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what you need to know to understand a GM

Aleksandar Randjelovic

Concepts to know in order to understand a master's game

ChessStrategy
... or 33 hidden elements you need to learn!

Great chess games are rich with strategic and tactical elements, especially when played by two great grandmasters. In the following game (for those who prefer a Youtube video), at least 33 themes or motifs are mentioned while explaining the player's moves and motifs. In order for a beginner to fully understand a chess game of similar (GM) quality, at least being able to recognize those concepts is required. If some of the concepts are too difficult for a student, only critical positions should be provided by their chess coach, those that can be suitable to challange their student's will to explore further. There is no point of showing the whole game, as it can only make things less logical and cause confusion.

https://lichess.org/study/7o43PEZ6

https://youtu.be/YDdkuv1gfBY

These are the elements of chess strategy and motifs, mentioned while analysing the game:

1. Fight for the center
2. Coordination of pieces
3. Tactics: Double attack
4. Activity of pieces: Restricted Knight
5. Development of pieces
6. Bishop vs Knight
7. Weakening the enemy King
8. Open file
9. Tactics: Attack on the King
10. Pawn-storm against the enemy King
11. Tactics: Pin
12. Flank vs Central initiative
13. Compensation for material
14. Fighting for space
15. Tactics: Skewer
16. Tactics: Discovered attack
17. Tactics: Deflection
18. Weak square - b6
19. Backward pawn - b7
20. Passed pawn
21. Outpost
22. Weak square complex (dark-squares)
23. Exchanging bad for a good piece
24. Provoking a weakness
25. Centralization
26. Back-rank weakness
27. Maneuvering pieces
28. Getting rid of the weak pawn - e6
29. Attacking an isolated pawn
30. Active King
31. Active Rook in the endgame
32. Zugzwang
33. Simplification

Some of the concepts from the list are more complex then other. For example, tactical motifs are much simpler than other things. Working on concepts such as compensation for material and maneuvering pieces is something that comes at the end of the teaching process, cause they may be consisted of the simpler motifs and elements, such as ideas of pinning the opponent's piece, or attacking an isolated pawn, or forcing their opponent to weaken their king's position. That's why those concepts (compensation for material and such) should be studied and examined by the students of higher level of chess understanding.

It may seem like not that much relevant, but actually many chess coaches make such mistake, providing material which is too complex for their student, and then they get a surprise in view of getting fired with the explaination: "I realized chess is not for me, and I'll try some other things in my life for the time being. Thank you for your effort!"