns

defending it. The d5 square is also weak and in White's
control. White can not attack the d6 pawn at this time
and looks to create another weakness in Black's position
to exploit it.
21. Rh3BAM! Octavio brings the rook to the h-file
intending to follow it up with Qd5+ and Qh5. This
possibility forces black to prevent the attack by pushing
one of his pawns, either ...h6 or g6. If ...h6 it creates a
weak square on g6 for White to exploit. If ...g6, allowing
the queen and rook battery to defend the h7 pawn, it
creates a weak square on h6 and the f6 pawn hangs.
21... g6Carlos pushes the g6 pawn now giving Black 2
Weaknesses...d6 & f6.
22. Rd3Having accomplished his goal, the rook returns to
maintaining the tension on the d-file.
22... a6Black prepares to create counterplay on the
queenside.
23. Qf4POW! The queen attacks both weaknesses at
once.
23... Kg7The king defends the f6 pawn.
24. h4When the opponent king is in a fianchettoed
position, it's a known strategy to push the rook pawn up
the board to weaken the kingside pawn defenses. This is
a similar position we saw in the first game where Sergey
pushed the h-pawn and took advantage of outposts

created by Black's counter pawn moves.

24... b5Creates queenside activity
25. cxb5axb526. h5Now continues pushing the h-pawn
up the board
26... c4Attacks the rook
27. h6+WHAM! There's a tactical reason why Octavio
checked the king instead of removing one of the pawns. It
moves the king away from defending the f6 pawn. If ...Kf7
then White follows-up with Rf3 and Black can't put
another defender on the f6 pawn.
27... Kg8King instead retreats to the back rank.
28. Rd5The rook attacks the b5 pawn, the queen attacks
the f6 pawn and Black can't defend both of them at once.
The principle of 2 Weaknesses at work.
28... Kf7The king returns to f7 since the rook isn't
threatening Rf3 any longer.
29. Rxb5Picks up the pawn
29... c330. bxc3Qxc3With the queen's capture of the
POISON PAWN, she's decoyed away from defending her
king's position.
31. Rbd5Now there's 3 attackers on d6 vs 2 defenders.
It's time to capture the pawn.
31... Qa3Defends the d6 pawn and attacks a2
32. e5CAPOW! It's moments like this that make me
appreciate those center pawns even more. The pawn
pieces Black's pawn structure and his position falls like a

house of cards.
32... f5Black can not capture the e5 pawn but this move
isn't any better. It creates a weak square on g6,
reinforcing the principle that every pawn move leaves a
weakness behind it.
(32... dxe5If Black took the e5
pawn 33. Rxd7+Rxd734. Rxd7+Kg835. Qxf6Qf836. Rd8Q
xd837. Qxd8+)33. Qg5The queen immediately occupies
the weakened square threatening Qf6+ on the next move
and Black resigned.
33... Qa7If Black continued playing...
34. Qf6+Kg835. Rxd6Rxd636. Rxd6Rf837. Rd8Rxd8
38. Qxd8+Kf739. Qf6+Kg840. e6The passed pawn is a
decisive threat.

f
J#,.@
Middlegame Summary - What did we learn?

1.We saw The Principle of Two Weaknesses in

action. With one weakness already tying down all
of Black's pieces, White created a threat that

forced Black to weaken his own kingside pawns

and hanging his f6 pawn.
2.Then White kept switching between threatening
one weakness then the other.
3.We saw Octavio push the h-pawn up the board to
further weaken Black's kingside.
4.Black's position was further weakened when the
queen moved away from defending her position to
grab a poison pawn. A word to the wise.
5.White then pierced the center with an e5 push,
which was the catalyst to creating more
weaknesses for Black.
6. White immediately hopped his queen into a
weak square to create a critical breakthrough into
Black's defenses.

Good work everyone. Now go spend some time

with your favorite pet. You've earned it! Then
afterwards, with a clear head, review the games
again to reinforce them into your memory.

I hope this has shed some light on Strategizing

Middlegame Plans. Look for the next in the
series and feel free to send a friend request to be
notified of future articles. Until then....Cheers.