Step 03 · Middlegame
Ideas that win games.
Short illustrated lessons on plans, pawn structures and piece activity, each with a quiz. 3 lessons are free to read and take here.
- Open Files and Rooks Free Open files · quiz of 2 Rooks are the slowest pieces to develop and the first to become monsters once a file opens. This lesson shows how to spot an open file, how to take control of it before your opponent does, and why the seventh rank is the rook’s promised land.
- Outposts Free Outposts · quiz of 2 An outpost is a square deep in the enemy camp that no enemy pawn can ever attack. A knight planted there is worth more than a bishop and sometimes more than a rook. Learn to recognise outposts, to prepare them by trading the pieces that could challenge them, and to use them as launch pads.
- Pawn Structure Basics Free Pawn structure · quiz of 2 Pawns cannot move backwards, so every pawn move changes the position for good. Isolated, doubled, backward and passed pawns, and the pawn chain, are the vocabulary you need before any strategic plan makes sense.
- Weak Squares and Holes Pro Weak squares · quiz of 2 A hole is a square that can no longer be protected by a pawn. Around a castled king, weak squares of one colour become highways for the attacker. This lesson teaches you to see the holes your opponent creates and to exploit them with pieces.
- The Minority Attack Pro Minority attack · quiz of 2 In the Carlsbad structure White advances two queen-side pawns against three to create a weak pawn on c6. The minority attack is the classic example of a long-term plan: slow, logical and very hard to meet without a concrete counter-plan.
- The Isolated Queen’s Pawn Pro Isolated pawn · quiz of 2 The isolated d-pawn is the most studied structure in chess. With pieces on the board it gives space, open files and attacking chances; in the endgame it is a weakness. Learn both sides: how to attack with it and how to blockade and win against it.
- The Bishop Pair Pro Bishop pair · quiz of 2 Two bishops control both colours and rake the whole board. In open positions they are worth about half a pawn more than a bishop and knight. This lesson shows how to win the pair, how to keep it, and how to open the position so that it counts.
- Good Bishop, Bad Bishop Pro Bishops · quiz of 3 A bishop that stands on the same colour as its own pawns is a tall pawn: it defends nothing that needs defending and attacks nothing at all. Learn to keep your pawns off your bishop’s colour, to trade a bad bishop, and to fix the opponent’s pawns on the colour of his bishop.
- Knight vs Bishop Pro Minor pieces · quiz of 2 The eternal duel. Knights love closed positions, outposts and pawns on one wing; bishops love open positions, long diagonals and pawns on both wings. Knowing which minor piece is better tells you which pieces to trade.
- Space Advantage Pro Space · quiz of 2 The side with more space has more room to manoeuvre and more squares for its pieces. The cramped side must trade pieces or break with a pawn before it is squeezed. Learn to gain space with tempo and to make it count.
- King Safety and Attacking the Castled King Pro King safety · quiz of 2 Attacks on the castled king follow patterns: the Greek gift sacrifice on h7, the pawn storm with opposite-side castling, and piling more attackers than there are defenders. This lesson teaches the patterns and the defensive rules that stop them.
- Prophylaxis Pro Prophylaxis · quiz of 2 Before every move ask: what does my opponent want to do? Prophylaxis means preventing the opponent’s plan before it exists. The best players spend half their time on it; a single quiet move can neutralise a whole attack.
- Piece Activity: Improve Your Worst Piece Pro Activity · quiz of 2 When there is no tactic and no obvious plan, find your worst-placed piece and make it better. Rerouting a knight, freeing a blocked bishop or bringing a rook to an open file quietly wins more games than brilliant combinations.
- Pawn Breaks Pro Pawn breaks · quiz of 2 A pawn break is a pawn move that challenges an enemy pawn to open lines. Every opening has its typical breaks (…c5 against d4, …f5 in the King’s Indian, …d5 in the Sicilian) and getting the timing right is the essence of middlegame planning.
- Trading Pieces When Ahead Pro Trading · quiz of 2 When you are ahead in material, trade pieces, not pawns: fewer pieces mean fewer chances for the opponent to create counterplay, while your extra material grows in importance. Learn which trades are good, and which endgames to avoid.
- Checks, Captures, Threats Pro Candidate moves · quiz of 3 Most tactics are missed, not miscalculated. Before choosing a move, list every check, every capture and every threat, for you and for your opponent. This lesson builds that habit on Légal’s mate, a smothered mate and a quiet move that wins a piece.
- Open the Position Pro Lead in development · quiz of 3 A lead in development is worth something only while the opponent is still catching up. This lesson shows how to cash it in: open lines towards the uncastled king, sacrifice material for time, and stop the king from escaping, with the Danish Gambit and Morphy’s Opera Game as models.
- The Pawn Centre Pro Pawn centre · quiz of 3 Pawns on d4 and e4 take the best squares away from the opponent’s pieces. The other side can either copy the centre or attack it with a pawn break and pieces. Through the Exchange Grünfeld, this lesson shows how to build the centre, how to hit it with ...c5, and when the centre must advance.
- The Principle of Two Weaknesses Pro Two weaknesses · quiz of 2 One weakness can usually be defended. Two, far apart, usually cannot. This lesson shows the method strong players use to convert an advantage: tie the opponent’s pieces to the first weakness, open a second front on the other wing, and switch between them until the defence gives way.
- Push or Blockade Pro Passed pawn · quiz of 3 A passed pawn grows stronger with every step it takes, so the side that owns it should push and the side facing it should stop it dead. Learn when to advance, why the rook belongs behind the pawn, and why a knight on the square in front of it is the best blockader, as Nimzowitsch taught.
- Attacking the Fianchettoed King Pro King attack · quiz of 3 A king behind pawns on f7, g6 and h7 with a bishop on g7 is solid until the bishop disappears. This lesson teaches the standard recipe from the Yugoslav Attack against the Dragon: Be3, Qd2 and Bh6 to trade the bishop, then h4 and h5 to open the h-file, then remove the last defender.
- Attack Where Your Pawns Point Pro Closed centre · quiz of 2 When the centre is locked by interlocked pawn chains, nobody can break through the middle, so each side attacks on the wing its chain points to. In the King’s Indian Mar del Plata, White pushes c4 to c5 on the queen side while Black storms the king side with ...f5, ...f4 and ...g5 and ...g4. The game becomes a race, and tempo is everything.
- The Queenside Pawn Majority Pro Pawn majority · quiz of 2 Three pawns against two on the queen side will one day make a passed pawn. Because both kings usually castle on the other wing, that pawn is far from them: an outside passed pawn that decoys the enemy king while your own king eats the pawns it left behind. Learn which pawn leads, when to trade into the ending, and how the decoy wins.
- Hanging Pawns Pro Hanging pawns · quiz of 2 Two pawns side by side on c5 and d5, with no pawns beside them on the b- and e-files, are called hanging pawns. Side by side they control the centre; once one of them is forced forward, the other is left alone and the square in front of it becomes a home for an enemy piece. Learn to pressure them, to provoke the advance and to blockade.
- The Positional Exchange Sacrifice Pro Exchange sacrifice · quiz of 3 A rook is worth more than a knight, until the knight is the piece holding the position together. In the Sicilian Dragon, Black often gives the rook for the knight on c3 to wreck White’s queenside pawns, expose the king and keep the Dragon bishop on g7. Learn when the exchange is worth less than what it buys.
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