Weak squares and holes

The key idea

Check that pawns cannot drive you away, that your piece can arrive safely and that it will have a useful job. The opponent may still exchange it.

Example 1 · The knight that never leaves

The white knight lives on d5 and no black pawn can ever bother it again. Look at what that's worth, and also at what it isn't.

1. c4 First things first, count the black pawns that could attack d5: you would need one on c6 or one on e6, and his are already on c5 and e5, well past. The knight owns the place. With c4 I get the deeds: I fix the c5 pawn, take away the ...b5 break, and prepare b3 so my own c4 pawn doesn't end up being the weak one.
2. e4 Black pushes to gain space and cut down my knight's range. It's the sensible thing: when you can't kick a piece out, at least reduce what it can reach.
3. Re1 The rook occupies the file of the pawn that has just advanced. Black has no pawn on the f-file: e4 depends on other defenders. Check which ones can support it before adding pressure.
4. Re8 And he defends it. None of this gets decided in three moves.
5. b3 The propping-up I mentioned. The c4-b3 chain holds itself, with no pieces tied down babysitting it, and that leaves my hands free.
6. Bd4 The bishop goes for the one decent square it has left. Note this move, because it's the right plan for whoever is suffering the hole: if he manages to trade pieces, my knight loses a good chunk of its value.
7. Re2 I double up my options on the e-file. No rush — with the better piece and a structure that doesn't break, time is on my side.
8. Kf7 The king heads for the centre, which is what you do when few pieces are left. And here's the honest valuation: the engine gives White about a pawn's worth of advantage. It's comfortable, it's pleasant to play… and it still has to be won.

Example 2 · How you defuse a hole

Same square, but now Black has a knight. One single trade and the problem walks off the board.

1. Nxd5 Without thinking twice. A hole only hurts while there's a piece inside it; the moment you trade that piece off, the square goes back to being an empty square like any other. And look at the deal: I give up a knight with nowhere good to go for the one that dominated the centre.
2. Rxd5 The rook recaptures on d5. Black’s pawns cannot drive it away, but the king can approach via f7 and e6 and attack it. No white pawn defends d5 here: faced with that threat, the rook would have to move. A square being safe from pawn attacks is not enough to secure a rook there.
3. Kf7 With the minor pieces gone, the king becomes another piece and has to be activated. This is now an ordinary rook endgame, which is exactly where Black wanted to get to.
4. Kf1 Same thing on the other side.
5. b5 And gaining space on the wing where he has the pawn majority. The one who was worse five moves ago now has a plan of his own.
6. Rd3 The rook to the third rank, waiting for whichever open file shows up.
7. Ke6 King to the centre, heading for d5… the very square that was the problem a moment ago.
8. Ra3 And the balance is restored. Keep the two moves that changed everything: the enemy knight lived on d5, and one trade was enough to evict it. When the hole is yours, that's the antidote — and usually the only one.

Practice

Your knight is on e3 and Black has pawns on c5, d6 and e5. Find the square none of those three pawns will ever be able to attack, and move in. After that, don't expect fireworks: an advantage like this gets collected slowly.

1. That's the one. Neither the c5 pawn nor the e5 pawn reaches d5, and attacking it would need pawns on c6 or e6 that are long gone: the knight stays there for the rest of the game. The knight on e3 can reach c4, d5, f5 and g4. Which of those four can never be attacked by a black pawn?
2. Exactly: with the knight installed there's no hurry at all, and the king is worth a piece as soon as the board clears. There's no brilliant move to look for. Start activating your king.
3. Good. c3 takes d4 away from the g7 bishop, which was the only decent square it had left: now his bishop has nowhere to go and your knight is still in the centre. Look at which square the black bishop on g7 would like to occupy, and take it away with a pawn.
4. And the king keeps climbing. Tally of the operation: an eternal knight in the centre, an enemy bishop with nowhere to go, and a structure that needs no defending. Keep walking the king toward the centre, which is where the endgame is decided.

The knight in the hole, the enemy bishop out of squares, and not one spectacular move. Memorise the order you look at this in: first your opponent's pawns — which ones have gone past and what squares they left unguarded forever — and only then decide which piece moves in. It works the same against you: if the hole is yours, trade off the piece living inside it and the problem leaves with it.