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.
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Trade away your dark-squared bishop after ...g6 and f6, h6 and g7 are no longer yours. Nothing you own can ever cover them again. This lesson is about seeing those squares before the opponent’s queen does, and creating them in the enemy camp on purpose.
What you will learn
01What makes a square a hole: no pawn can ever protect it again.
02Why weak squares come in colour complexes and one bishop trade opens all of them.
03The oldest weak square of all, f7, and how the Italian aims at it from move three.
04How the d5 hole in the Najdorf becomes a knight’s permanent home.
Where it goes wrong
Four positions. A king-side fianchetto whose bishop has gone, with f6, h6 and g7 lit up. The same structure with the white queen on h4 and arrows at h6 from h4 and c1. The Italian after 3.Bc4, pointing at f7. And the Najdorf after 7.Nb3, where White has a long route to d5 by way of d2, f1 and e3.
The club mistake is to treat pawn moves around the king as free. Each one gives up a square for good. ...g6 is fine while the bishop on g7 guards the dark squares; once it is exchanged, every dark square around the king is a doorway. Attackers err too: a knight dropped into a hole and traded off at once gained nothing.
The method: note which colour of squares the pawn moves leave bare. Trade the bishop of that colour. Bring queen and knight, which attack both colours, to those squares.
How to practise it
Go through the four sections, then face two quiz positions. In the first, Black’s dark squares are weak; in the second, Black has left f7 to its fate. Answer with a move by voice or tap. This is a Pro lesson; three days of training in a row earn 72 hours of Pro without a card.