How to progress in middle game?

Hi!

I'm a beginer in chess. I work only with black, I love to defend, and work on a few opening. My opening is often where I can manage a lot.

Endings is very hard for me, but the problem is that I don't manage to get to it very often, because I lose the game blundering in middle game. The thing is I don't know how to progress in that area.

Do you have a few tips?

Here's my last game (I tend to play with stronger players, unless I want to cheer me up after a lot of losing :D ) : http://fr.lichess.org/Gp7ikhWz/black#73

Very frustrating!

Cheers everyone!
Regis

@Regis74 #1

You want tips to have more chess enjoyment and improvement ?

I recommend to play in tourneys here on Lichess. You will play against lower and higher rated players.
Much better than challenging randomly and having to wait for a game.
Tourneys can also give you more motivation to score a certain result, or ... to make up for a loss, by winning three in a row etc.

To avoid blundering as a beginner it is useful to do the "blunder check" at every move.

* Check the checks.
* Check the captures.
* Check the uncovered pieces (from both players).

Also, by studying and by playing, and finding a good balance in that, the blundering will eventually decrease.

Are you doing tactic puzzles every day ?
Some chess tactic websites can let you do "hanging pieces" tactic themed puzzles, or e.g. checkmate in 1 or 2.

No need of an engine to understand that your biggest blunder in that game was moving your rook away from the B file. I understand that you might have wanted to keep pressure on g2, or maybe capture on a4, but man, take a look at your king. All the other columns are either closed or semi-closed, and your king is hanging around in the middle without being able to castle. If I were you I would be scared as shit about leaving control of that entry point. Who cares if you release pressure on g2, you are already up an exchange. You earned the luxury to play passively for a move there.

Try not to control the game at all moments. Lose the grip a bit if needed.
Try to see what your opponent is threatening with each move. Your plans are as important as his/hers.

I'm not expert honestly, but at least that's my impression...

The most important part of the middlegame is analyzing weaknesses and tactical opportunities. In the example game your opening does not attempt to place pieces on good squares right away and ignores one-move threats.

Improving your middle game skills is the hardest part of a chess game to improve.

Endgame skills... Endgames you can look at a table base, and there are definitive solutions. There is the least amount of material on the board. The better you understand the endgame the better you will understand what you need to do in order to convert your middle game into an endgame you want.

Openings... There are countless opening books, and many subtle variations. Sharpening your opening skills. Keeping your king safe, developing pieces, moving them only once if possible, getting up on the time count, controlling the center. All these, and other opening principles are the foundation in which your middle game is built upon. If you start off with a weak foundation then you won't be doing well in the middle game.

The middle game is the least understood part of the game. It is the transition from opening to endgame. Once you get your opening, and endgame skills up and try working on the middle game here are some things you want to work at:

A lot of these apply to other areas of the game.

1) The rule of 2 weaknesses. 1 weakness is not enough to win. Your opponent must be given 2 weak points. a single one can be defended. 2 weaknesses are exponentially harder to defend than 1.

2) Don't trade pieces for no reason. Each exchange is a trade. Remember not to look at what comes off the board. That does not matter. Look at what is left on the board. If I can give you all my pieces but a pawn, and that pawn is enough to win the game then I will do it every time.

3) Don't look at the board 1 sided. Do have your own plans, but at the same time be fully aware of your opponents plans. If I find a line that has mate in 4 for me, but in doing so I leave myself open to your attack which is a mate in 2 then I am not evaluating your threats seriously enough.

4) Look for in between moves. A lot of beginners... Say I threaten your rook. Do you move it right away? Is that your first line of thought? It shouldn't be. See if you can make a greater threat of your own. If I threaten your knight you don't always need to move it, for instance if you threaten my rook it is a greater threat, then I may threaten your queen in response instead of moving the rook. Then you likely will have to make a threat upon my king if your not going to be moving your queen.

5) Know how to convert one advantage to another. If I'm up 3 pieces, but you have a deadly attack I may want to give 2 or 3 of those pieces back to nullify it. If your up 2 pawns, and an exchange. Look for ways to give that exchange back in an advantageous way. For instance if you have a rook and queen and 5 pawns, and I got a bishop and queen and 3 pawns, if by trading the queens off, and the rook for the bishop leads you to your 5 pawns being enough to beat my 3 pawns... simplify that every time.

6) Where the king belongs in the middle game is the hardest part to judge. In an opening you want to castle quickly, and get it tucked in safely behind a pawn shield. In the endgame your king can be much more aggressive because there are less head hunters roaming the board, and it can come out of hiding. Some middle games you want your king tucked in very safely hiding in it's own little fortress, where in other middle games your king can be a little more aggressive. However, your king should always have a mobilization plan. How you plan on developing your king in the endgame should always be in your middle game thoughts.

Thank you all for having taken the time to answer!

@chesscoaching : Guess you're talking about my absence of castling... cannot agree more. I don't know why... maybe I wanted to keep there in the initiative perspective...

@Achja, indeed, the uncovering of pieces is something I tend to forget...

@Herecomestheblunder : THANK YOU for pointig that (which seems very obvious for you, but was not at all for me). I often hear about the control of column : with that precise example pointed out, I understand why it is vital.

@intelligentdesign : number 2) sounds like me :D Well I know it already, but with the clock ticking, when I don't see a good move, I tend to go for an exange telling me "Status quo but at least I save time".
Number 6) is absolutely obscure to me. The king, along with the pawn, seems to me like the hardest piece to learn to move, either in endgame or with longsighted perspective during the game.

Regis

Watch these videos, they might help you:

Chess Fundamentals:
www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLl9uuRYQ-6MBwqkmwT42l1fI7Z0bYuwwO

Climbing the rating ladder:
www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLl9uuRYQ-6MCBnhtCk_bTZsD8GxeWP6BV

"I work only with black"

This is why you are struggling. You need to play White and get into some middle game positions where you are on the attack so you can see the sorts of strategies that are being used against you as Black.

Playing only as Black is like playing basketball without ever crossing half-court.

Thanks a lot to all! I just got from 1450 to 1600 in a few weeks! :) I may be a bit overrated though, I should slip back to 1550 or so, but still, the milestone is quite enjoyable!

the links in #7 were quite useful.

Regis.