Piece activity is a positional aspect of major importance in a game. Hugh Patterson has written a very nice article about it back in 2014. You can review it HERE Our chess app also covers it extensively in level 5, lessons 10-14 by looking at how the activity of each piece influences the outcome of the game. One of my latest online games proved to be a good example in that direction. Here is the beginning of it (turn based, 3 days per move), leading up to an important junction in the game:
Black’s last move is definitely out of the ordinary; when something like this happens, it is a good idea to stop, take a deep breath and analyse the position to the best of your abilities. It is easy to see white cannot capture the rook because it would lose its queen. This is the starting point for your analysis:
- Material is equal
- Both sides are castled and so far the White king is in more danger because of Ne5 and Rf3 being in close vicinity
- There are no other attackers on the White castle
- There are not a lot of defenders of the White castle either
- If White does not pay attention, a move such as Qd8-d7 could increase the number of attackers and apply pressure
OK, so the conclusion is White must do something to improve the defense of its castle and its piece positioning. Looking at the piece positioning we see:
- Rf1 and Be3 are in decent position with no better options for the moment
- Rc1 could be placed better, but doing that won’t help with defending the castle
- Qd2 could move and have Rf3 in danger of being captured; however a simple look at 18. Qe2 Qd7 19. gxf3?? Qxh3 (see last part of the game below) gives black a winning position
- Nc3 is capable to get involved and in 2 moves (Nc3-e4-g5) it can spring into action, defending both the f3-square and h3-pawn
On the Black side we have:
- Qd8 needs at least one move (Qd8-d7) to get into the action
- Bg7 is very nicely placed, but there are no targets along the a1-h8 diagonal
- Ra8 is completely out of the game and does not count
- Ne5 and Rf3 are active but if White chooses the right plan, both could be chased away by pawns
Let’s see how the game continued:
Conclusion: piece activity must be monitored closely at all times. That starts with your own pieces and continues with the opposing ones. At the beginning it could feel like extra burden when the amount of time is so scarce (today’s time controls are a lot less of what they used to be); however if you stick with it, you will get better and realize it helps with planning and decision making. Your games will flow nicely and the moments of blank stares with no ideas in mind will be drastically reduced. Hope you will start looking at it!
Valer Eugen Demian
