The Simple Essence of Positional Chess

‘Positional chess’ has a mysterious aura. At its basics, though, it is very simple: we want our pieces to be on good squares. Combined with a healthy pawn structure, and minimal weaknesses, it will give us a good position.

What does ‘good squares’ mean? It means a place where the piece is happy, and effective; where it can exert its strength to help you win the game. Take the following position.

Material is equal, yet White is close to winning.

– White has a rook on an open file, and the other could slide to the open file next to it, Rfd1. Rooks love to have clear sight lines so they can flex their muscles from far away.
– Black’s bishop would also love a nice, open line, but it is blocked in by its own pawns, which are stuck on light squares, and has no visible path to improvement.
– In contrast, the knight is settled firmly on a protected square in the centre, where it can never be shaken by an enemy pawn. That gives it the ability to reach into Black’s camp and poke at a weak point like the hard-to-protect backwards pawn on e6.
– The queen is fully mobile on b3 and oversees the battlefield – most importantly, Black’s weak pawn on e6. White has a pawn that looks similar on e3, but you may notice it is all but impossible for Black to attack. Black’s own queen and rooks are stationary, and at best they could fight for the c-file with …Rc8, but they have to deal with e6 first.

All of that (happier pieces, greater flexibility, and a target to strike at) factors into White having the much better game.