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Questions tagged [positional-play]

A style of play emphasizing capture of strategic squares and prophylactic moves.

Mikhail Botvinnik, José Raúl Capablanca, Tigran Petrosian, and Anatoly Karpov are towering examples of positional players. The 'philosopher of positional play' was Aron Nimzowitsch, who expounded his approach to the game in works like My System, Chess Praxis and Blockade, and was a great player in his own right.

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Is White controlling this game?

Which side is in a better position here : white or black ? Is White controlling this game as all rook, knight, bishop, queen are in open position now ? What are the chances for black to come back ? [fen…
USer345738380
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How do I know what squares I need to control in a given position?

I'm never quite sure what squares I'm suppose to control, especially in positions that aren't official openings or unconventional openings?
user122965
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How to improve positional chess understanding?

I am a normal player with ~1500 FIDE rating, and I am quite good at tactics and trap things. But I falter at the positional games and I am bound to make mistakes where the things are non-tactical. So how should I improve my positional chess…
Prakhar Londhe
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What is a winning position in chess?

I am new to chess, so I have some difficulties on understanding some concepts. For example, by watching games usually I hear that a player has a winning position, or a better position respect to the other player. But how do I understand if my…
J.D.
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What to do in a positionally won situation?

In the below position, White is winning because Black cannot do anything. Black's b-pawn is the last fence barring White from checkmating the king rather easily. k1r4r/1p1nppbp/2b3p1/N7/4PP2/3PB2P/P3B1P1/1RR3K1 w - - 0 1 There are no immediate…
Jossie Calderon
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Can anyone explain why Re7 is one of the lines suggested by the computer?

I was analyzing a game and got stuck in this position by Re7 move. I do not want to mention the player's name. As seen in the diagram Bc5 is misleading, but Bd6 is one of the lines. Bd6 is OK, but Re7 seems inexplicable to me. Please anyone can…
Seth Projnabrata
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In the King's Indian Defense, is 9...Kh8 playable?

After elaborately detailing the imbalances, I've concluded that black needs to take advantage of his kingside space with ...f5. Therefore, the move ...Nd7 is completely justified (the author agrees with this). However, I've also deduced that…
Jossie Calderon
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White seems better. How could I have capitalized?

[FEN ""] [StartPly "25"] 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Nxc6 bxc6 7.Be2 d5 8.O-O Qc7 9.f4 Bc5+ 10.Kh1 d4 11.Na4 Ba7 12.b3 Ne7 13.Bd3 O-O 14.Qh5 f5 15.Ba3 Rf6 16.Bxe7 Qxe7 17.Nb2 Rh6 18.Qe2 Bc5 19.Rf3 Bd6 20.Nc4 Bc5 21.Ne5 Qc7…
user2306
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How do I identify strong pieces?

Depending on the situation, some pieces that are ordinarily worth the about same value (say a knight and a bishop, or two of any piece) have different practical values because one piece is stronger than the other. There's a few "strong" pieces I can…
Brandon_J
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Why did Andersson waste two tempi in this game?

Andersson gives Karpov two tempi (Na6-b4-a6-b4). Understandably, he moved his knight to b4 initially to attack the white bishop. But then he moved it back and forth! It was the 32nd move when he did this, so it is possible that it was due to time.…
Jossie Calderon
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Positional motifs and training websites/softwares/apps?

Tactics have motifs like skewer, pin, fork, weak back rank etc which can be used to guide you towards candidate moves. Are there similar positional motifs? I think Silman's imbalances is close to what I'm asking for, but is a bit too higher level…
jf328
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Why did Alekhine decide to move his king to c3 before playing b3?

In the following photograph, Alekhine decided to move his king to c3 before playing it to b3. Afterwards he moved his king back to the starting point, i.e. e2. Why didn't he just play b3 right away, which is so much easier? The game can be found…
Jossie Calderon
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How to improve positional play while keeping the initiative?

I consider myself an advanced beginner in the 1400-1500 range. I play for fun, like to do tactics and I try to understand instead of memorizing openings and such. I've been analyzing some grandmaster games and realized that improving the position of…
jgadoury
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Why wasn't this strategy chosen?

In the below position, White chose to activate his Knight with Ne4. Of course, he will have to play g4 to prevent …f5, and that requires the moves Kh1 and Rg1. These were the moves played in the…
Jossie Calderon
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What are the most common squares to be overworked?

Generally are there any distinguishable patterns you look find in the opening that you recognize as weak, or exploitable. Or generally any openings that provide the over-bearing sense of duty on a piece?
TheAutomaton
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