Choose your Target - Chess Strategy

When you play chess choose your Target area. This is the right chess strategy. Where do you place your forces? Is your Target everywhere? Are you attacking here and there? A master would shake his head in astonishment. Do you want to get into trouble or what?

You can't have the whole board for yourself. The opponent has a right to exist too. Give him a part of the board and you can take the other part. Yet most inexperienced players horrify the heck out of experienced seasoned chess addicts. In an suicidal manner they move a piece here and there, play attack at the queenside, then at the kingside while ignoring existing imbalances.

To play successful chess requires single-minded focus and to have a clearly defined target or target area. Kingside, Queenside, weak squares, center play, occupation of square in front of an isolated pawn, blasting open a diagonal to bring alive an inactive half-dead bishop and similar concepts that have to be followed through.

Have you ever seen a tiger attacking just anything in a herd of zebras? No, of course not! Just observe the focus and strategy of his attack? He just searches for the weakest point, singles out the prey and attacks single-minded a young, slow or sick target. This gets results. And now adopt this strategy to chess and you will be right.

Define targets

White is attacking permanently the weak pawns at the queenside. This has already forced blacks rook to a passive position.	White has seen the attack coming and exchanges forces to reduce attacking power.

Whites forces are directed at the queenside. This is his target area.	Blacks target area is the center because the white king is in the middle and the black rook is exercising pressure along the d-file. Blacks pieces control the center very well. Black moves and plays 1...e4 to stop White from castling.

Black is attacking the target area. 1..e3!	Typical setup of the dragon variation. Clearly defined target areas due to opposite castling.

Whites target is the bishop.	White discovered target square f7!

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