Chess middlegame

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Image:chess zhor 26.png
Image:chess zver 26.png a8 rd b8 c8 d8 qd e8 f8 g8 h8 kd Image:chess zver 26.png
a7 pd b7 nd c7 d7 e7 bd f7 pd g7 rd h7 pd
a6 b6 c6 d6 e6 pd f6 nl g6 pd h6
a5 b5 c5 pd d5 e5 pl f5 bd g5 ql h5
a4 b4 c4 d4 pd e4 f4 pl g4 h4
a3 b3 c3 d3 e3 f3 nl g3 rl h3
a2 pl b2 pl c2 pl d2 e2 f2 g2 pl h2 pl
a1 b1 c1 bl d1 e1 f1 rl g1 kl h1
Image:chess zhor 26.png
Middlegame position from the game Joseph Henry Blackburne - Siegbert Tarrasch, Breslau, 1889. Last move of White - 26.Qh6-g5, next move of Black - 26...Nb7-d6.

The middlegame in chess refers to the portion of the game that happens immediately after the opening (usually the first move after the procession of moves that make up a standard opening) and blends somewhat with the endgame, usually when queens are traded. During this time, players will attempt to strengthen their positions while weakening their opponent's, both by careful arrangement of the pieces for prepared attacks and defenses and by whittling away at their opponent's numbers. The middlegame usually involves a good deal of trading; studying how to trade successfully is important.

There are a number of elementary tactics that help with taking your opponent's pieces. Examples include forking, skewering, pinning, and discovered attacks, though there are more. Most of them involve attacking the opponent's king (or, inversely, by making it so that he/she cannot attack your king), which will, usually, gain an advantage.

In addition, there are strategies that are useful, which usually revolve around having pieces in spots that are well defended, attacking other squares that your opponent would like to move to and thus preventing him from doing so. On the other hand, it involves setting up your pieces so that they will be useful there later in the game, despite the fact that they may not be useful when you first put a piece there.

Good players will use good tactics that usually resolve with good trades, but also a strong position during the middlegame.

The last thing that happens in the middlegame is the setup for endgame. Since many endgames involve the promotion of a pawn, it is usually good to keep that in mind when making trades during the middlegame.

Chess computers are widely considered to be weakest (as compared to the other sections of the game) in the middlegame. During the opening the computer can rely on an extensive stored library of standard openings, and during the endgame the complexity is low enough that the computer can calculate the game very far ahead, and extend its reach using endgame tablebases. In contrast, during the middlegame, extensive heuristics are required, exactly what the human brain excels at.

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