Manoeuvring in closed positions
In short
In closed positions with no immediate breaks, the side that manoeuvres better wins. Improve every piece to its best square, keep the opponent passive, and prepare the break only when all pieces support it.
By the end you can
- Improve pieces patiently
- Time the opening of a second front
The lesson
In closed positions with no immediate breaks, the side that manoeuvres better wins. Improve every piece to its best square, keep the opponent passive, and prepare the break only when all pieces support it.
Patience is a weapon: a series of small improvements often provokes the opponent into a premature break that you can exploit.
Key points to remember
- Every piece to its best square
- Prepare breaks fully
- Provoke the opponent into a premature action
Examples
Homework
Two guess-the-move games from Karpov or Petrosian.
More strategy lessons
- Reading a position: the imbalances (Class D)
- Good and bad pieces (Class D)
- Outposts and open files (Class D)
- The isolated queen’s pawn (IQP) (Class C)
- Carlsbad structure and the minority attack (Class C)
- Hanging pawns and pawn breaks (Class C)