how to improve middle game

Hi i am myself new at chess (complete noob), i have been learning for a month now and i tried so hard to develop my game. But i always confused what to do at middle game 😀 . I learned about the opening moves and how to check mate already, also about developing my pieces but my middle game is really bad, i dont know whether to attack or defend. Do you guys have any tips how to improve mid game? Any comments is appreciated, Thank you 🙏🏼

Yep me too I’m either too aggressive or too passive

You will probably hear this a million times after this, but to improve in middle games is to do Tactics. You should do more tactics as a beginner then playing games.

@gramfin99 : exactly my problem too :D
@kevinhaggins : that is actually really helpful tips, i kinda get it now that middle game is about tactics on trapping your opponent. I looked it up on youtube and found a lot of good reference on many different tactics. Thank you :)

How to form a middle-game plan:

GM Larry Evans' method of static analysis - Chess Forums - Chess.com

Start to learn a bit about positional chess, things like weak squares, knight outposts, backward pawns. Then form simple plans around getting your knight to a weak square or attacking a backward pawn for example. There are a few things that can be done in the middlegame, you can identify a weakness in your opponents position, a positional target, and attack or control it. I found playing through GM games in Logical Chess by Chernev instructive. You could improve your pieces, manoeuvring them to stable squares where they cant be easily attacked by the little guys or squares where they have more scope to control space on your opponents side.

I was intrigued so had a quick look on amazon. Some of the reviews say Aagard's books are written for advanced players, FIDE 1800+. OP is 859 rapid.

@blueemu : Thank you i have been reading it for the last couple of hours and try to make sense of it. Very helpful and informative 😁🙏🏼

@markgrubb : thank you for the tips Mark, there are a lot of things i still need to learn and i will try to learn it asap 😁 . Oh and by the way do you have any book recomendation about chess? Thanks before 😀

@dynamic beast : thank you i will try to look it up on youtube and blog reviews about it. Do you have any other recomendation that i can check? 😁

Logical Chess by Chernev is a collection of Grand Master games that have been selected and every move explained, to teach basic principles to beginners. Look for a newer edition with modern algebraic notation if you can find it. Older editions have descriptive notation which is a nuisance but not the end of the world. Play through each game a few times and absorb what is going on in the middlegame and why. Also Weapons of Chess by Pandolfini is an encyclopedia of positional chess ideas. It has little instruction

Sorry...it has little instruction and only a few simple examples for each idea but is a useful resource to tell you that these ideas exist.

@MarkGrubb : well i am planning on playing chess for a long time and even though i sucks so bad now, i will keep on learning and maybe that book you just told me will help me in the future 😁. So thank you for taking the time to answer this thread. Really appreciate the help 🙏🏼

I think there are top 2 ways on improving they are

• Solving tactical puzzles daily 
• Studing games from GMs or chess legends

 

Your welcome. With books it's just useful to know that they tend to be written for a rating range, the more advanced books may not explain basic concepts which can make them difficult to follow. The important thing is not to be put off, stick it back on the shelf and pick it up again when you've improved. I think about a third of my books are poorly researched purchases 😁.

If I don’t know what to do in the middle game I:
1. Check for undefended pieces;
2. Find my least active pieces and activate it.

Opportunities will follow.

Well i had a look at your account, since you're an 800 i think you should do a lot of puzzels, they're highly effective and improve your overall play. On this account you only did 6 of them, since chess.com cost money to do more then 3 puzzles a day, i think you should make a account on lichess and do like 50 puzzles a day just to improve tactical sense. I think that all other stuff like positional play, endgames and 20 moves theory in the opening are more applicable when you're 1200 or higher. By doing a lot of puzzles you learn to search for more complicated tactics while still paying attention to the popularized check, captures, attack. Hope i was usefull and not too boring 

@olimicmons : ah never thought about puzzle before, thanks, i never really go into puzzles before but i will try it 😄 thanks for the tips, cheers 😁

@MarkGrubb : it is a win win solution for me, cos i do love reading and collecting books but never bought a chess book before. I will definetely buy it and add it to my collection 😁

@AtaChess68 : your tips number 2 is really good 😁 i often worry about my active pieces and forgot about the least active pieces. Thank you for the good tip, i will try to pay more attention to all the pieces on the board.

@nanderpost : No you are not boring at all 😁, i dont’t have any friends that can play chess so internet is the only place i can ask questions like this so i thank you for taking your time to answer this thread 😁🤝
I can understand from your post the importance of doing puzzle, truthfully i never really cared about puzzle before but now i will pay more attention to it. I never been on lichess but i will definitely try it, and you are right i should try to do puzzle more. I often missed a good checkmate chance because i cannot see the patterns that are possible to check mate the opponents. Very usefull tips indeed Good sir 😁🙏🏼

Idk I just watch the lessons

Good Positional Chess, Planning & Strategy Books for Beginners and Beyond...

https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell/introduction-to-positional-chess-planning-strategy

https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell

@starzzzzzzzzz : thanks i will try to watch the lessons. Do you it is worth it to upgrade my account in order to watch lessons more and puzzles etc? 😁

@RussBell : very well written article, thank you so much. I had a good time reading your article 😁🙏🏼

If possible, you should get your knights to the best squares possible where pawns cant get rid of them, put the rooks to the open files (where there is a line going down the board where there is no pieces in its way.) bishops should get open lines and if your acstled on the other side of your opponent launch your pawns at their king.