Improve Your Chess!

In short, weaknesses are flaws in your position or that of your opponent's which may be exploited tactically. During different stages of the game, a weakness has varied characteristics. For example, in the opening stages a weakness may be tempi or less than optimal piece placement. In the middle-game, weaknesses appear as open lines, weak squares, underprotected pieces, overworked pieces, outposts, or restraining support points. While in the ending, we consider pawn majorities, king placement, piece activity, and tempi.

Balancing these weaknesses or playing one weakness against another is the heart of chess.

You may trade tempi in the opening to create a weakness around the opposing king. In the middle game, you attack the opposing king, trade pieces in an effort to secure a endgame advantage. In the endgame, you sac a passed pawn to worsen the opponent's king position. Then using tactics such as the opposition, you gain the necessary tempo to force your opponent into zugzwang. Eventually, you win a critical pawn securing the whole point via an underpromotion of your pawn which forces mate.

You will notice from the scenario presented above, that one weakness is traded for another. This is what is meant by playing one weakness against the other. In fact, it has been stated that at least two weaknesses are required to win a chess game. The basis for this is simple, one weakness can be protected by aggregating your forces in its support. However, such a concentration of piece placement must result in other weaknesses appearing at other areas on the board. Common sense tells you that your opponent can not be in two places at the same time.

That introduces a key concept. You must create weaknesses in your opponents position. At least, that is what Patrick Wolf says in his video "Winning Chess Attacks". In this video, he demonstrates how attacking an otherwise solid formation can induce your opponent to play a weakening move in defense your attack. At the top levels, this is necessary. However, for amateurs weaknesses are not created; rather surprisingly, they are often given to you by your opponent.

During the normal course of the game pieces and pawns are moved. In the wake of their movement, weaknesses are created. Your task is to identify a weakness, plan an attack against it, and wait for other weaknesses to appear. Of course, if you are playing a strong opponent, you can help your cause by anticipating future weaknesses.

The problem with many of us is that we fail to realize that we too are creating our weaknesses in our own position. With weaknesses on both sides of the board, it can be difficult to tell who will win. It comes down to who has the initiative.

The person controlling the action will typically win. However, careful defense can take the energy of an attack and ignite a counter attack that is even stronger. Once this happens, the game is likely to end quickly. Arthur Bisquier lectures at tournaments in the USA where he espouses good defense as a means to improving your results.

Attacks that are overtended leave pieces far advanced and concentrated around the attacking points. With a successful defense, these attacking lines leave behind gaping holes. These holes result in weaknesses which can be easily exploited. However, I will save this digression for a later topic.

In summary, you can count on weaknesses appearing as pieces are moved. If you are having trouble identifying these weaknesses, you will need to examine gaps in your knowledge-base. As you move up in class, you will begin to make more significant weaknesses in your position than does your opponent. This is natural, so don't get discouraged. You must recognize that you are learning a new set of rules and the resulting losses represent a paradigm shift in your understanding of competitive chess.

Although they are creating weaknesses , you are unable to recognize them. As you continue to play at an advanced level, overt weaknesses will not appear without your encouragement. Rather, a series of forcing moves must be played to create these weaknesses.Truly, this is where the amateur and the professional player are separated in class.

To distinguish yourself as a chess master, you must recognize these hidden weaknesses and discover the tactical continuations required to exploit them.

Written by: Kevin Monte de Ramos