converting from a solid opening to a strong middle game

Hi all,

I tried posting this a few days ago, but it lingered in "not published" status, so I deleted it and figured I'd give it another try. 

I'm relatively new to chess.com, and this is my first post. Just a little background: I always dabbled with chess, but only recently developed an interest in learning more than "just the basics." I've been studying openings, but I'm really having trouble converting an opening advantage to any kind of coherent middle-game, and I'm really lacking when it comes to plans for an endgame. Can anyone recommend any resources to help me grow in this area?

 Thats great advice and i recommend the same.

Thanks, that sounds like exactly the kind of thing I need

thanks littleman. looks like I'll have some fun reading for the next few weeks

 The first step in ''looking for weaknesses'' is being able to identify them! You probably wont be able to identify all the weaknesses and strengths for that matter if you dont read Jeremy Silmans book. On improving your position you will certainly need to understand the term imbalance. Again, you will need to read (STUDY!) how to reasses your chess. (or an equivilant book... some might say My System by Aaron Nimzowitch or as above the Seriawan series. It is certainly best to read as many as you can.)

     I am passing this information on to you because many years ago I had the same problem that you had. 

     The thing that turned things around for me was a change in perspective.  this is a game of war.  So, maybe looking at it from that perpective will make things crystal clear.

1. Pawns are foot soldiers - their most important disadvantage is they 

                                        cannot retreat

2. Kings and Knights are short range artillery - Obviously king cannot be

                                                                  used until the endgame

3. Queens, Rooks and Bishops are long range artillery - open files are very

                                                                               important to rooks,

                                                                               open diagonals are

                                                                               important to Bishops, and

                                                                               open files and diagonals

                                                                               are important to Queens

The footsoldiers(White pawns) go in first to try to take and control important parts of the battlefield.  The center is the most obvious important part of the battlefield.  The enemy foot soldiers(Black pawns) counteract what the White pawns are trying to do.  As soon as the White Pawns see that they are going to get overrun in the center they radio for artillery.  If it's necessary they even give the universal signal for the last resort "Broken Arrow".  As soon as the Black pawns see that they are going to be overrun they radio for artillery.  And so goes the seesaw battle for control of the center.  Or any other battle on the chess board.

This, of course is not all there is to it, but I hope it is an explanation that will get you started down the path of understanding of what is going on all over the chess board.  

  I sincerely hope this helps.          

Wow! So many helpful replies. Thank you everybody.

Graw81 - I can't agree with you more. I'd love to be able to follow littleman's advice, but first I really need to know what a weakness in pawn structure really "looks" like (I put "looks" in quotes because it's really more a matter of knowing what they physically look like and how to actually convert that visual knowledge into action.)

Transpositions - That is a helpful way to look at things. That chess is indeed a battle is an idea that's really slowly starting to dawn on me. Have you noticed that chess tactics and strategies also translate nicely into everyday life? It's actually quite surprising to me.

Marshal_Dillon - I had an intuition about what you said when I first started trying to improve my game. I'm not the kind of person who is good at memorizing numerous variations of an opening, and I'm glad to know that there's much more to strong play than that. Is it important to know specific openings, or is it enough to really understand the basic principles?

"Simple Chess" by Michael Stean

"Pawn Power" by Kmoch

While there is more to good chess than just memorization of openings, you still have to know them. There's no getting around that. Without understanding how openings work, you'll be stumbling around in the dark not knowing what you are doing or what your opponent is doing. Chess has been studied for so long by so many people that there is little chance that you are going to discover something that has never been tried before so making moves that violate basic chess principles because you think you know better than the opening book is only going to get you in trouble. The opening, the middle game and the end game are equally important.

   jupstin,

     The bridge between the opening and the middle game are almost always the pawn breaks. 

The above diagram illustartes a lever.

The pawns are on squares diagonally across from each other on adjacent squares.

Capture is possible, or one of the pawns can choose to advance, or the tension is maintianed by simply leaving them as they are.

The French Defense is a perfect example of this type of an early lever.

Pawn Breaks are the indicated pawn moves that create these Levers.  In almost every opening the pawn structure has indicated pawn breaks.  Some are the correct ones and some are not.  The idea is to be exactly on time with the pawn break.  But, there is always the danger of being too early(premature) or too late with the pawn break.  Some times the position indicates that the pawn break by your opponent must be restrained and prevented. Other times it is best to allow the pawn break.  And, sometimes the pawn break cannot be prevented or restrained.  In other words, pawn breaks are either the first move(the signal) of an attack, or sometimes they are the move that allows that side to free its position and equalize. When you combine tactics in resolving these pawn break complications it becomes that great game called chess.  

The most complicated pawn structures are the Benoni pawn structures.   The reason is because determining exactly when to make a pawn break in these pawn structures is extremely difficult.  Even after very detailed analysis, there is always the danger of being too early or too late with a pawn break in these pawn formations.   

For example the diagram is a typical position in the Sicilian Najdorf.  In many variations of this opening the resultant position at some point in the opening The indicated pawn break for Black is d5.  Of course I am sure you can see there are other pawn breaks for both Black and White.  Knowing the opening is what tells you which pawn break is the correct one, and exactly when to make that pawn break.

As I am sure you realize there is alot more to it than this brief introduction can incorporate. 

The concepts that I have elucidated in the above explanation are spelled out along with many more in the book, Pawn Power In  Chess, by Hans Kmoch.

The other books that I suggest you read that will fill in many more details that Pawn Power introduces you to are:

Die Blockade, by Aaron Nimzowitsch

My System, by Aaron Nimzowitsch (THE HOLY GRAIL)

Chess Praxis, by Aaron Nimzowitsch

 Get My System first, the other books can wait.

I would wish you Good Luck, but if you read these books you will be making your own luck! 

This is what I would like to say on the subject:

1. Chess is a great game, but a cruel game.

2. There is no point in memorising openings, in my opinion. You have to be flexible and respond to your opponents moves. After all, there are many ways to play this game. What do you do if your opponent plays a style that you have never seen before?

3. It doesn't matter how you win, as long as you win[without cheating of course!}

You can win with one pawn or a full set of pieces.

4. Yes, chess is a battle. This is the way I see the pieces.:

a. Pawns are footsoldiers, as has been said.

b. Bishops are your archers, raining arrows on you.

c. Knights are your cavalry, most useful in tight situations.

d. Rooks are your tanks. They are very slow and cumbersome unless you clear the rows and columns in front of them. Not much use in a tight game.

e. The Queen is your battering ram, best used to batter your opponent into submission and to isolate the opposing King.

f. Always castle before you attack, otherwisw you leave yourself open to the counter attack/ 

5. My advice is -

a. Never let your opponent settle in the game. Harass him from the very first move, so that he doesn't get any momentum going.

b. Mark and pin his pieces so he cant get at you.

c. The secret is - who gets on top first. You have to get your opponent down and not let him back up, otherwise he will do it you. Make sure you get on top first, then hammer home your advantage. Never sit back and let your opponent come at you. This is fatal. You have to try and inflict as much damage on your opponent's position and formation as soon as possible. This makes it difficult for your opponent to counter-attack, while you are attacking.

d. You have to attack your opponent if you want to win. The trick is timing, and striking at the right time. Make sure you have back up pieces out in the open, to back up your attack,

e. You have to be ruthless when you see a chance of winning. You have to go for the kill.

f. Always develop your pieces in your opening game.Never leave them doing nothing on your back row. They are wasted there.

g. Always try to exchange pieces any chance you get when you are ahead. This consolidates your advantage and makes it more difficult for your opponent to get back into the game.

h. Always try to set up disguised DISCOVERED MOVES, that your opponent misses. This is a good way of winning his pieces without loss. You have to be sneaky sometimes!

i. Always try and get your knights and bishops into STRONG SQUARES. This is where your piece has a pawn behind it, but your opponent has no pawns in front of your piece to attack. It is like a foxhole. You leave your piece there until the time is right and then you pounce.

m. Never underestimate your opponent.

n. Try to figure out where you went wrong when you get beat.

0. Enjoy this wonderful game. You never stop learning about it.

I hope this is helpful to you.

CLEVELAND. 

   Are you writing about 6.f4, the Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation, Amsterdam variation (B93). 

   If not, then I would prefer to go to Austria, where as the lyric in Billy Joel's song goes, "...and then you realize   Vienna waits for you..."

I think the best thing a beginner can do is not so much getting their heads jammed into books but rather play games against people of a similar skill level and actually talk about what you are planning and what you expect the opponent to do.  Go back and forth, use takebacks as necessary, both you and your opponent are looking to talk yourself into making perfect* play.

I found doing this on a long bus trip completely changed the way I looked at the game.

When both sides talk about both sides weaknesses and strengths, and what is being planned it is amazing how many principles of chess become unlocked for you.

After doing this I find that your mind is more open to figuring out what your opponent is up to.  Once you know what your opponent is up to you can use potential time advantages to ignore what he is doing and continue with your attack.  Too often I have seen people get drawn into an opponents strategy that they could have just ignored. 

Before you can address the middle game you would need to decide on an opening system that brings you out to a middle game with similiar positions everytime.

You can then learn the strategy behind this opening system and study masters games to see how they create advantages.

Middle games based on openings will have themes and ideas that can be similar time and time again.  An example in the French Defence could be black trying to break down whites e and d pawns with c5 and f6 or trying to get the bad light bishop active.

Neil_H,

The c5 and f6 pawn breaks are the bridge between the opening and the middle game. Which is what I point out to jupstin in my previous post.   I can tell you know something about playing the French Defense.

Also, thanks for making my point.