4 Steps to Converting a Strategic Advantage
How does it feel to let another winning position slip through your fingers?
You knew you were much better, and yet, you had no idea how to turn that advantage into a win.
Not only are you frustrated, but you feel incompetent and weak, and when this happens enough times, you wonder - am I ever going to be a great chess player? 
I see so many chess players out there, who have a lot of knowledge, who have solved a lot of puzzles, but are missing just one skill, that would turn most of their losses into draws or wins.
With my wedding coming up later this month, I've switched to posting on a weekly basis instead. Each week, I'll share a reason why you might not be improving at chess, despite your best efforts - and offer a possible solution.
Maybe you are simply not confident in your endgame skills? Perhaps you consciously try to avoid the endgame, and shoot yourself in the foot without realising it?
After studying the game below, you will have a clear blueprint to follow, for the next time you know you are positionally better, but don't see a clear way to make progress.
Before, I get into the game, let's clear up a common misconception when it comes to converting the strategic/long-term advantage into a win.
Your task is not to win the position. Your task is to play good moves, so that you can win against the opponent.
What this means is, we don't have to prove in the game that we are technically winning - after all, how do we know for sure, without the engine to tell us?
However, our opponents are human, meaning they also have fears, worry needlessly, let emotions make them irrational, and make mistakes.
Our game for today will teach you how to play better technical chess. We start from this position after White's 21st move:
White is clearly better, as Black not only has doubled f-pawns (thus making his whole kingside structure weak), but White also has more active pieces, and enough firepower to potentially attack Black's king and the weak pawns.
Step 1: Steadily improve your position, starting with your pieces.
What is Black's best defence in the position above?
In the game, Black played 21...Rfd8. What would you play, if Black offered an exchange of knights with 21...Ne5?
White had a few ways to improve his position, but if you weren't thinking in terms of improving your worst-placed pieces, then it might explain why you often fail to crown your attack or maintain/increase your advantage.
There were many decent moves in the above puzzle, so perhaps you came up with one that wasn't the main line. I want you to remember that frustration you felt with this puzzle, every time you think of 'putting off' that hard chess work you need to do to improve.
You don't become a titled player by procrastinating, just as you won't win your chess games by being lazy in your calculations.
Let's see if you can find Giri's next two moves.
As we saw, there are many good moves for White, but if you want to reach Giri's level, you have to be able to replicate his moves!
With Giri's last move, we have already started with Step 2 of the conversion process.
Step 2: Fix the opponent's weaknesses in place.
Black played 25...Re7 in the game, allowing a small opportunity that White missed. Can you do better?
Now you have a little test - can you apply Step 2 when left to your own devices?
The next position arises after Black plays 30...Rd7. White found the best move here to keep the pressure - can you? Don't just give me the move - tell me the follow-up plan after it.
Step 3: Attack the opponent's weaknesses.
For what it's worth, a weakness is not necessarily limited to a pawn, but can also be a weak king, weak squares or weak pieces.
In the game, Black blundered with 31...Ne7. Instead, he should have played 31...Nd8, to defend the weak b7-pawn:
I strongly recommend that you play out this position as White, against either an engine close to your level, or another human player. Are you willing to do that for me?
No one said that mastery was easy - it takes a lot of practice, and that means making the mistakes, and learning from them. If you're so terrified of messing up that you're not going to practice, then nothing I can say or do will help you achieve your big chess dream.
Step 4: Finish off the opponent with a direct forcing/tactical sequence, calculated accurately.
You get 0 points if you used the hint/show solution button, and failed to play a suggested move at least once otherwise.
Now for what the scores mean:
27: Either you're cheating yourself, you studied the game already, or you're simply an extremely strong technical player.
21-26: Well done, your strategic skill is right up there with a Grandmaster.
17-20: You're performing at an FM/IM level, but you still have some serious gaps in your technical skill. Keep working on tough puzzles every day, and you can hope to eventually break through to a higher level.
12-16: Either you are 2000+ and you have some basic competency in this area, or you made up for your weakness in strategic play with sheer effort and willpower. Either way, you deserve some commendation for trying hard and ultimately passing, but you should know that this won't always get you through in a chess game. Study books like 'Endgame Strategy' by Shereshevsky cover to cover if you want to avoid severe disappointment in your future games against titled players.
7-12: You don't have much skill in strategic play, and you still have a long way to go before you can outplay strong club players. However, you didn't give up, you stuck at the puzzles until you found the solution - even if by elimination - so you have potential to change and turn your weakness into a strength, provided you're willing to work 2+ hours a day on chess.
6 or less: Either you didn't take the positions seriously like you should, or this topic was simply too advanced for you. I would ask - what do you want to achieve out of chess? What are you willing to put in, and give up, to achieve your chess goal? Remember the unpleasant feeling of failing this test, of losing needlessly from good positions, and use it to motivate you to work hard, and not give up. If that isn't enough incentive, then there's nothing I can do to help you.
To that, I say, tough luck - being lazy and unproductive in your training is almost as futile as not starting in the first place. If you don't work hard and apply yourself away from the board, those same problems that beat you in your training are going to overwhelm you in the games, too.
What did you learn from this post?
My summary of today's post is that, to convert a strategic (long-term) advantage into a win, we should:
3. Attack the opponent's weaknesses.
4. Finish off the opponent with a direct forcing/tactical sequence.
And a bonus one: If you mess up any of these four steps, the opponent will probably escape with a draw, unless they blunder.
Maybe you realise that you haven't really been trying.
Maybe you know, deep down, that you haven't given yourself a real chance of achieving your chess goals.
If you're a doer - rather than just a dreamer - read on.
How would it feel?
What qualities are you showing, as that person who 'made it'?
What did you have to do to get there?
If your answers aren't getting you feeling ready to take action and work - then maybe this dream just isn't that important to you.
Maybe, if you aren't ready to work at least 2 hours a day on chess, you'd be better off accepting it and play for fun, rather than reminiscing later about why you gave up on becoming a titled player.
However, if you read this far, chances are that you're sick of losing the same way.
You're sick of not knowing what to do about it.
You're sick of faltering in the dark, on your own, without the help and direction you need.
You're sick of trying pieces of everyone else's methods, and yet, not winning any more games.
I remember what it was like at your stage of your chess journey.
And I am so grateful that my family made a serious financial investment in regular chess coaching for me, that got me from a 9-year old beginner to a strong IM, and Australian Chess Champion, at 21 years of age.
I am grateful, because I would never have achieved these dreams without that constant quality coaching.
In fact, when I stopped having regular chess coaching, I stopped improving, and found myself stuck around 2500 FIDE.
I don't want you to repeat the same mistakes, and stay frustrated and unable to progress.
I don't want you to regret that you missed out on getting the chess coaching you need, and look back on your life, wondering why you didn't do everything you could to make your chess dream a reality.
If you're ready to work on your chess like the player you want to become now, rather than tomorrow, apply to become my private chess student, so that you can see real results:
Click Here to Apply to Become My Student
