The Winning Academy 42: First the Centre, then the Attack

by Jan Markos
4/28/2025 – When an inexperienced young person enters the gym hoping to build big muscles and an attractive body, there are two mistakes they often tend to commit. Firstly, they go weights far heavy for them. Secondly, they tend to focus on one particular body part (especially arms when it comes to boys), omitting the body core. However, the body core is essential.
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Without a strong centre of the body, all the exercises for arms or legs will be less effective. And sometimes even harmful.

In chess, the situation is similar. Many club players love to attack and are trying to attack far too often and far too soon. Typically, they forget about the centre.

First the centre, then the attack! This rule should be written on a wall in every chess club, where young players are taught. Without a good stable centre, few attacks are successful. With a good stable centre, many attacks win almost automatically.

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I remember that when I was twelve, I was looking at the following French line with amazement. After 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 the diagrammed position arises:

Of course, I was expecting 5.Nf3 to be the best move in the position. Or some other developing move, E.g. 5.Bd3. The fact that the two most played move are 5.f4 and 5.Nce2 was confusing for me.

"Really, 5.Nce2, playing with the only developed piece to a square where it stands in the way of the half of my army? You must be kidding!"

That were my thoughts. I needed some more years to understand how important the centre is in a game of chess. If White can cover his central pawns with c2-c3 and f2-f4, he can count with a long and lasting advantage. And an almost automatic attack afterwards.

Let us have a look at three examples of such "almost automatic" attacks.

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Believe it or not, the following position originated not from the French defence, but from a Catalan opening. That is why White's light-squared bishop stands on g2, and not on the b1-h7 diagonal.

Fillipov-Frolyanov, Russian League 2005, White to move:

And yet, even without the aid of the light-squared bishop, White has excellent attacking chances. His centre is very stable, and he was able to transfer his b1-knight to g4, adding one more unit to his attacking firepower.

Is the situation ripe for the Bc1xh6 sacrifice? After a few minutes of calculations, you will surely come up with the understanding that this sacrifice does not lead to any quick mate.

And yet, Fillipov played 19.Bxh6!? and engines are approving his decision. Why? For the bishop White gets two pawns and targets on the kingside. For Black it is almost impossible to transfer defensive resources closer to his king. Fillipov therefore correctly assumed that in the long run, black king's position is untenable.

The game continued 19…gxh6 20.Rc1 Nb8 21.Qd2 Nd7 22.Nxh6+ Kg7 23.g4 and White went on to win gradually.

Here's the complete game:

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In the following example White also benefited from a strong centre.

Topalov-Cori, Chess Olympiad Istanbul 2012, White to move:

Again, it is clear that Black will not be able to undermine White's centre. The …f7-f6 break is impossible, and …c5xd4 does not solve anything, as White simply retakes with the pawn. This gives Topalov a free hand for a kingside attack.

The Bulgarian played 22.Qh3, followed by Nh2-g4 and eventually managed to get the attack rolling. However, I like a more straightforward approach.

White could have played 22.Bg5!?, sacrificing the bishop to open the h-file. After 22…hxg5 23.hxg5 Black is almost helpless against the Nh2-g4-f6+ idea, followed by the invasion via the h-file. His only survival chance is 23…Bg7, and White needs to answer 24.Qf4 to avoid a counter-sacrifice on e5. The line continues: 24…Rc8 25.Ng4 Kf8 26.Nf6 cxd4 27.cxd4 Bxf6 28.gxf6 Qb4, and here White is almost winning after the smart 29.Rc1!, preventively stopping the opponent's counterplay on the c-file.

Here's the complete game:

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In the last example White also sacrificed material for a long-term compensation based on his strong centre.

Nakamura-Hjartarson, Pro League Stage Rapid 2018, White to move:

Nakamura was able to stop any Black's counterplay on the queenside. But how to continue with his own play on the kingside? An average player would probably move his king to h1, rook to g1 and patiently prepare the g2-g4 break. But Nakamura is not an average player!

He played 21.f5!, opening the lines as quickly as possible, before Black's heavy pieces even get the chance to return to the kingside. Of course, 21…Nxf5 was forced, as the knight was hanging on h6. But after 22.g4! Ng7 (opening the h-file would be suicidal for Black) 23.Qh6 White had an irresistible attack. He is threatening to get his knight to g5 (after the exchange of the bishops) and double the rooks on the f-file, and Black has little to show against these plans.

Here's the complete game:

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Strong and stable space advantage in the centre is one of the most comfortable advantages in chess. In a middlegame, it allows you to attack on one of the flanks, benefiting from your better capability to manoeuvre with the pieces. In an endgame, your pawns are closer to the promotion square, and that is often an important advantage.

Therefore, take a good care for your centre, in French, Kings Indian or any other defence where the pawns are blocked in the middle of the board. Once you stabilize your pawn chain, you are destined to have a tangible edge to the end of the game.

Let us learn together how to find the best spot for the queen in the early middlegame, how to navigate this piece around the board, how to time the queen attack, how to decide whether to exchange it or not, and much more!

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Topics: The Winning Academy
Jan Markos is a Slovakian chess author, trainer, and grandmaster. His book Under the Surface was the English Chess Federation´s 2018 Book of the Year. His last book, The Secret Ingredient, co-authored with David Navara, focuses on the practical aspects of play, e.g. time-management over the board, how to prepare against a specific opponent, or how to use chess engines during the training process. Markos was the U16 European Champion twenty years ago. At present he helps his pupils from several countries to achieve similar successes. Apart from focusing on the royal game, he is also the author of several non-chess books, focused on critical thinking, moral dilemmas, and phenomenology.