Chess Strategy Guide For Intermediate Players

What often separates intermediate chess players from beginners is the chess strategies that they implement. While most beginners are familiar with basic strategies, such as controlling the center and keeping rooks connected, intermediate players require a higher level of strategic awareness to compete at a more advanced level.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through five critical intermediate chess strategies that could take your game to new heights. Even if you think you know some of these already, see if you can solve the chess puzzles included here to see how well you can apply what you know!

Five Crucial Chess Strategies for Intermediate Players

Five carefully selected chess strategies to help intermediate players reach the next level!

Create Outposts in Your Opponent’s Half of the Board

A fundamental chess strategy that intermediate players often underestimate is landing a piece in your opponent’s half of the board. Even if the piece doesn’t present an immediate threat, a persistent intruder controls many key squares and lies ever ready to combine with other pieces to attack.

A piece in the opponent’s half that’s protected and can’t be attacked by an enemy pawn is known as an outpost. Outposts are especially valuable because your piece remains difficult to remove and a constant thorn in your opponent’s side. These pieces frequently prove pivotal as the game progresses.

Outposts Puzzle: This example comes from one of the most famous games of all time, the world championship chess match game between Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov in 1985. Kasparov's knight has already entered his opponent's half on b4. Now, on move 16, can you find an even stronger square for it?

Solution: Yes! 16...Nd3 was Kasparov's instrumental move that helped to win the game.

The knight remained on d3 for the next 18 moves. When Kasparov later brought his second knight into his opponent’s half, Karpov was pushed to sacrifice his queen to capture them both! A knight outpost on the 6th rank is worth approximately the same as a rook, after all!

Always Follow Fischer’s Golden Rule

We’ve just discussed how dangerous entering your opponent’s territory can be, so it’s only natural that you’d want to stop your opponent from doing the same thing! Bobby Fischer felt so strongly about this point that he created a Golden Rule: Always neutralize an opponent’s piece in your half of the board.

You may have your own attacking plans that you think should take priority. Yet Fischer stressed it's crucial to follow this rule no matter how harmless your opponent’s piece appears to be! If you look back at game history, you might be amazed at how many were lost due to failing to follow this rule.

Fischer's Golden Rule Puzzle: White's knight on e5 appears relatively harmless, and Black has neglected to evict it from its half of the board. But trouble lurks! The knight controls some key squares. Can you find White's way to win material?

Solution: White plays g2-g4! Black's bishop is now trapped, since White's knight controls g6 and the f7 pawn is pinned.

This puzzle demonstrates the perils of allowing an enemy piece to remain in your half of the board—even when the danger isn't obvious! Follow this rule with prudence. If it worked for Fischer, it should work for all of us as well.

Gain Superior Pawn Structure

As you progress in your chess level, retaining a solid pawn structure becomes increasingly paramount. One reason for this is that since fewer games are won or lost via a blunder or mating attack, you'll be playing more endgames. To stand the best chance in the endgame, you should aim to enter it with a better pawn structure than your opponent.

A classic middle game plan to weaken an opponent’s pawn structure is the minority attack. In a minority attack, the player with fewer pawns on one flank of the board marches their pawns toward the opponent’s larger group of pawns. The aim is to break up the larger pawn structure to create a weakness.

Minority Attack Puzzle: The example below was taken from a game between Anatoly Karpov and Joel Lautier in 1995. Can you find Karpov's (White's) move to initiate the minority attack?

Solution: By playing b4-b5, Karpov’s pawn minority attacks Lautier’s pawn majority. After White’s two pawns are traded for two of Black’s, Black’s once-strong pawn majority is reduced to a feeble, isolated pawn.

This became decisive in the endgame as Black was forced to spend much of its time protecting its isolated pawn. This strategy gave White the initiative and control and eventually proved decisive for Karpov to win the game.

Overprotect Your Pieces!

At beginner-level chess, it’s often enough to simply defend pieces that are under attack. As the level of play increases, however, you’ll need to keep your pieces defended even when they aren’t directly threatened.

Any unprotected piece is a potential liability. If your opponent attacks the piece, you’ll likely need to waste a tempo to defend it. If your opponent uses a tactical motif like a discovered check or a fork, you won’t have time to defend it at all!

By keeping all of your pieces adequately defended at all times, you significantly reduce the risk of your opponent's attack winning the initiative or material advantage. It also often pays to overprotect your pieces. This means protecting them with more than the number of pieces they’re being attacked by.

Proper Defending Chess Strategy Puzzle: It’s Black to move. All of White’s pieces are defended, but not adequately enough! Can you find a chess tactic to win a piece for Black?

Solution: White’s g2 pawn is defending two pieces and is therefore ‘overworked.’ Since Black is attacking both pieces, it can first trade bishops to remove the defender and then capture the knight, too.

This example demonstrates, firstly, how it’s crucial not to overwork your defenders. Secondly, it shows how to identify weak, under-defended enemy pieces and employ a tactical motif for their capture.

Manage Your Time Carefully

Although it’s not emphasized as widely as other chess strategies, effective time management is a critical skill that might boost your Elo more than any other strategy on our list! Not only does managing your time prevent needless blunders at the final hurdles, but it also puts pressure on your opponent to play faster. In fact, proper time management will win you plenty of games on time alone!

In longer games, you may wish to create an approximate time plan. For example, you can allocate 15% of your time to the opening moves, 45% of your time to the middlegame, and save the remaining 40% for the eventuality of an endgame. Check the time after every move to ensure you're on track.

At shorter time controls, you may simply aim to stay ahead of your opponent on time, or at least to never fall behind more than one minute or so. To stay on course with your plan, it’s crucial not to be a perfectionist or to always strive for the spectacular. Instead, look for simple, solid, forcing moves that put pressure on your opponent wherever possible.

If you find yourself in a time scramble in the endgame, stay calm and keep playing forcing moves to keep pressure on your opponent. The more time you force them to spend thinking, the more even your clocks will become. You can also think on their time, so you’ll have your next forcing move lined up as soon as it's your turn again!

Conclusion

At intermediate-level chess, it’s imperative to grasp and implement the chess strategies that will challenge stronger opponents. By consistently utilizing the chess strategies we’ve discussed here, you’ll be sure to improve your game, elevate your Elo, and continue your progress toward advanced-level chess.

In your next chess matches, see if you can apply all five chess principles that we've discussed here. You might be astounded at the difference it will make!