controlling a chess board?

Question

Is it better to occuply the center of the board or to cover it from a distance?

Answer 1

i'd say center

Answer 2

Center.
The idea behind "controlling the center" is, actually, to control most of the square.
When your pieces are in the center, they control more square.
Exemple : a queen in e4 control 27 squares ( not counting e4)
in a2, the same queen would only control 21 squares....
same thing for the bishop and the knight.. the closer they are to the center, you control more square.
But you must not just throw your pieces randomly in the center... sometimes, moving them to the border can be better, in a situation... but in the opening, unless your opponent make a big mistakes ( which you must abuse ) the best move is usually to the center.

Answer 3

Both ways are good, and the choice is a matter of style.
Traditionally the center was always controlled by occupation, but then early last century along came Reti and the other founders of the "hypermodern" school of chess. They preferred bishops on g2 and b2, with pawns attacking the enemy center from the flank e.g. c4 (this is from a white perspective, but the same ideas naturally can apply to black).
One thing is for sure, occupy it or fight for control from a distance, but ignore it at your peril.

Answer 4

Either way (occupy or cover from a distance) of CONTROLLING THE CENTER is good.

If you'll insist on which is better of the two, then I'll say the answer will depend on the position on the chessboard.

If you can do both (occupy the center as well as cover it from a distance), then much better.

Answer 5

all of my teachers growing up said to control the center.
And a teacher I worked with just recently, said to control all the squares behind also