The Art and Craft of Planning in Chess

The Art And Craft of Planning in Chess Introduction The middlegame is the most difficult part of the game of chess. Just how do we choose the right plan in the middlegame? What is the best move? How do we improve our position? How do we turn our opponent's position to bad? Very little has been written on the middlegame and not much has been said on how to estimate whether the plan we choose is going to be successful or not. This webpage hopes to improve the reader's chess performance by teaching him how to plan in chess! Planning in Chess Most players are so busy thinking up their own moves and concentrating on their own plans that they pay little or no attention to what their opponent is doing and soon find themselves in a hopeless position. To overcome this fault, one must remember that in chess it is not the best move that you must seek but 2 best plans - your opponent's plans and then yours. Each time after your opponent moves, forget about your own plans for a while and concentrate on his move. What is his plan? What does he intend to do? The earlier you become aware of your opponent's intentions, the easier will it be to meet them in the best possible way. All plans in chess can only be based on four things: 1. the 3 Strongest Moves in Chess - check, capture & passed pawn 2. the Existence of a Combination 3. the Pawn Structure and 4. on the Mobility & Cooperation of Pieces Planning Based on the 3 Strongest Moves in Chess Fred Reinfeld once said, "The 3 strongest moves in chess are checks, capture and pawn promotion." They are strong in that if you answer them insufficiently, you lose material. It is therefore important to always run through their possibilities. If your opponent can make one of these 3 moves, there's a pretty good chance they will be included in his plan. Is there a check? Can he capture one of your pieces? Can he create a dangerous passed pawn? Any of these 3 can show up while you're in the middle of the game so don't forget to check for them first.

"It is not a move not even the best move that you must seek but a realizable plan"- Znosko Borovsky Best Lessons of A Chess Coach This series of lessons by the master player and nationally recognized teacher Sunil Weeranatry brings the fundamentals of strategy and tactics to life and shows players at all levels how to think like a master. Weeramantry is a FIDE Master and former New York State Chess Champion. One of the most successful chess coaches in the country, he has coached over thirty individual and team champions in National Scholastic Championships. He served as a coach for the U.S. team in three World Youth Chess Championships, and currently serves as executive director of the National Scholastic Chess Foundation.

Planning Based on The Existence of a Combination In the absence of the 3 strongest moves in chess, we look at the position for signs or signals that indicate the existence of a combination. At least one of these "T.H.I.E.F.S." signals must be present for a combination to exist. Trapped pieces Hanging or undefended pieces. Inadequately defended pieces or squares. Look for pieces that are defending other pieces.Is it possible to divert, decoy, or block the defending piece so that the piece it defended is left unprotected? Is back rank mate possible? Be on the lookout for ways of creating passed pawns by decoying enemy pawns off important files. Look especially and constantly for enemy pieces performing more than one function. Can such a piece be forced to fulfil only one of its functions? Exposed King. Is it possible to increase the pressure by opening up more lines. Fork possibility - pawn and knight fork. Same rank, file or diagonal. Look for ranks, files, and diagonals that contain more than one enemy piece. Look for ways of decoying enemy pieces to the same line (file, rank, or diagonal). If you see any of these items in a given position, you can start checking if a plan based on a combination is realizable. Don't forget however to see first if any of the 3 strongest moves in chess can be made - checks, captures and passed pawns. Any of these 3 can spoil a planned combination. "The three strongest moves in chess are check, capture & passed pawn."- Fred Reinfeld Best Lessons of A Chess Coach This series of lessons by the master player and nationally recognized teacher Sunil Weeranatry brings the fundamentals of strategy and tactics to life and shows players at all levels how to think like a master. Weeramantry is a FIDE Master and former New York State Chess Champion. One of the most successful chess coaches in the country, he has coached over

thirty individual and team champions in National Scholastic Championships. He served as a coach for the U.S. team in three World Youth Chess Championships, and currently serves as executive director of the National Scholastic Chess Foundation. Meeting Captures Few mistakes can be more costly in chess than failing to guard against captures. Often times a player is so pre-occupied with long-range problems that he misses an innocent-looking capture that wins the game instantly. Why are captures overlooked? Probably because they turn up in positions that seem simple and routine; the players are less alert. If players acquire the belief that almost every chess positions no matter how simple, has tactical possibilities, then they are on their way to overcoming the tendency to overlook captures. What features of the position might have helped players see the danger ahead? The features are King at the center, tangled pieces, open lines, etc. almost similar to the T.H.I.E.F.S. signals discussed earlier. Players must be quick to recognize these signals. Once the signals are recognized and the threat of capture is seen the player has to decide how to meet the capturing threat.There are various ways of meeting the threat of capture. The various methods are A.A.C.C.I.D.M.P. A llow Capture & counter-attack A llow capture & capture something else C apture the attacker C apture something else with your attacked man I nterpose D efend the attacked piece M ove away or P in the attacker. When the threatened capture would cost you material, you must select one of the various methods above which you believe is best in the circumstance. There are a number of circumstances in which capturing is advisable. The most important are : when up in material, to gain material or mate, to gain tempo, to preserve initiative, to create a weakness or positional advantage, to get rid of an attacking piece, to get rid of an obstructing defender & for endgame considerations (always capture with a view of the endgame). The Pawn Capture. When one captures a pawn it is necessary to estimate the loss of time and compensation one concedes to the opponent in the process. The decision is particularly critical when our position is still insufficiently developed. A center pawn should be taken only when tactical calculation shows that the opponent's immediate threats could be warded off and no difficulties in development of the pieces are to be expected.; a flank pawn should be taken only when winning it does not involve a great loss of time or help the opponent open attacking lines with advantage. "The earlier you become aware of your opponent's intentions, the easier will it be to meet them in the best possible way." - Ludek Pachman Endgame Play Chris Ward explains in easy steps how to handle typical endgame situations. Filled with practical test positions- using your king, which pawns are most important, keeping your pieces active, making things difficult for your opponent and traps to avoid. Chris Ward is a young International master on the verge of the Grandmaster title. He has an impressive track record as a trainer. In 1995 alonehis pupils won a total of 10 British Championships in a variety of age groups . Sacrificing Caution must be exercised when sacrificing where there is no chance of mate; if the result is but the gain of a pawn or a loss of a positional advantage on another part of the board. SACRIFICE TO EXPOSE KING There are many ways in which a piece sacrifice may be used to break up a castled king position. SACRIFICE ON R7 When a bishop sacrifices on this square it is known as Greek gift or classic bishop sacrifice. DECLINING THE GREEK GIFT Declining the Greek gift usually leads to a strong attack as the rook pawn is missing. In a few cases, declining the sacrifice will refute it, especially if the bishop cannot retreat. GREEK GIFT: HELPFUL FACTORS Factors that make a Greek gift more likely to work include a bishop on the c1 -h6 diagonal (makes it less likely for the king to escape to h6) ,a pawn on K5 (stops a knight from going to f6) and on rook on K1 which may later join the attack. GREEK GIFT: DEFENCES AFTER NN5+ After NN5+, the defender has several defensive tries. Moving to h8 usually loses quickly. Running back with the king to g8 can be good if h7 can later be defended. Escaping to h6 is often impossible if there is a white bishop on the c1 -h6 diagonal, because of a powerful discovery. Moving to h6 can sometimes be O.K., especially if there is no bishop. Moving to g6 can sometimes be the only move, but can sometimes escape. Other common sacrifices include GRECOS mate which involves a sacrifice on h7, followed by a queen check on h5. Sacrifices on g7 can be dangerous, as the N pawn is the worst pawn to be missing. Sacrifices on f7 can be dangerous, especially with a bishop on the long diagonal. Sometimes the capture of a pawn that has moved to KR3 is possible, especially if 2 pieces are attacking that square. A sacrifice sometimes happens after the defender has played P-KN3 , usually when it is defended only once. If it defended twice, sometimes a double sacrifice on that square may be possible. An exchange sac on B3 is a possibility on this square. A knight sacrifice may happen here. "The earlier you become aware of your opponent's intentions, the easier will it be to meet them in the best possible way." - Pachman MCO-13 Modern Chess Openings Completely revised by Nick DeFirmian. The Chessplayer's bible now in algebraic notation. Takes into account every significant tournament and match game played in recent years, and all important published theoritical work. It contains in-

depth analysis of every opening currently in use, from the Ruy Lopez, the French Defense,the Sicilian Defense, the King's Indian, the Nimzo-Indian,the Queen's Gambit and the English Opening, with up- to- the- minute evaluations of all known variations. Also included is exhaustive analysis of the subtle and enduringly popular older openings(Giuoco Piano, Two Knights, Vienna), and even the tricky openings that can be refuted only if you know the right moves. Chess Secrets Home Are you 100% sure you are going to heaven? 3 Opening Principles Challenge the Trespasser Chess Notation Doubled Parked Draws Eliminate the Defender Fool’s Mate Forcing Moves Gen. Sherman vs. Gen. Thomas Greek Gift Horses on the Cliff Kings Bite Lady-in-Waiting Open and Closed Opening Checklist Opening Map Pawn Forks Pawn Groups Public Enemy No. 1 Public Enemy No. 2 Public Enemy No. 3 Spend a Week at Work Walls of Jericho 3 Opening Chess Principles The following chess principles are considered "the rule", though each one will have exceptions. Until a beginner learns when and why he should deviate from them, these chess principles should be adhered to religiously. Develop your chess pieces! Beginning chess players need to see their knights, bishops, rooks, and queen as soldiers sleeping in the chess "barracks" on the back rank. Not until they are moved off of the back row (or rank) will they be able to fight the enemy. Attack the center four squares of the chessboard! As you learn how each of your chess pieces and pawns captures, you need to be sure and attack e4, e5, d4, & d5 at least as many times as your opponent does. Don't rush your chess pieces to the outside files (a,b,g, & h) until the center of the chess board is sufficiently threatened. The most frequent and most violent attacks in chess will either come through the center of the chess board or will come as a result of a center that wasn't attacked enough times. Protect your king! Always remember that despite all of the many, many chess components that will demand your attention during a game of chess, all of them are secondary to checking your king's safety before every move. Normally, the king needs to be removed from the center of the chessboard, where the action is most furious, by a special move called "castling". When castling in chess, the king moves two squares toward either rook, and that rook "leap frogs" over the king landing on the square next to him. This is the only time in chess when the king can move two spaces in one turn on the chessboard. Several conditions must be met in chess before you can castle. First, this must be the king's and rook's first move of the chess game. Second, there can be no chess pieces sitting on the squares between the king and the rook. Third, none of the three chess squares involving the king (the square he starts on, the square he passes over, and the square he lands on) can be in check (threatened by an opposing piece). Challenge the trespasser. When a knight, bishop, or any enemy piece trespasses on your half of the chessboard, especially in the center, you

must confront him soon by attacking him, trading with him, or driving him away. Don't allow his threat to chess squares in your camp to continue. As play goes on, your opponent will try to infiltrate other chess pieces into your camp protected by the first piece that trespassed. Stop this cancer from spreading by opposing any and every piece that enters your territory. Don’t give your opponent a foothold in your domain by letting one of his pieces establish an outpost that can be used as a springboard for an invasion. Chess Notation There are many types of chess notation, but the simplest one is the one we will use. First, turn your chess (or checker) board so that the right hand corner of the board, as you and your opponent face it, is the light color square. If the squares are white and green, then the right hand corner of the chessboard is white. If the squares of the chessboard are red and black, then the right hand corner is red. When setting up the chessboard, right is light! Next, set up your chess pieces. If you don't know how, I recommend that you purchase a cheap chess set (usually $5.00 from Wal-Mart) and follow the directions. You may have a friend that can help, or you can borrow a chess book from the library. When setting up your chess pieces, remember to place the queen on her own color. This means the white queen goes on the fourth square from the left on the back row nearest to the person playing the white chess pieces. This will be a white square. The black queen will be on the fourth square from the right of the person playing the black chess pieces - a black square. We now have to label the ranks (rows of squares running left to right) and the files (rows of squares running "up and down" or from one chess player to the other) on the chessboard. Ranks are labeled with numbers, and files are labeled with letters. You can actually write the numbers and letters on the chessboard much like the board game "Battleship". Your ranks are numbered from the white side of the chess board to the black side. The row with the white queen and the other white chess pieces on it (not pawns) is rank #1. The white pawns are on rank #2. The black queen and the other chess pieces are on rank #8. The chess files are lettered "a" through "h". As the chess player playing the white pieces looks at the chess board, the white queen is on the "d" file, while the white king is on the "e" file.The bishop to the right of the king is on the "f" file, while the bishop to the left of the queen is on the "c" file of the chess board. Just as in "Battleship", chess squares have a first name and a last name. The first name of each chess square is the letter of the file they're in, and their last name is the number of the rank they are on. This helps us correctly identify the movements of each chess piece. Since the letter is given first when naming a chess square, what name would you give to the chess square on which the white queen starts the game? That's right, d1, because she sits on the intersection of the "d" file and the first rank. The black queen sits on d8 to start the game. Chess notation is dependent on this system. When we notate or write down the moves of a chess game, we simply write down the name of the square that the chess piece WAS on and the name of the square that the chess piece is GOING TO. If we were to move the white pawn in front of the white king two spaces ahead, the move would read e2 - e4. The hyphen means the word "to". This signifies that whatever chess piece was on e2 now has moved to e4. This system of chess notation has proven to be the least confusing to my beginning chess students over the years. A typical layout of a notated game will look like this: Betty Jo Bob White Black

1. e2 - e4 e7 - e5 2. f1 - c4 b8 - c6 3. d1 - h5 g8 - f6 4. h5 x f7 # The "#" sign means checkmate (chess game over). Sometimes a "++" sign is used and means "game over" also. A single "+" means check (king is attacked by an enemy chess piece). The white queen has checkmated the black king in the above chess game. She has threatened to take the black king (check), and he is unable to escape from his position on the chessboard (mate). The king cannot take the white queen for the king would then be in check (threatened) by the white bishop. A king can never put himself in check in a game of chess! In the short form of chess notation , we will add the letters B, N, R, Q, and K before the chess notation to identify which chess piece is being moved. Each letter replaces the first move and hyphen in the chess notation. The bishop uses the letter B, the knight uses N, the rook uses R, the queen uses Q, and the king uses K. No capital letter in chess notation indicates a pawn is being moved. Moving the white knight from g1 to f3 in chess short form notation would read Nf3. When a capture takes place, we use the letter "x". For example, exd5 means that the pawn on e4 just took the piece or pawn on d5. So, you should now be equipped to read and understand the next lesson on chess, and begin writing down (notating) your own chess games as you play them. Taking the time and effort to write down your chess moves will accelerate your learning tenfold! When you notate a chess game, you can go over it by yourself, with a friend, or pay to have it analyzed by an experienced chess teacher. As your knowledge grows, you can review your own chess games learning where your mistakes lay and why they are mistakes. A notated chess game offers continual lessons that otherwise would have been lost forever! Double Parked Did you ever have someone block your car with theirs? Or have you ever known anyone to stop in the middle of a doorway to start a conversation with someone forcing you to stop and ask to be excused so that you could get through? Then you can relate to this tip. One of the most obvious signs of an inexperienced player is the common blunder Bd3 before d4 for the white pieces (Bd6 before d5 for the black pieces). The bishop blocks the d pawn from developing and requires a second move by the bishop before it can be free - a needless loss of time. The bishop can move to b5, c4, or e2 prior to playing d4, but it shouldn't move to d3. Be polite to your teammates! Don't get in each other's way while rushing to develop your pieces! Draws There are three possible outcomes to a chess game: win, lose, or draw. A draw means that the game was tied and that neither player won. Stalemate is one of the three kinds of draws. A player can draw by any of the following ways: 1. stalemate 2. fifty-move rule 3. three fold repetition Stalemate occurs when it is one player's turn to move but he has no legal move. For example, if it is white's turn, and he has only his king which is located on h1 while black has a queen on f2 and a king on g8. White is unable to move even though it is his turn. It is against the rules of chess for the king to put himself into check. So, this game is a draw, by stalemate, and neither player wins despite black having a huge material advantage. The fifty-move rule is achieved when there are no pawn moves and no captures for fifty consecutive moves. If a pawn move or a capture takes place, then the count resets to zero and begins again. Upon reaching fifty - which must

be verified by writing down your moves or having a tournament director witness it - either player may claim a draw. This usually takes place when two players have only a piece or two left and are unable to achieve mate. The three fold repetition rule says that if the exact same position occurs on the board three times during a game, either player may claim a draw. Sometimes this situation is forced - perpetual check is one example - and other times this is stumbled into. Again, this situation must be documented to be enforced. To better understand the application of this rule, you must be able to take pictures of the board three different times during a game and have the resulting pictures turn out identical to each other. Most often, this situation occurs after consecutive back and forth moves where two players are trying to attack, retreat, attack again with the same move, retreat again, etc. Eliminate the defender. Many times you can win a chess piece by first attacking it and then attacking any piece defending it. When you take the piece whose job was protecting the first piece, your play results in leaving the first chess piece en prise, or unprotected. You may now be able to capture the first piece free and clear. Fool's Mate (Two-move mate) This mate is aptly named as it ignores the basics of the opening principles. It results in a two-move mate for black. Here it is: 1. f4 e6 2. g4 Qh4# Believe it or not, this really happens. I've seen it a number of times in my lifetime. The Scholar's Mate (four-move mate) is demonstrated in article entitled “Chess Notation." Forcing Moves Forcing moves are those moves on your part which do not allow your opponent the freedom to choose his reply. Because of your threat or pending threat, your opponent is limited in his responses. This is good for you as your opponent may be absorbed in his own plans and miss making the correct response to your threat resulting in material, position, or time. If you attack an opponent's undefended piece, you force him to move, trade, or intervene with another piece depending on the relative value of the pieces. Should your opponent ignore your threat, he loses a piece. By making forcing moves, you give your opponent an opportunity to respond incorrectly. General Sherman vs. General Thomas Most inexperienced players are quicker to go onto the attack than they are to stay home and play defense. A balance is necessary, of course, but with many players the scales of time spent forming strategy are usually tipped in favor of the attack. While one must attack to have any hope of winning, inexperienced players frequently leave gaping holes in their defense while attacking, subjecting themselves to severe counter attacks. In the Civil War, General William Tecumseh Sherman was famous for cutting loose from his supply lines and going on the attack (Sherman's March to the Sea). Living off the land, he could advance an army of Union soldiers without worrying about the enemy destroying his supply lines. Yet, General Grant only allowed this march on condition he send a respectable force back from Atlanta

to Nashville in order to defend the North from a Confederate army on the loose. General George Henry Thomas, however, was firstly concerned about defense and protecting his inexperienced recruits. Thomas' troops were never unprepared for a surprise attack (Mills' Springs - first Union victory), were never destroyed even when outnumbered (Chickamauga Thomas' men saved the Union army from total destruction), and always prepared thoroughly before attacking (Nashville). Though both styles have merit, Thomas' victory at Nashville, was the only battle where a Confederate army was annihilated, rendering it useless for the remainder of the war. His crushing attack came only after his well-prepared defense had allowed him the luxury of building up his resources so that he could over power his foe and maintain his attack once started. Inexperienced players would do well to consider the merits of resisting the fame that comes from being an attacker, and cultivate a love for defense that paves the way for balanced, secure attacks void of lethal enemy counter attacks. Remember the age old quote, "Offense sells the tickets; defense wins the game!" Greek Gift (submitted by National Master Corey Russell) Almost everyone has heard of the Trojan Horse which housed soldiers, and a city took it in (they didn't have to).While the city, Troy, was sleeping, it was overrun with enemy soldiers that emerged from the giant horse. In chess, the idea is similar. A "greek gift" move is a "gift" of material (pawn, bishop, rook, queen, etc.) that isn't really a gift at all. If a person takes a "greek gift", then the other person gets more in compensation (a mating attack, long-lasting initiative, etc.). Another chess term for a Greek gift is a "sham sacrifice". A sham sacrifice is when one chess player sacrifices material, but will get it back or mate shortly if the opponent takes. Horses on the cliff. Don't place your knights on the outside file of the chessboard unless you have a specific need for such play. His usual power of attacking eight squares on the chess board at one time is cut in half on the outside of the board. Compare the number of squares the knight can threaten from f3 as opposed to h3. Play your horses away from the edge of the chess cliff. Kings bite. The king appears mighty weak in the early stages of chess play because of his limited range of travel and his vulnerability to the attack of other chess pieces. However, as play goes on and pieces are removed from the board by out right capture or trade, the king's ability to capture becomes more and more important. We will see that even in the middle stages of a chess game that the king can help turn an offensive threat against him into a weak play by using his ability to capture. Lady-in-Waiting Develop your other chess pieces first before you send the queen into combat. If you move her highness out before the other pieces (in chess, pawns are not considered pieces, so the word "pieces" refers to knights, bishops, and rooks), you give your chess opponent an opportunity to develop with tempo by attacking the lady general. You lose time trying to develop your other chess pieces by having to relocate your queen. Chess is a game of time, and wasted time leads to missed opportunities. Just as in baseball you have only so many chances (outs) to accomplish something (runs), in chess you have only so many moves to gain control of squares on the board that will limit your opponent's movement. Don't fritter these opportunities away by letting your chess opponent take pot shots at your queen with his knights, bishops, and rooks forcing her to move again and again. Your queen should come out after most of the other chess pieces are developed and offer them support. Yes, she can be the powerful offensive leader on the chess board, but often she is better off letting

the less valuable chess pieces go first into enemy territory and give them her support from the home side of the chess board. Let your chess queen be a lady-in-waiting. Open and Closed Paul Morphy championed the open game, characterized by an exchange of some of the center pawns. Playing e4 on white's first move followed soon by d4, usually results in pawn exchanges that open files. Open files tend to lead to an action filled game with pieces deploying rapidly along these open "roads". The closed game normally results from white playing d4 first. If black follows with d5, white cannot answer with e4 because the square isn't protected. Since the exchange of pawns doesn't result, no lines ("roads") are opened and pieces can't easily and freely move about. This restricted set up is called a closed position. Closed games are usually more complicated than open games. Beginners would do well to cut their teeth on e4 openings until they acquire confidence handling chess fundamentals. When ready for a more complicated test, players can bite into games starting with d4. Opening Checklist Before you use the checklist, first play a game of chess and notate your moves. With the following checklist you will be able to do your own limited chess analysis of the beginning portion of your chess game or someone else's. In the first ten moves of your chess game you should accomplish the following seven items: Move both center chess pawns (d and e file) and move at least one of them two squares (this will take you 2 moves); develop both knights (2 moves) and bishops (2 moves) off of the back row of the chess board; castle - usually with the rook on the "h" file (1 move). Beginning chess players will do well to adhere to this checklist legalistically. Eventually, they will encounter situations in chess games that will teach them when it is necessary to forget this approach, but these chess situations should be the exception and not the rule. I still follow this checklist in my own chess games and have now for over thirty years. One example of an exception to this chess checklist is when you have a chance to win an opponent's piece. Go ahead and take the piece; then return to completing your chess checklist. Another exception occurs when your chess opponent tries to mount a quick mating attack. You must make the necessary moves to defend against the threat and resume your chess checklist when possible. Opening Map (submitted by Candidate Master Daniel Waite) One of my coaches encouraged me to develop an "Openings Map" that would script out what I would do against various openings. I would suggest the same. My 1.e4 Opening Map is a simple to use format that allows me to play solid but relatively off beat ideas. Sicilian 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 (or most other moves) 3. Bb5. French 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 (I've also played with 3.exd5) Caro-Kan 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.Bd3 followed by c3, Nd2, Bf4, Nf3, et. al. 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 and head for a King's Gambit. I play Bc4 first because the idea is to get the other guy to commit before playing f4. Thus, no pet KG defenses. Then again, if the Ruy Lopez is working well, there is no reason to switch. The array of possible defenses to the RL is almost infinite, so I never took the time to learn it. Plus, it doesn't really fit my grind and slash style. 1.e4 d5 (You're on your own for this one. Since the Center Counter is my favorite defense, I wouldn't want to give something away. The one thing I can say is that every book I have on the subject is full of too many holes. Lots of possibilities here for an enterprising student.) Pawn forks. Look out when placing pieces in the pawn fork formation, two spaces apart on the same rank (row of squares running from left to right). Be sure a pawn won't move and attack

both pieces at the same time. Consider the following: 1. e4, e5 2. Nf3, Nc6 3. Nc3, Nf6 4. Bc4 This scenario, where white's bishop is sitting directly in front of its knight on c3, lends itself to a popular pawn fork. Black now plays 4 ... Nxe4, apparently losing the knight for a pawn. However, after 5. Nxe4, Black replies with the pawn fork d5! Though this only regains material equality, the psychological blow is real. White is taken out of his plan and forced to improvise with a new game setting. Throughout the game, be wary of these little land mines. They can grind your attack to a halt and shift the advantage to your opponent. Or, they can give you the sudden break you've been looking for if your opponent steps into your pawn fork trap. The major threat from a pawn fork comes from forgetting about it when you're dealing with weightier matters. Yet, constantly looking for and successfully executing one pawn fork can turn your chess play into victory. Pawn Groups After you have battled hard, traded pieces, and fought for position, you often reach the end game even with your opponent. You each have some pawns, a piece or two, and your king. Or perhaps you simply have only your king and several pawns. Is there a way to gain an advantage with your pawns over your opponent? The answer is yes. However, your seed must be sowed AHEAD of time if you're going to reap the benefits at the harvest. In the end game, pawns create powerful advantages due to their ability to promote, that is, turn into any piece (except for a king or another pawn) upon reaching the 8th rank. If you have more pawns than your opponent, if one of your pawns is advanced along a file to the point where no enemy pawn can stop him by capturing him, or if your pawns are generally further advanced enabling them to reach promotion quicker in a foot race, you have created an important advantage. But there is also a lesser known way to ensure that your pawns are of maximum value to you in the critical end game stage. Keep your pawns in as few groups as possible! What in the world is a pawn group? Well, when you start the game you have one row of eight connected pawns. This is one group. If a pawn is captured, then that file becomes "open", void of any of your pawns. This open file creates two pawn groups, one group on either side of the file. Say that you are playing the white pieces, and your e pawn captures your opponent's d pawn. It, in turn, is captured by black's e pawn. Your open e file now divides your pawns into two distinct groups: those on files a-d and those on files f-h. The pawns within each group can move to protect another pawn or two that is also in that group. The f pawn, for example, can move to f3 to protect the g pawn should it advance to g4. Can the f pawn protect the d pawn in like fashion? No, because there is an open e file that separates them. Suppose that not only the e pawn was gone but the c pawn was also gone. How many pawn groups would there be? Three is correct! You have two pawns (a & b files), one pawn (d file), and three pawns (f-h files). Additionally, the d pawn is especially weak because it is all alone. It is called an isolated pawn. So what is the point here? What's the significance? Okay. Let me use an illustration. As I am writing this, I am at a zoo (near Orlando, Florida). I'm driving the bus

for our school's summer day camp field trip. I'm sitting at a table in the outdoor eating area watching 26 kids try to fend off three mooching peacocks running loose and bent on joining the group for lunch. Would it be easier for the workers to help guard the children if they were all seated together or if they were spread out over three separate locations? Together, of course. The further apart they are, the harder it is to keep running from one group to the next. This is exactly the way it is in chess with pawn groups. The more you have, the harder it is for the workers (pieces) to protect them from the enemy pieces. The secret to having as few pawn groups as possible is to constantly check them throughout the game. Ask yourself, "Will this move result in an increase in the number of my pawn groups?" Don't get radical and sacrifice a piece in order to prevent creating an extra pawn group. Just add this to your list of things to check every time you make a move, and you'll find your pawn structures at the end of the game will help you withstand enemy threats a little better as you march your pawns to promotion and victory! Public Enemy #1 - Running a Red Light! Picture a traffic light in your mind. What color is the top light? Red, right! And what color is immediately below that? Yellow, correct! And, of course, green is the last color. Now what do you do every time that you come to a red light? You stop, of course. And that is exactly what you should do every time your opponent makes a move in a chess game - STOP! DON'T MAKE A MOVE until you have asked yourself WHY DID HE MAKE THAT MOVE? The yellow light indicates that caution should be taken when you play chess before you plunge ahead with your next move. The green light in a chess game indicates going ahead with your attack plan, unless you need to use the next move first for defense in order to stop your opponent's attack. When you play chess, the traffic light is the number one requirement to use after each and every move of every chess game. This may seem elementary, but many good players ask themselves these questions MOST BUT NOT ALL of the time when they play chess, leaving a great feast available for you on the few moves where they forget. Many an inroad has been made into enemy territory by capitalizing on your chess opponent's lack of concentration. To double the strength of this chess tip, simply apply these questions to your own chess game when it is your turn, and your opponent will immediately have fewer opportunities to infiltrate your territory and play chess on your half of the board. The last of my chess tips says, "Discipline yourself to ask these three questions after every move by your opponent: 1) Red Light - Stop! Why did he make that move? 2) Yellow Light - Caution; Be Careful! Is his move a threat to me somehow? 3) Green Light - Go! Can I proceed with my plan of attack or do I need to stop his threat with my next move? " Public Enemy #2 - All Offense and No Defense! The old sports saying, "Offense sells the tickets; defense wins the games," accurately portrays the trap that many fall into as they play chess. Caught up with the "rush" that comes from "going after the kill," many chess players forget that the player which they are hunting also has a gun and is out HUNTING THEM! You'll win many of your chess games simply by playing defense against an offensive-minded player and waiting for an opening to occur. You have to be ready to switch quickly from defense to offense, but the wait will be worth it. Thinking defense will help you win games by taking advantage of the offensive-minded impatience of others, it will help you to develop your own defensive skills, and it will help curb any offensive impatience that you

may have, bringing your chess game into a strong and deadly balance. Remember then the second of my chess tips: a chess game is always made up of BOTH offensive and defensive concerns, and that offensive strategies should be timed to coordinate with a solid defense. Public Enemy #3 - Lack of Development! You have 7 pieces (plus 8 pawns) with which to do battle when you play chess. They are soldiers that start the game in the barracks, asleep on the back row of your chessboard. GET THEM OFF OF THE BACK ROW! They need to be out on the battlefield to be effective. Do your opponent's pieces pose a threat to you in a chess game when they are never moved off of the back row? Of course not! So, give yourself an immediate advantage over many players by heeding the first of my chess tips: take the time to develop your pieces off of the back row BEFORE you mount an attack. Spend a Week at Work When you go grocery shopping, you usually end up spending some of your hard earned money. After you return home, you need to spend a week at work in order to earn enough money to go shopping again. This situation is so similar to capturing pieces on the chessboard that it's almost eerie. Whenever I take an opponent's piece, I usually "spend" some of the good position that I've established. The capture requires me to extend the capturing piece out away from the protection of my other pieces, leaving it vulnerable to attack. Or, it may double two of my pawns on the same file causing awkward congestion. Don't get me wrong; capturing an enemy piece outright is worth the loss of position, temporarily, unless your opponent has set you up to take the piece on purpose. He could be removing a defender from your king by offering a "sacrificial piece" in order to pave the way for an attack. Be sure to double check this. Now that the opposing piece is captured, check and see if you have any other immediate attacking possibilities. If not, return home and "spend a week at work in order to earn enough money to go shopping again". Your long term prospects have improved; your short term prospects have worsened. Your opponent now has the next move. He can press the attack for a while. You must take some time and make sure that your defenses are not left open for a counter attack as a result of your capture. Bolster your defenses, finish developing your pieces, castle your king, make sure all of your pieces are defended to avoid forks by your opponent; these are ways to "spend a week at work" so that when your position is again solid, you may, again, go on the attack taking advantage of your superior forces. In a nut shell, capturing material may result in weakening your position. Take the next few moves to play defense and fix any weaknesses before resuming your attack. This limits your opponent's counter attack possibilities while you are in a weakened positional state. Chess Walls of Jericho Definition: chess "wall" pawns - the pawns at f2, g2, and h2 in front of white's castled king (0-0) on g1; pawns at a2, b2, and c2 in front of white's castled king (0-0-0) on c1. Black pawns of the same letter (f7, g7, etc.) on the 7th rank are black's chess "wall" pawns. Don't move the chess "wall" pawns in front of your castled king without strong reason. The chess "wall" pawns are the line of defense closest to your king and need to be intact in order to delay an assault by your chess opponent.. Moving them out away from the king creates empty chess squares between them and the king, room that an enemy chess piece may occupy or influence. Avoid capturing enemy chess pieces and pawns with these chess "wall" pawns if the capture can be done with one of

your chess pieces (knights, bishops, rooks, or queen). If you must capture with one of these pawns, remember that you now have an open a file, or road, directly into your king's chamber. You must now station chess pieces near enough to this breach to prevent enemy infiltration. This may slow down your attack having one less chess piece available for offense. OPENING DISASTERS AND THE IMPORTANCE OF DEVELOPMENT Have you ever wondered why Grandmasters of chess often take 40 to 50 moves to come to a conclusion in their games when it takes us club players or recreational players not more than 20 moves to finish our games sometimes? Or in another case, why is it that when a master is pitted up against an amateur the master's greater experience often wins out against the amateur in a relatively short amount of moves? These are the questions I hope to answer in this first Chessdoctor instructional Article. There's no way around this: Development is of paramount importance in the game of chess. Without it chess doesn't exist. As Nimzovich so eloquently stated, "To be ahead in development is the ideal to be aimed for." Therefore, I found it fitting to use a Nimzovich game in describing some of these principles. There are 2 different ways to be ahead in development. One way is to have more pieces off the back row than your opponent in the same number of moves. The other is to have more pieces in a certain area of the board at a given time than does your opponent. If white has a queen, two rooks, down the f-file, and a knight on e4 and g5, and a bishop on b2 and b3 unhindered on their diagonals while black's forces are out twiddling their thumbs on the queenside, then white has an advantage in development on the kingside. "To be ahead in development (in either of these 2 ways) is the ideal to be aimed for." Here's a warm-up game play by Nimzovich himself (the pioneer), against Alapin back in 1911. This proves that Nimzovich didn't just preach, he practiced and won game after game. White: A. Nimzovich GM Black: S. Alapin GM Karlsbad, 1911 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. exd5 This is the Classical French System Exchange Variation. White achieves fine development, but unfortunately after 4...exd5 the game is equal and will most likely draw with decent play on both sides. Therefore more common is 4. Bg5 striving for an advantage and to create some differences in the position. (after 4. exd5 exd5 the positions are identical, no differences= no advantage.) 4...Nxd5?! Very dubious. GM Alapin strives to create a difference in the position all right, but it's much to his disadvantage. Now white has ideal development (both the center pawns are moved out or exchanged thus development is easy to achieve) AND he has extra space. The d4 pawn is most unpleasant for black, therefore c5 must be played to break the center up. The other drawback is that it locks in the c8 bishop thus restricting development. 5. Nf3 Practicing his principles, developing a new piece with each move while avoiding an immediate 5. Nxd5 which would once again equalize. 5...c5 Not positionally sound at this time. 5...c5 is a worth while move, but not

at the expense of losing significant tempo. Better was Nxc3 followed by c5. 6. Nxd5! An accurate retort. The reason Nimzo plays this is because black can't equalize with exd5 because then the inevitable isolated d5 pawn would be a problem. If 6...exd5 then 7. Bb5+! (striving to exchange the lightsquared bishops to make black's defensive task of the future d5 pawn harder) Nc6 8. 0-0 Be6 9. Re1 Be7 10. Be3 and white would have good play against the coming d5 isolated pawn. Therefore, the next move is positionally forced unfortunately. 6...Qxd5 7. Be3 Developing a new piece while threatening dxc5. White playing very logically thus far and is comfortable with his development. 7...cxd4 8. Nxd4 a6? Now GM Alapin makes a big mistake. This only serves as a loss of time. Wing pawn advances, unless required or proven NOT a loss of time, are very bad. This is no exception. This is to prevent Bb5+. He could've done the same thing with a useful developing move 8...Nc6!. He commited a cardinal sin in the opening, an unneeded wing pawn advance! If anyone would pounce on this error it would be Nimzovich. 9. Be2! He's sacrificing the g2 pawn for more development! Nimzovich intends to castle to the queenside to protect his king. Nimzovich enjoys the extra time he has to develop more of his forces in order to attack. 9...Qxg2?? Yuk! The queen is the only piece black has developed. From standard opening principles we know that the queen isn't a good piece to develop early. So that's a problem he has to deal with already. But now he moves the queen a seond time instead of developing a new piece and getting his king to safety! For this, he should surely be punished. 10. Bf3! Nimzo activating his bishop without loss of tempo, protecting his rook, and attacking the black queen again all in one swift stroke! 10...Qg6 11. Qd2 Developing his queen and preparing to castle queenside. When asking yourself if white has compensation for a whole pawn lost, remember to also ask yourself how much more development do I have? After Qd2, white is winning the opening race 4-1. He has a 3 piece advantage in the same number of moves. It seems black stopped in the middle of the race to drink some orange juice! 11...e5? This pawn was also moved once already too! Why move it again? It attacks the d4 knight, but as Nimzovich shows, not even attacking a knight can stop him from developing. 11...Be7 should be the only move considered. 12. 0-0-0!! Brillance. This is very simple on principle, yet very profound. White is sacrificing his knight for development. The horse's death will not be in vain, he is a martyr! The d-file is decsive. White's artillery is lined up and primed toward the uncastled black king. This brilliant sacrifice also follows the principle that when you're ahead in development you should strive to open the position. This does just that.

12...exd4 Black's a rich man. At least he'll die witha a full stomach. 13. Bxd4 Nc6?? Loses on the spot. Once again the only move to be considered was 13...Be7. 14. Bf6!! Once again, a brilliant shot! This opens the d-file and the bishop itself influences d8. Isn't this insane? White's lost a knight for a pawn and another pawn earlier. He's down a full piece and now he sacrifices another. Both a pawn and the queen can take this. In order to be a good chess player you must calculate variations. Sure, anyone can load up a Fritz or Chessmaster and see that this move is their recommendation, but for YOU to do this you needed to calculate and do the hard work to play a move like this. Why can't black take the bishop? 14...gxf6? 15. Bxc6+ (eliminating defender of d8) bxc6 16. Qd8 mate. Also 14...Qxf6 must be calculated, 15. Rhe1+ Be7 16. Bxc6+ Kf8 17. Qd8+!! Bxd8 18. Re8 mate. How many people could really see this when some computer recommended Bf6? I bet quite a few club players even would miss Qd8+ leading to mate even if that position was handed to them! However, to see that while you're at move 14 sacrificing a bishop is very hard for some people unless you're an experienced master who has a feel for what the position requried and can calculate the details. 14...Qxf6 15. Rhe1+ Be7 Finally this move is played, but now it's too late. 16. Bxc6+ Kf8 17. Qd8+!! Bxd8 18. Re8 Checkmate Wow. The master of teaching principles showing he's mastered using them too! This is just one game that shows the importance of development and this was between two Grandmasters! What is a Grandmaster was pitted up against a typical club player? The next game I go over is a master vs. an amateur. Note: These players play chess at my chess club and indeed one is a master and the other is an amateur. However, as they've requested not to mention their names all that's really important is that one player plays like a master and the other like an amateur. White: Master Black: Amateur 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 This is the Ruy Lopez. So far both sides have developed with the best of opening principles. This opening retains white's development initiative the longest. This is the best way to threaten the black e-pawn (development with attack principle). White can attack the e-pawn in many different ways such as 3. d4 the Scotch, however this develops a piece. Note that this is more of an annoying threat that is constantly lurking as opposed to an immediate one because Bxc6 cannot be played immediately to win the pawn since Bxc6 dxc6 Nxe5 Qd4! threatens the black knight and the e4 pawn. However, the Bxc6 threat must be attended to and watched the entire time. 3...Ne7?! An amateur move. This reinforces the c6 knight in case of Bxc6 but the best move is 3...a6 which has proven to be a wing pawn advance that doesn't lose time in the opening due to attacking the bishop and forcing it to move as well for the 2nd time. 4. 0-0 The master castles here to gain total freedom of opportunity for his undertakings in the center.

4...d6 A good defensive move. This blocks in the f8 bishop, but it's pretty much forced after Ne7. 5. d4 White is attempting to open the game a la opening principles as well as freeing up all his other pieces for development. This is also in accordance with developing with attack. This threatens 6. dxe5 winning a pawn as well as 6. d5 which attacks the pinned knight. 5...Bd7 The best defensive move was played by the amateur. He saw the d5 threat. 5...exd4 was way too giving. As it is, black has a cramped but solid game. 6. Nc3 Simply developing a piece. Also possible is 6. c3. 6...f6? In some variations this is a correct way to make e5 granite. However, here it's a typical amateur-type mistake. White is the better developed, this invites white to open the game which the master happily does. 7. dxe5! Opening principles galore. Tempting, but not the best, is 7. d5?!. This is in direct accordance with the principle that you must open the game when you have a lead in development. 7...Nxe5 8. Nxe5!? Very important exchange. This frees the d1-h5 diagonal for the queen to take into account black's weakening f6. The master's experience is shining through in many colors. 8...fxe5 This looks a little amateurish, but it's the best. The pawn formation is better after this capture, and after 8...dxe5 9. Bc4 and black has even more problems than with the d-capture. Also, the other "semialternative" 8...Bxb5 loses to 9. Nf7! when black's forced to eliminate the possibility of castling and then white recaptures the bishop. 9. Bc4 Putting the bishop on the obviously important diagonal. 9...Qc8! The move by the amateur really surprised me here. This is an excellent move! The idea is to neutralize white's c4 giant by playing 10...Be6. 10. Qf3!? The master develops the queen and threatens Qf7+. Superficial is 10. Qh5+?! g6 11. Qf3 Be6 12. Qf6 Bxc4 13. Qxh8 Bxf1 and black has equalized! 10...Be6 The only move. 11. Bxe6 The master is forced to make this unhappy exchange. 11. Qe2, 11. Bb3

and 11. Be2 all lose a tempo for white. As Nimzovich stated, "Exchange with the subsequent gain of tempo." 11...Qxe6 Now it seems that black has neutralized white's attack! There's nothing concrete here for white. The only pieces developed are the queen and knight. In fact, white's only slightly better hear. Black has no weaknesses and his position is solid. However, white has a lead in development and a better bishop therefore a slight plus. 12. Nd5 Why does the master move a piece for the second time instead of developing with 12. Bg5 or something like that? The master has his reasons! As a matter of fact it's probably the best move. The reason is because he wants to force the knight exchange. After 12...Nxd5 and 13. exd5 the pawn on d5 disrupts black's piece communication! In essence his camp is divided now into two parts. 12...Nxd5 This seems forced. After 12...0-0-0 13. Bg5 Re8 14. Qb3 (Threatening Nb6+ winning the queen) then 14...Nxd5 and 15. exd5 is forced anyway. Therefore, either way the exchange of knights will be forced disrupting the black piece communication. 13. exd5 Qg6? The error that loses the game. Much better was 13...Qd7 when the game would most likely continue with 14. Qe4 Be7 15. Bd2 0-0 16. Rae1 Qf5!? (here white only has small advantage due to good bishop and e4 square) 17. Qxf5 Rxf5 18. Re4 Raf8 19. f3 and the white rook can travel anywhere on the board. 14. Qb3 This protects c2 and attacks b7. This forces black to make a decisive weakening move. 14...b6 After the text Black has a disadventageous pawn position which considerably weakens c6 and the c-pawn. Before we awfulize black's play let's examine the alternatives. 14...0-0-0 15. Be3 Kb8 16. Qa4 a6 17. b4! with a big attack. Or 14...Rab8 15. Qa4+ and white wins the a-pawn. Therefore Black's response seems best. Now that a static disadvantage has been created, the master can ignore it and play for a different goal for a while. 15. Qb5+ Indeed, he does just that. He's ruining black's castling opportunities. 15...Kf7 The best square. Black hopes for 16. Qd7+ Be7 17. Qxc7? Rhc8! completing development. 16. f4! The master prepares Qd7+ by opening lines for attack to use ALL the force in the attack. The master saw the immediate Qd7+ wouldn't be as potent because how much damage can a queen do by herself? Therefore, black continues development! 16...exf4 The other alternatives are just as bad as this! 16...Kg8? 17. fxe5 dxd5 18. d6! threatening Qd5+. If 16...Qxc2?? 17. Qd7+ Be7 18. fxe5+ Kg8 then 19. Qe6 is mate. Lastly, if 16...e4 17. f5! Qf6 18. Qc4 Qe7 then

19. Be3 and white can prepare the final crushing blow whenever it pleases him. 17. Qd7+ Kg8 18. Rxf4 h6 It's good that the amateur is thinking about flight squares for his king. For instance if 18...Qxc2?? then 19. Qe6 mate and the king has no where to go. A better alternative probably was 18...Re8. 19. Bd2! Intending Bc3 to attack g7 once again. White's attack is overwhelming all because of the earlier Qg6? with a forcing of the queenside weak squares which allowed penetration by the queen. 19...Qxc2?? Ouch. Don't go pawn hunting when you territory is being flooded! Better was 19...Kh7. 20. Bc3 You can cut the tension in this position with a knife. 20...Qg6 21. Raf1 White's threatening 22. Rg4. If 21. Rg4 immediately, then Qf7 is just fine for black. 21...Kh7 Black didn't see the threat. But 21...h5 is no better. 22. Rg4 Qe8? Hoping to exchange queen's but impossible. Better was 22...Rd8. 23. Qxg7+! Bxg7 24. Rxg7 Checkmate A beautiful finish by the master. The amateur has made some good progress, but it takes a thourough understanding of development (among other things) to become a master. Hope you enjoyed the article. The next one is on attacking the Castled King! ATTACKING THE CASTLED KING! Hi everyone! Welcome back to "Chess Battle Strategy". In this article we will study the basics of the principles involved in attacking the castled king and how to employ them in our own games. You will learn about ideas like "When your position warrants an attack", "What factors we should take into consideration in planning the attack", "How to lure king defenders away", and "How to spot combinations." The attack is one of the most exciting aspects of chess. Until the 20th century, almost ALL high-level chess games were played in order to impact the audience with the most beauty and most viscious attacks possible. Who wouldn't get pleasure from making a sound sacrifice who nobody expects for a decisive attack that leaves your opponent breathless? :) However, to burst a few bubbles, we must note that many attacks were "incorrect" in that day and age because the position did not warrant the attack. In other words, not until Steinitz came along with new positional ideas did! we find out how to perform the most successful attacks. It's illogical to think we can put most of our major pieces on the queenside and then attack the opponent's king on the other side of the board with a knight and a bishop. There is much planning that needs to be involved. For instance all our pawns, open files, major pieces, minor pieces need to work together to be the most effective. Chess is a team game! What kind of position warrants an attack on the king and what factors should we take into account when planning for an attack? 1. You must have (or be able to create) a lead in development on the side of the board that the opponent's king is on. In other words you must have more attackers than he has defenders otherwise he can defend everything you throw at him. A queen is the most powerful chess piece on the board, but she cannot hassle a king who has a whole army defending him. 2. Also, you must have a space advantage. If you have a space advantage, by default your opponent has less space. And if you have a space advantage you automatically have more active pieces. What I mean by space is the amount of squares you control on the opponent's side of the board (i.e. the first four ranks for white or the last four four black). Why are open files so important? Because a rook back in the barracks can attack many squares in the opponents territory. A knight outpost? Aha! Space. Open bishop diagonals? More space in the opponent's territory!

3. You must have better center control. You must control the center squares by balancing the pressure on the center or by influencing it MORE than your opponent. The reason? Because if you don't control the center squares your opponent can simply place pieces there where they stand actively and can both attack AND defend. So that brings easy defense and counterattack into the mix. Something that can easily spoil a good looking attack. Therefore you must at the very "least" control the center AS much as your opponent. The most dominating attacks have the attacker dominating the center as well! And that's no accident. Strive to control the center! 4. You must ask yourself if you can create open lines by advancing pawns on the kingside. Pawns are the most effective attackers. None of the flashy pieces can stand in their way. A good old-fashioned pawn storm always brings fright into the defenders eyes. "Where do I place my pieces? How can I stop them from being driven back? How do I stop him from opening a file at my king?" Those are some of the questions the scared defenders ask when confronted with a flow of peasants coming at his majesty. If you're castled on the same side as your opponent you must ask yourself if any pawn moves will weaken your own king. If so, then your attack will be primarily executed with your pieces (i.e. Rook lifts are more common). These principles are of "paramount" importance in executing a successful attack. Let's see how they work in action in games and how we can put them to work in our own games. This first game is a recently-played one by one of the best attackers in history (arguably THE best). This, of course, is Garry Kasparov. No stranger to any of we chess enthusiasts. He "had" to have been a successful positional player in order to play all the dominating attacks he's been known for. Before we examine this great game, a word about combinations. When I initially read Silman's "Rules of Combination Recognition" I was skeptical at the simplistic view. But in my tournament practice I have found that I've done those same things unconsciously! Rule 1: Look for undefended pieces Undefended pieces are subject to double attack. For instance a queen could attack a piece while making a mating threat for instance. Rule 2: Look for inadequately guarded pieces (Equal attackers and defenders) Here's where the tactics decoy and deflection come about. If you can "lure" a piece away from a pieces defense when there's equal pressure, then you should be able to win it! Rule 3: (The most important) Spot a weakened king This means looking for when we can create an open king situation (usually via sacrifices) or when the king has very few defenders. Whenever a king is currently wide open, checks are possible. Aside from checkmate, the check is the most serious threat in the game. Therefore, as long as many checks are possible so are tactics involving the double attack. Sometime we need to sacrifice a piece in order to get the king to the opened situation. Once it's there however we can use all the tactics associated with the open king to get our material back and in greater amounts! If one or more of these rules is present there's "got" to be a combination in the position no matter how hidden. I admit I have been unconsciously using a system like this all throughout my tournament career without even realizing it! Kudos Mr. Silman and many other writers who originated when a combination can exist.