How to Attack

To initiate an attack, one must possess positional play and combinational attacking skills, but proper knowledge of attacking ideas and sacrifices is important when launching an attack. Once the attack is initiated, you can now keep the tempo of the attack going even if it means sacrificing all your pieces along the line. With this continuous attack, your opponent may be disoriented. There are some fundamental ideas that need to be taken into consideration when launching an attack:

1. Before an attacking can be launched successfully, pre-existing positional advantage must have been in place first (you must have been favoured by the position). The piece must be in active position to launch meaningful attack as positional play reflects the inner logic of the chess battle.

2. You must have better control of the centre. This is one the main objective of opening play. Piece must be developed in such a way that it will have the greatest impact on the centre than the opponent’s. The pieces generally gain more power when centralized (e4, d4, e5 & d5 square).

3. As a rule any move in the opening must follow the idea of gaining control over a large number of squares on the board.

4. You must have visualized your opponent’s positional weaknesses before launching for an attack. If there is no weakness in his/her position then you have to induce one.

5. If there are hindrances while attacking, the best option is to eliminate the key defensive piece by making an exchange...
Click here to read more.

Yes