Chess Training

Layachi Hamidouche - Les Joueurs d'échecs Training your middlegame play is probably the most difficult aspect of training in chess. Opening training has been reduced to copious amounts of variations and even a simple opening book will suffice to get you through this stage of the game. Endings, in contrast, are very specific and require the knowledge of a few hundred key positions to play well (according to GM's; what those positions are...). However, the elusive middlegame is the place in chess where creativity, original ideas, brilliancies and mistakes take the stage. Here is my take on how to train your middlegame in chess. First, let's define what the middlegame is: Wikipedia says "the middlegame refers to the portion of the game that happens immediately after the opening (usually the first move after the procession of moves that make up a standard opening) and blends somewhat with the endgame. During this time, players will attempt to strengthen their positions whi...