An important thing to know is that players very rarely execute a full-game plan. Usually, they have so-called 'mini-plans' spanning over a couple of moves. Then something changes in the game, and they need to adjust their plan or enter some tactical skirmish.
The plans are also highly dependant on the pawn structure.
So what you're experiencing is perfectly normal 
To what hicetnunc said +1
And yes, pawn structures usually give a lot of clues. Where you want your pieces, what side of the board you want to play on, and importantly where the pawn breaks are.
A good plan can be as simple as coordinating your pieces and/or playing a pawn break.
Also it may be useful to know that players don't make plans based on their whims or strengths. Even though sometimes you have options, more often it's about correctly reading the position in front of you.
Soltis' book Pawn Structure Chess helped me a lot, although it may be best to start with a middlegame primer depending on your current ability. I also have high regard for Pachman's book Modern Chess Strategy.
XD take a look at this game and tell me what you think my plan was :).
http://www.chess.com/livechess/game?id=1021447237
Hey ricket! First of all a happy new year to you and everyone who reads this. The following game is not very well known and its one of my absolutely favorite games. Its amazing how Schlechter won the game just by having a very logical and simple plan. Hope you enjoy the game and the annotations:
Thank you Till-98 a beautiful game i would not be ble to play this but did enjoy it.
That opening is well known by me. I use it many times in tournaments.
Very impressive and keep posting as I am reviewing these games on a chess engine and try to understand why these moves where made.
Not only will engines never explain moves, they'll sometimes choose logically inconsistent (and positionally inconsistent) moves.
I.e. it won't explain the good moves and will further confuse you with bad moves!
You wont learn plans from an engine.
Thanks for posting, guys. Great thread.
Who is doing all of the above annotations in the game posted by Till and the games posted by Olympian?
Schlechter (Austrian) played a very famous game where he drew with Lasker. I wonder if it is in my book Lasker's Manual of Chess....
Would love to see that one annotated...
In 1910 Schlechter and Lasker played they each had a one win and 8 draws.
Here is a link where you can go to ech of the games by opening in a new tab or window by clicking on the names on the left hand side column of the page. Link: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?tid=54100
Once you find the one you are looking for you can report on it here. Perhaps game no 6 is what you are looking for so look at it first.
I do realize that engines do not explain moves and do select very bad moves at times and leaves you with a complete chaos with the pieces structure.
I believe that engines where built to gain an advantage and usually this is a pawn gain valued at 0.5 point ahead of the opponent.
One needs to recognize this and know chess positional play before commiting for a move suggested by the computer.
There is more than meet the eye as if one cannot say analyze say 3 moves or more then engines do not make sense.You need strong analysis and need to know what the opening is all about and then assess the situation to be able to understand if the move proposed is valid.
What I find particular about engines is when you have them analyze the games of any world chess champions by downloading and pasting PGN games in the engine, is that most of the time they agree with the moves made by the winner of a game.
In 1910 Schlechter and Lasker played they each had a one win and 8 draws.
Here is a link where you can go to ech of the games by opening in a new tab or window by clicking on the names on the left hand side column of the page. Link: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?tid=54100
Once you find the one you are looking for you can report on it here. Perhaps game no 6 is what you are looking for so look at it first.
Let me correct myself. It was drawing a WCC match with Lasker for which Schlechter was most famous, not a particular game within the match. Apparently the rules regarding tiebreakers and draws were different in 1910.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Schlechter#Lasker.E2.80.93Schlechter_match
In 1910 Schlechter played a match against Emanuel Lasker for the World Chess Championship (in Vienna and Berlin). It is now generally accepted that Schlechter needed to score +2 to win the match and thus needed to win the tenth game. But in the tenth game tragedy struck: after first achieving a won game, Schlechter blundered into a clearly drawn position, and then blundered again which led to his loss of the game. The match ended tied at 5–5 (+1 −1 =8) and Lasker retained his title. (For match details see World Chess Championship 1910.) Schlechter distinguished himself as the first player in 16 years to seriously challenge Lasker's world title.
How does one go about to make a plan in chess? This is by far this is the most difficult part of the game for me.
Opening? fine. Endgame? Acceptable. But my middle game plan is a disaster.
Why? Because too many pieces move around and whatever I had in mind does not materialize, lines are blocked, exchanges limit my attack and worse my opponent is not cooperating playing on the other side of the boeard and i need to pay attention to his moves.
So how does one make a plan and carry it out? I would appreciate any game played fully and with comments on original plan and how the player responded and reacted to the multitude of moves that where not part of the plan and still executed the plan.
I couldn't help correct it
Thank you, I will check the spelling and syntax in future postings.
Great thread!
I found these games very helpful! Thanks. Now I wonder if anyone know where to find more commented games for beginner/intermediate players.
Especially in the first one, Schlechter vs Walter, the comments was on a perfect level for me.
Olympian256: Ok, this sounds logical. But when I read commented games, there's often a lot of moves I don't understand at all, but is apparently obvious enough for others and doesn't need a comment. I have the idea that it's very important to me read other peoples plans, to understand the positions better. Like predicting pawn structures, which files are going to be open etc... Comments that are meant for players with 2000+ rating seems to give me nothing since I'm lacking the understanding of the position.
How does one go about to make a plan in chess. This is by far this is the most difficult part of the game for me.
Opening fine end game acceptable but middle game plan is a disaster.
Why because too many pieces move around and whatever I had in mind does not materialize, lines re blocked, exchanges limit my attack and worse my opponent is not cooperating playing on the other side of the boeard and i need to pay attention to his moves.
So how does one make a plan and carry it out?I would appreciate any game played fully and with comments on original plan and how the player responded and reacted to the multitude of moves that where not part of the plan and still executed the plan.
Keep in mind that the name of the game is piece activity.
A simple game plan that i teach to beginners is to complete the Opening Principles:
Control the center
Develop your minior pieces toward the center
Castle
Connect your rooks
Now to the middlegame:
Scan your opponents 5th, and 6th ranks (3rd, and 4th if youre black) look for weak squares, weak pawns. Weak squares/pawns that cannot be defended by another pawn. Weal squares/pawns closer to the center are more valuable. Now you can develop a game plan around these weaknesses. if there are no weak squares/pawns, then you find your least active piece, and make it more active.
Keep in mind that middle game plans need to change everytime either of these 2 things happen:
Capture
Pawn Moves
Its a basic idea, but this will get you on your way.
Olympian256: Ok, this sounds logical. But when I read commented games, there's often a lot of moves I don't understand at all, but is apparently obvious enough for others and doesn't need a comment. I have the idea that it's very important to me read other peoples plans, to understand the positions better. Like predicting pawn structures, which files are going to be open etc... Comments that are meant for players with 2000+ rating seems to give me nothing since I'm lacking the understanding of the position.
I assure you , nothing is obvious for anyone.Learning chess doesn't have to do with passive reading.It's not like reading a novel.You need to work on the game ,analyse it , try to understand what you don't.Good books don't give you all the answers , they encourage you to find them.
And chess.com is good in offering help.Anything you don't understand , we are here to help you.
Thanks!
I promise to work hard, not just read a book!
But I'm in phase now where it seems like I don't learn very much by playing games and my own analysis. I need to be inspired by other players thought and plans, I think. Just ordered Silman's The amateurs mind. There's so many things I will never understand just by my own observations. Hope this book will give me some new perspectives, or something.
And, of course, I will read it with the board in front of me and do some work on my own, too!
Olympian256: Ok, this sounds logical. But when I read commented games, there's often a lot of moves I don't understand at all, but is apparently obvious enough for others and doesn't need a comment. I have the idea that it's very important to me read other peoples plans, to understand the positions better. Like predicting pawn structures, which files are going to be open etc... Comments that are meant for players with 2000+ rating seems to give me nothing since I'm lacking the understanding of the position.
I assure you , nothing is obvious for anyone.Learning chess doesn't have to do with passive reading.It's not like reading a novel.You need to work on the game ,analyse it , try to understand what you don't.Good books don't give you all the answers , they encourage you to find them.
And chess.com is good in offering help.Anything you don't understand , we are here to help you.
Thanks!
I promise to work hard, not just read a book!
But I'm in phase now where it seems like I don't learn very much by playing games and my own analysis. I need to be inspired by other players thought and plans, I think. Just ordered Silman's The amateurs mind. There's so many things I will never understand just by my own observations. Hope this book will give me some new perspectives, or something.
And, of course, I will read it with the board in front of me and do some work on my own, too!
Just take this learning one step at a time. Dont let it overwhelm you, and dont get impatient. Chess is a slow, methodical learning curve.
How does one go about to make a plan in chess. This is by far this is the most difficult part of the game for me.
Opening fine end game acceptable but middle game plan is a disaster.
Why because too many pieces move around and whatever I had in mind does not materialize, lines re blocked, exchanges limit my attack and worse my opponent is not cooperating playing on the other side of the boeard and i need to pay attention to his moves.
So how does one make a plan and carry it out?I would appreciate any game played fully and with comments on original plan and how the player responded and reacted to the multitude of moves that where not part of the plan and still executed the plan.