Understanding before Moving 15: Knight on the Rim

by ChessBase
2/22/2021 – Herman Grooten is an International Master, a renowned trainer and the author of several highly acclaimed books about chess training and chess strategy. In the 15th part of his ChessBase show "Understanding before Moving" Herman looks takes a look at knights on the rim. | Photo: Hans Hoornstra
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"A knight on the rim is dim" is a well-known statement by Dr. Tarrasch. Of course, this is not always true, but it is a fact that a knight at the edge of the board has less room to maneuver than a knight in the center.

Sometimes a player can take advantage of an offside piece if he is able to grab the initiative on the other side of the board. We are going to look at a famous example, in which Alexander Kotov put that principle into practice in a game against Mark Taimanov from 1953.

But first a little warm-up! In the diagram position White plays with two bishops against two knights. But the knights are on the rim, and White can catch them both!

 

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