As a new player I often hear on streams 'I want my queen here, I want my bishop here, I want my knights on this line. The queen is better on c2 than c1' etc etc. It is common and it seems to be common consensus amongst high level players explaining their play - however as a new player I don't understand how you come to this understanding. Is there a book or some kind of secret mason code I need to know, maybe a ring that glows in the dark or something to get this information?
I can't seem to find it in books and I've studied games but I'm not quite experienced enough to know the difference between an exceptional intermittent move; and a horrible one.
Likewise I'm always amazed that people seem to always have places to move safely without hanging pieces; where as in my games things are hectic and every position feels so fragile. What is the secret; and who do I have to kill to find out what it is?
You want queen somewhere beacaus it defend something there or puts pressure on there or simply has good amout of moves available.
Reas few books and you sort know all of this. Application need you really know it and thats harder
This is mostly patterns that have emerged.
In the Sicilian, the black queen often ends up on a5. Here it applies pressure on the center by pinning the Nc3. If the queen is developed after white castles, it often ends on c7, as e7 and d7 are usually occupied and there is a Be3 guarding b6.
From playing over many games, you should notice that pieces migrate to certain squares. Alekhine was good at annotating what his plans were.
I often feel that the position could turn at any time, but I do place my pieces where they won't be en prise.
(jk) Get rid of Bill Gates and not have the stock market crash, and I will give you all of my chess secrets.
The most part is simply pattern recognition. After thousands of games and hours of study you get a good feeling for where to put your pieces.
I think it's good to start out with centralising your pieces and giving them as much space to move around as possible. Then you can let certain pieces focus on weak points in your opponents position for example.
Pawns like to be on central squares and so that they are defended preferably by other pawns.
Knights like to be in the centre, on a square where they cannot be driven away by pawns.
Bishops like to be on long diagonals that pass through the centre. Especially strong are bishops at g2, g7, b2, b7 so called fianchetto, as they are on a long diagonal that passes through 2 central squares. Sometimes bishops like to pin knights.
Rooks like to be on open files.
The queen likes to be on a spot where she has access to squares along diagonal & file, but where she is safe from attacks by enemy pieces.
The king likes to be in a safe place like g1 behind pawns f2-g2-h2.
Towards the endgame, when pieces are exchanged, the king likes to be in the centre.
tpr gave some good advice there specific to the different pieces. Some more general things (that may seem obvious) are:
-Put your pieces on squares with the most mobility. Options are good, give as many to your pieces as possible.
-Place your pieces well in respect to your opponent's pieces: keep your pieces clear of possible attack.
-Have good coordination between your pieces. You don't want your own pieces to inhibit other pieces. You can create synergy by making batteries, or placing your pieces to attack a certain weakness or control a certain square.
As TricksOnlyNL said, a lot of it comes down to pattern recognition. Trial and error in games will slowly give you a better understanding of what is good and what is bad.
Thanks guys; I'm fast tracking my learning which isn't going badly but the side effect of it is I'm facing opponents with loads more experience than myself. All this information is appreciated.
"The Secrets of GrandMasters" reportedly written in the 3rd Century and lost in the Great Fire, is said to actually still exist. The "secrets" are there, waiting to be rediscovered..
Hey
@Convenient!
The thing you are talking about is called planning, I talked a little bit about it here:
youtu.be/RF_w3AwQVQMAfter you have been into chess for a while you can recognize certain patterns which you can extrapolate to other positions and try to find out a correct way to proceed, it is mostly experience and chess principles as described above in some pretty useful comments.
Bests, Paul.
There is in fact a ring that glow in the dark.
It is engraved with the sacred words "piece activity" .
