As a chess player, you have likely cultivated some favorite chess openings and defenses to strengthen your game. Similarly, you may have polished your end game. You know how to capture and defeat your opponent once the ground work is laid. All that is left to improve upon is the battle itself: The middle game.

The middle game is where the real action takes place. It is often the lengthiest portion of chess, since many established players have all but memorized the opening game. Aside from slight alterations to the familiar gambits and defenses, chess openings often play out by rote.

The middle game in chess is the battle. Though the opening sets the stage for how the battle plays out, there are specific choices to be made as to how to approach the protracted struggle.

This is where it gets interesting.

There are two different ways of approaching chess, and the emphasis of the middle game depends upon a player's approach. One of the methods which was nearly perfected by chess champion Jose Capablanca, is to create a positional strong-hold early on and play a careful, progressive game that exploits the weakness in your opponent's position, slowly pushing a material advantage until you gain absolute dominance.

For the careful mind that can exploit weakness, this is an effective method. I also feel that it squeezes the joy out of chess.

The best minds in chess have tended to be experimental. I merit Emmanuel Lasker as being one of these, along with Bobby Fischer and the young Josh Waitzkin. These players have this in common: They all experimented beyond the established boundaries of the game. All three of these players rejected the stronghold-and-advance method, sometimes to tragic end; but their experimentation also lead to some of the greatest victories in the history of the game.

The difference between the two approaches is that of an advancing army compared to tactical guerrilla warfare. A great chess mind can conquer the middle game through positional advantage alone, even if they may seem impossibly outstripped in material. In fact, many brilliant chess players will sacrifice material for position. Controlling the center of the board is the goal in chess, but there are specific squares that a great player will seek to conquer.

For the experimental middle game, these guidelines apply:

1. Position over material.
2. Give until it hurts.
3. Do not trap your king.
4. Be fearless.

Position over material means just that: Let

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