The Everything Chess Basics Book (23 page)

The bishop gives White headaches on both sides of the board (a2 and h3).

A bad bishop is one that is trapped behind its own pawns. It doesn’t have anything reasonable to do, and is sometimes referred to as a
tall pawn
, though sometimes even a pawn would be better. At least a pawn can move one square forward on a file.

The bishop has nowhere to go, and blocks the b8-rook as well.

Control the Center

The importance of controlling the central squares is easy to illustrate. Just take an empty board and place a knight on the corner. Count up the number of squares it can jump to. The number is two.

Now place the knight somewhere along the middle of the edge of the board (first rank, eighth rank, a-file, h-file). You will find three or four possible squares for the knight now. That’s twice the power.

Next, place the knight on one of the central squares. You will now see eight possible destinations for the knight. In other words, the knight has four times as much power in the center than it had on the edge of the board.

The h1-knight has minimal power. The b1-knight is twice as many moves available. The e5-knight is twice as powerful as the b1-knight.

Try the bishop next. The results aren’t as dramatic, but you will notice that the bishop gains in power from controlling seven squares to controlling thirteen squares.

On an empty board, the rook seems to be just as powerful anywhere you place it. But that’s not quite true. It can travel in four directions anywhere on the board except along the a-file, the h-file, the first rank, and the eighth rank—in other words, the edge of the board. So even the rook is stronger in the center.

Compare the power of the bishops and see why it’s better to control central squares.

Busy Metropolis

The roads themselves are oriented toward the center, which we explored briefly in Chapter 2. Since there are more squares to visit from the center than from anywhere else, it shouldn’t be too much of a surprise that the pieces are actually stronger in the center than they are anywhere else.

You can think of the chessboard as a hill, with the center being the highest elevation, and the outer squares the lowest elevation. That way chess becomes very like a case of king of the hill.

Counterattack in the Center

An attack on the flank, or side of the board, is best met by a counterattack in the center. This is true even if the object of attack is your king. The point is that an attack against your king on the side of the board won’t work unless your opponent can bring up reinforcements through the center.

White to move. Black threatens to capture the h-pawn with check.

White plays 1. e5!, giving both his rooks more squares and threatening to capture on d6 or g4.

Healthy Pieces

Think back to the table of piece power in terms of pawns. It should be clear by now why this table is only an average. Certainly a knight on e4 and a knight on a1 do not have the same power. As the game progresses, some pieces gain in power as they occupy the center or control it from afar while others suffer from a lack of good, healthy central air. There are other ways in which pieces gain and lose power during a game, but always keep in mind that they are generally strongest in or close to the center.

Even the lowly pawn benefits from being in the center. A pawn in the center can keep unwanted enemy pieces out. A pawn on the a-file or h-file just doesn’t have the same power. There is only one direction to capture in instead of the normal two.

Control More Squares

This one is already familiar. Since there are sixty-four squares on the board, take control of thirty-three or more than half of them, and you will begin to smother your opponent. A smothered opponent is said to have a cramped game. There is a principle of strategy covering such a situation that is very useful to know. It comes in the following two parts.

When Cramped, Exchange Pieces

Since having a cramped position restricts your possible moves, your pieces do not operate at their most efficient level. A great way to fight out of such a situation is to exchange pieces.

You don’t need anything fancy here. Just trade your minor pieces for your opponent’s minor pieces and your rooks for your opponent’s rooks. This gives your remaining pieces more room to breathe.

Black to move relieves the cramp by exchanging: 1. ... Nxd4 2. Qxd4 Bxb5 3. Nxb5.

When Controlling Space, Avoid Exchanges

The other side of the principle is that when you control more squares than your opponent, avoid piece exchanges. This way your opponent will never get rid of all those cumbersome cramped pieces that step all over each other’s toes.

Develop the Pieces

Playing a chess game is similar to coaching a sports team. You don’t actually expose yourself to physical injury, but you do decide what your players will do. Your team in chess is not made of people, however. Rather, it is made of pieces and pawns.

Team Sport

So think of a team sport. Anything you prefer will do: football, soccer, hockey, or basketball. Any sport that pits a group of players against another group of players will be appropriate.

Let’s take basketball for example. You are sending five players against the enemy five to score more points. So what do you think of this strategy: Send your best scorer out against the other team while the rest of your players watch the action?

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that such a strategy will not work very well. In fact, it’s so bad, no coach will even think of trying it. Yet that is the very strategy many inexperienced chess players go for after learning of the tremendous power of the queen. Yes, she is strong, but she cannot do it all by herself.

A famous case of a player with a big lead in development (and, incidentally, controlling the center) carrying out a successful attack is Legal’s Mate. This trap is named after De Kermur, Sire de Legal, a strong eighteenth-century player.

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bc4 a6 4. Nc3 Bg4.