the middlegame
tactics

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Now we can move on to the middlegame. We've already established during the opening, we should be attempting to encroach on enemy territory and cause problems not only for their king, but their pieces also.


The meaning of the middlegame is quite literally that we're in the middle of the game. The middlegame is where all of the action happens, You either continue with your ideas from the opening, get your pieces extremely active and go for a massive checkmating attack on the king, or you can transpose into a winning endgame and convert a winning position that way.


There are a million different ways to go about playing the middlegame, so let's introduce two tools to help you find your footing.



Learning how to checkmate is integral to mastering not only the middlegame, but Chess as a whole. There are hundreds of ways you can checkmate your opponent, but lets look at a handful that will come up in your games the most.



The support checkmate is by far the most common. Its so common in fact that it technically doesn't have a name.


It occurs when one piece puts the enemy king in checkmate whilst being supported by another piece.


A discovered attack is when moving one piece reveals the attack of a piece that was behind it.


Its one of the deadliest tactics in Chess, and can be absolutely game changing.


Forks are by far the most common tactic in Chess. It occurs when one piece moves and simultaneously attacks two enemy pieces.


This can be difficult to defend, as the opponent must defend both threats in a single move. If they can't they'll likely lose material.


A skewer is very similar to a pin, except the pieces of value just swap around. Instead of the lesser value piece being in the middle, its on the other side.


This is a much more direct threat than a pin, but can still be defended in some cases.


Pins are extremely common, especially in opening setups. Whilst not all pins are tactics, they can be utilized and threatened to make your opponents position uncomfortable.


If your opponent ignores a pin for too long, they might pay the price.


The Back Rank checkmate is definitely the second most common checkmate in Chess.


It occurs when the back rank is left unguarded, and an enemy heavy piece can check the king on the back rank. If there is no way to block, capture the checking piece or run with the king - this is a back rank checkmate.


The ladder checkmate is the key to converting winning positions in Chess. It can be done in the middlegame, but its most commonly found in endgames after a pawn is promoted.


Lolli's checkmate is a very common checkmate against fianchettoed structures. It occurs when a friendly pawn has advanced a significant distance up the board, and is heavily restricting the enemy king.


If a queen can land on the square the pawn is defending, its called "Lolli's Checkmate".


Dovetail checkmate is easily my favourite, and is super satisfying.


It occurs when a queen checks the enemy king from a directly diagonal position. It also requires 2 enemy pieces to hinder the enemy king's escape squares.


Its called a Dovetail checkmate because the squares the queen guards make the shape of a Dove's tail.


The Blind Swine checkmate is when two rooks are harmoniously working together on the 7th or 2nd rank.


If both rooks can check the king in a manner which happens to checkmate the king, its called a "Blind Swine checkmate"

Let's start by looking at the essential tactics you'll need to really master the middlegame. There are many tactics we won't touch on for now as they're a little bit more advanced - and its best you get comfortable with the basics first.


To quickly explain what a tactic is, its essentially a combination of one or more immediate threats. These threats can be:


  • Threatening to check your opponents king

  • Threatening to take your opponents piece

  • Threatening to checkmate your opponent

  • Threatening to threaten one of the above examples, and in some rare cases, this example too.


For a tactic to work, the opponent must not be able to respond to the threats in a tactic without making some kind of concession. Tactics can still be used even if there are defensive measures the opponent can take to respond though, but its up to your discretion and evaluation if you want to make these kinds of commitments.


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checkmates

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