Level 3 of 6
Bishop level: playing for something
Where you stop playing one move at a time and start playing for a position, and where your own games become your best material.
Ready for this when
Plays a whole game with a plan rather than one move at a time.
Working towards
Judge a pawn structure and convert an extra pawn.
Until now a good move lost nothing and took anything left loose. Then two careful players reach a position where nothing hangs, and somebody still has to do something.
That something is a plan, and the first plans come from the pawns: which files are open, which pawns are weak, which squares no pawn can ever attack.
Your own games now teach more than puzzles do, because the mistakes in them are yours. That is why you start writing the moves down.
Read the pawns first
Before you look for a move, ask three questions about the pawns. Which files have no pawns at all? Which pawns have no friendly pawn on a neighbouring file? Which squares can no enemy pawn ever attack?
Pawns cannot move backwards. A bad bishop can be improved in two moves; a pawn weakness is permanent, so build your plan around it.
- Open file: no pawns on it. Put a rook there.
- Isolated pawn: no friendly pawn beside it. Attack it, and occupy the square in front.
- Outpost: a square no enemy pawn can reach. Put a knight there.
The d-file
Good bishop, bad bishop
A bishop stays on one colour all game. If most of your pawns stand on that colour, the bishop is stuck behind them. That is a bad bishop.
This gives you a trading rule. When you swap a minor piece, give up the one blocked by your own pawns and keep the free one. It also tells you which pawn moves to avoid: every pawn pushed onto your bishop's colour makes that bishop worse.
Write the moves down
Without a record there is no review, and without review the same mistake repeats for months.
Find the move where the position stopped being fine, usually before the blunder. Write one sentence: what you expected, and what happened.
Do it the next day, when the disappointment has passed.
Tactics get longer
A double check is two pieces giving check at once. It cannot be blocked, and capturing one checker leaves the other, so the king must move. A deflection drags a defender away from what it guards, then takes it.
You are now looking two moves deep: a first move that forces a reply you can predict, and a second move that works because of that reply.
Converting an extra pawn
An extra pawn is often thrown away by playing as if it were still the middlegame.
The method is plain. Trade pieces, not pawns. Bring your king forward, because in the endgame it is a strong piece. Make a passed pawn. If a trade reaches a king and pawn ending you can calculate, take it.
- A pawn up: trade pieces, keep pawns.
- A pawn down: trade pawns, keep pieces.
- Once the queens are gone, bring the king forward.
Where this level sits
Third of six, and the first about judgement rather than rules. Before this, most questions had right answers. From here, many have better and worse ones.
Positions to play through
1A double check cannot be answered
The rook on f6 blocks the bishop on e5 from the black king. Move the rook and count the checks.
Black cannot block or capture two checkers at once, so the king must move. The rook covers g8, the e5 bishop covers g7, and the b1 bishop covers h7. Mate.
2The skewer: check first, collect second
The black king and queen stand on the same long diagonal, the king in front. Work out why that matters.
A skewer is a pin turned round: the more valuable piece is in front. When it moves, the piece behind is lost. Here White gives a bishop and wins a queen.
3A knight on a square nobody can attack
Look at the white knight on d5. Is there a black pawn that could ever attack it?
Black can still trade a piece for the knight, but no pawn can chase it. The missing pawns made the square permanent, and that gave White a plan: put a knight there.
4The pawn that can only be defended by pieces
One black pawn stands alone in the centre. Check the files on either side of it.
There are two targets. The pawn is weak, and so is the square in front of it, d4, which no black pawn can ever attack. Attack the pawn and put a piece on d4.
The order to learn them in
If you only follow one path through this level, follow this one.
- 1Double CheckTwo pieces check at once, so the king must move.
- 2DeflectionForce a defender away from its job.
- 3Good vs. Bad BishopA bishop hemmed in by its own pawns is a bad bishop.
- 4Space AdvantageMore room behind your pawns, so your pieces move freely.
- 5Backward PawnsA pawn left behind, which no other pawn can defend.
- 6Doubling RooksTwo rooks on one file, one behind the other.
- 7Philidor PositionRook endgame draw a pawn down: third rank, then checks from behind.
- 8Minor Piece EndgamesBishops and knights escorting pawns, and the wrong bishop that draws.
- 9Evaluating PositionsMaterial, kings, pawns, piece activity: the checklist that gives a plan.
Every topic at this level
Tactics
- Double CheckThe checking pieces may stand where they could be captured. It does not matter, because only a king move is legal.
- X-Ray AttackBefore deciding a square is safe, look along the line past the first piece. Another attacker may be waiting behind it.
- DeflectionAsk what each enemy piece is guarding. The one guarding your mating square is the one to deflect.
- DecoyFind the square where your knight would fork king and queen. Then look for a sacrifice that puts the king there.
- Boden's MateTwo bishops on different colours can cover every square around a king. When the king's own pieces block the rest, it is mate.
- Arabian MateKnight on f6, rook on h7, king on h8: that is mate. Remember the shape.
- Anastasia's MateA knight on e7 and a rook on the h-file trap a king on h7. Its own pawn on g7 does part of the work.
Position and strategy
- Space AdvantageWhen you have more space, avoid trading pieces. The cramped side wants trades, so do not help.
- Backward PawnsA pawn whose neighbours have moved ahead of it cannot be defended by a pawn. Pieces have to guard it instead.
- Good vs. Bad BishopYour bishop uses only one colour of square. Keep your pawns off that colour, or they block it.
- Doubling RooksTwo rooks on the same open file are much stronger than one. Put the second behind the first.
- SimplificationWhen you are ahead, trade pieces. Fewer pieces mean fewer ways to go wrong, and your extra piece counts for more.
Endgames
- Queen vs. Pawn on 7thA queen beats a pawn on the seventh by checking until the king blocks its own pawn. Each time it does, bring your king one square closer.
- Philidor PositionA pawn down in a rook endgame, put your king in front of the pawn and your rook on your third rank. When the pawn reaches that rank, check from behind.
- Minor Piece EndgamesBefore trading into a bishop and rook's pawn ending, check the colour of the promotion square. If your bishop cannot cover it, a defending king in the corner draws.
- Knight vs. PawnA knight can catch a passed pawn by reaching a square in front of it. Count the knight's moves before deciding it is too far.
Openings and planning
- Pawn Structure MemoryAfter the opening, look at the pawns on their own. Their shape tells you the plan better than the moves that made it.
- Gambit PlayA gambit gives a pawn for speed. If you accept one, finish developing before grabbing more, and give the pawn back if that keeps you safe.
- Evaluating PositionsWhen you finish developing, stop and check: material, both kings, the pawns, and which of your pieces does the least.
- Transitioning to MiddlegameWhen everything is out and your king is castled, stop developing and make a plan. Ask which of your pieces is worst and where the pawn break is.
What practice looks like
- Twenty to thirty minutes, four or five days a week.
- Half tactics, half a slow game or an endgame played out against you.
- Review one of their own games a week from the scoresheet, looking for the move where it turned.
Ready for the next level when
- Writes the moves down for a whole game.
- Can say in a sentence why they made a move.
- Wins a king and pawn endgame a pawn up.
- Notices an open file and puts a rook on it.
For the grown-up
- Review after the disappointment has passed, not in the car.
- Let them find the losing move before you say anything.
- A good point for a first tournament, at a rapid time control.
Questions people ask
- When should I play my first tournament?
- Once you can play a whole game without help and cope with losing. A rapid event is a good first step: long enough to think, short enough not to wear you out.
- Is a coach worth it at this level?
- Often, yes. The work has moved from rules to judgement, and an app cannot easily tell you why the plan you chose was wrong. A coach who looks at your own games can.
- How do I actually review one of my own games?
- Play through it from the scoresheet without an engine. Find the move where things stopped being comfortable, and write one sentence about what you expected. Then check with an engine.
- How much time should go on endgames?
- A steady share, around a quarter of your study. Endgame positions can often be known exactly rather than judged, so the work never goes out of date.
- I understand the ideas but my results have not moved. Why?
- Usually the games are still lost to something simpler: one undefended piece, or one rushed move in a winning position. Look for a pattern in your last ten losses first.