Middlegame

The central stage of a game. It is marked by a comparatively large number of forces on both sides. The middlegame is also marked by the passive role of the kings and by threats arising in the sectors where they stand.

Such a definition is formal to a degree, since a sharply drawn line between the transition from the opening to the middlegame and from the middlegame to the endgame cannot always be found. This leads many theorists to see two further intermediate stages in a game of chess: the transition from the opening to the middlegame and from the middlegame to the endgame.

If the tasks of the opening are to seize the center and mobilize the pieces quickly, then in the middlegame the state of the center has already taken on some definite shape, and each side's plans grow out of what the mobilized pieces can do. The opening and the middlegame are closely linked, and the middlegame plan is a logical continuation of the opening line, merging with it into a single idea. The same link can be seen between the middlegame and the endgame. Formally, the middlegame ends the moment the kings are no longer in danger and turn from passive pieces into active ones.

Theory of the middlegame

The theory of the middlegame began to develop later than opening theory and endgame theory. Philidor is generally credited with the first attempt to formulate some principles of the middlegame. His theory, however, which held that the pawn structure is the basis of every position, was far too one-sided. The first to criticize the extremes of Philidor's theory was Petrov.

Although many outstanding players of the 19th century, Morphy above all, published no works on middlegame theory, their play contributed a great deal to a proper understanding of middlegame ideas. Steinitz formulated the theory of the middlegame most fully and systematically. But his views contained many dogmatic claims. The struggle against such claims, led by Chigorin, deepened the proper understanding of how to play the middlegame.

Later, major contributions to the theory of the middlegame came from Tarrasch, Lasker, Capablanca, Rubinstein, Réti, Nimzowitsch, Alekhine, Euwe, and then the Soviet players (see Soviet school of chess).