What should be my strategy for the middle game in chess?

Question

After the general opening sequence (first 10 moves), the middle game starts, but what should be my general strategy during this time?
Should I directly go for the king, or start off taking out other important pieces such as the queen and other well places minor pieces?

Answer 1

Focus on controlling the center of the board.
Always capture towards the center whenever possible.
Avoid placing knights and bishops on the edge of the board.
Use pawns to support bigger pieces, never have bigger pieces support other big pieces or pawns. This will keep stronger pieces available for attacks.
Always ask yourself, "If I were my opponent, what would be my next best move?" Then find a way to either prevent that move or plan a counter move that will make your opponent sorry for making his.
If you are even in material or slightly ahead, don't be afraid to trade off pieces evenly including queens. This will clear the board of clutter and make your lead more obvious. It will also make for a quicker game.
Remember that a lone bishop can only capture on 50% of the board. (White squares only, or black only depending on the bishop). But a lone knight can capture on 100% of the board. (Both colored squares as he alternates on each move.) This may be important if you have to decide which one to sacrifice or trade off near the end game.
Pawns are insignificant at first, but they become mightier as they move forward towards the eighth rank and become queens! Don't underestimate them!
Seek out a target and hit it! Whenever your opponent leaves a piece unprotected, make that your target!
Most pieces work better as a team closer together than they do apart.
Don't just watch for opportunities for forks, pins and skewers. Look for ways to create them! Entice your opponent into those situations with small sacrifices.

Bruce Pandolfini's book, Beginning Chess is a great book which will train your eye to see golden opportunities that are regularly overlooked. It's a fun way to learn. Another excellent book is Susan Polgar's Chess Tactics For Champions. It is a wonderful book which shows how to create forks, pins, and skewers. My game improved a great deal as I was studying this book.

Good luck! I hope this helped!

Castle early!

Answer 2

Once you get to the middlegame, you need to know how to look at the position and analyze it. Analyzing involves mentally listing the different factors that create imbalances, and then formulating a plan to best take advantage of them.

Factors to be analyzed include:

Minor pieces (interplay between Bishops and Knights, and trying to make one of them superior to the other)

Pawn Structure

Space (annexation of territory)

Material

Files and Squares (whole plans can center around the domination of a file, rank or diagonal; or the creation of a weak square in the opponent's camp)

Development (i.e. having more force than your opponent in a particular area of the board)

Initiative (dictating the tempo of a game)

By properly analyzing these factors, a plan can be developed which should lead to:

1) Checkmate of the enemy King
2) Winning material, or
3) Establishing a winning endgame

Also, after each of your opponent's moves, ask yourself:

1) What is the threat?
2) What has changed?

Before each of your moves, ask youself:

1) Does this move improve my position?
2) Is this move safe?

For some excellent, detailed reading on strategy, I'd recommend reading the following:

1) "How to Reassess Your Chess" and "The Amateur's Mind" by Jeremy Silman
2) "Win at Chess" by Ron Curry

Also, Yasser Seirawan's "Winning Chess" Series is excellent..those books should be read in the following order:

1) Play Winning Chess (this is really a book for beginners)
2) Winning Chess Endings
3) Winning Chess Tactics
4) Winning Chess Strategies
5) Winning Chess Combinations
6) Winning Chess Brilliancies
7) Wininng Chess Openings

Most high level players believe that openings should be studied last, and endgames first... it's much easier to learn how different pieces work together in combination if there are only a few pieces on the board, as opposed to 32 pieces on the board.

Also, learn tactics... Tactical skill (or lack thereof) decide virtually every game between "class" level players (by "class" level, I mean any player below "Expert" ranking).

"Learn Chess Tactics" by John Nunn and "Chess Tactics for Champions" by Susan Polgar are two excellent books.

But basically, the middlegame involves analyzing the position, finding your opponent's weak point(s) and attacking with sufficient force to create a winning position.

Answer 3

Well..Chess...I think you should do it your way, as the first 10 moves you did, you should have an idea of waht to move next, but the opponent-or you- tends to play defesensive untill a opening has appeared. as for an expert, they try to intercept your moves- and look for weaknesses- then to think of their own. I might be talking rubbish. I can show you by playing you one day perhaps?