"That's what chess is all about. One day you give your opponent a lesson, the next day he gives you one"

Apr 19, 2011

Improving the Worst-Placed Piece (part I)

The late GM Makogonov (one of Kasparov's first trainers) was a strong positional player and formulated some useful general principles. The most famous of these is that, in balanced positions, when neither side has any direct threats or concrete plan, it is necessary either to relocate your worst piece to its best square, or exchange it off. Some players did this instinctively. Botvinnik said that Fischer always exchanged his opponent's strongest piece and that he himself never had bad piece - he simply exchanged them off.

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