Components of Positional Evaluation
Our Goal is to try and answer these questions: "how to acquire a firm knowledge of the basics of chess strategy: How a position's evaluation is developed and what are its components" The actual answers are simple enough: "White is better." "Position is unclear." "Black has a slight advantage." "The Position is equal." etc., etc. These are all evaluations of a chess position. Each one of these assessments carries with it both short-term and long-term components. Examples of short-term components (components you need to address each move) are the placement of pieces, of pawns, and the construction of a reasonable plan ("I want to mate my opponent" is an example of an unreasonable plan). Examples of long-term components are open/closed positional decisions, queen-trades, material, do you trade into an endgame, where to place your king, exchange sacrifices, when and where to attack your opponent, to name several. Strategic con...