There are several important advantages that come from centralising your pieces and aiming to have strong control over central squares. The centre is the most important part of the chessboard, as pieces from the centre can easily move to either flank at great speed.
Below are a few advantages of having centralised pieces:
- they control many squares
- they enjoy increased flexibility
- they can attack and defend both sides of the board
- they can dominate the enemy’s pieces
- and lots more
On this occasion, IM Boroljub Zlatanovic will teach you with an instructive example – a game played between Akiba Rubinstein and Grigory Levenfish in 1911. In this game, you will see how Rubinstein punished Levenfish for his very risky moves (and sacrifice) without completing his development.
You can watch the video lesson below:
[youtube_sc url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4S-uQeLgQc”]
Let’s summarise what you will have learnt from this lesson:
Key points
- Importance of central control
- What is the best way to attack a pawn chain (peak or base)?
- Activity of pieces
- An attack on the flank will fail if you don’t have good central control
- Converting positional advantage into material advantage
- Importance of completion of development
- and lots more
Author information
IM Boroljub Zlatanovic
Boroljub Zlatanovic is a Serbian International Master and professional chess trainer. He became a FIDE Master, and in 1995 was Youth Champion of Serbia and a member of the national youth team. He was a two-time champion of the University of Belgrade and won 10 Serbian Open Chess Tournaments.
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