Initiative (chess)
The initiative in chess rests with the player, who determines what happens on the board with his actions. His opponent is forced to react. A strong excess of initiative is usually synonymous with the possibility of attacking play.
Initiative arises from figure activity. To do this, it is not only necessary that the figures have many options to move, but they also have to pose positional or tactical threats. Pawns often contribute to the initiative by containing the activity of the opposing pieces and keeping paths open for their own pieces.
In positions of open struggle, initiative can become crucial and even material sacrifices can be justified. The initiative is less important in positions in which both opponents are slowly improving positionally .
From a chess psychological point of view, many players feel more comfortable when they have the initiative than when they have to fight against it. The effects of a mistake are often more serious for the party fighting the initiative than for the party taking the initiative.
Sometimes you have the initiative to compensate for some other disadvantage. In some positions the initiative tends to dissipate if one does not attack consistently or if the opponent defends himself carefully. In other situations one has to deal with long-lasting initiative due to static positional advantages.
literature
- David Hooper and Ken Whyld: The Oxford Companion to Chess . Oxford University Press, 2nd edition 1992, ISBN 0-19-866164-9 , p. 181.
