The 10 Best Chess Plans For The Middlegame – Chess Strategy For The Middlegame – Midgame Strategy

10 plans for the middlegame with clear, concise examples. These chess ideas will greatly improve your middle game strategy and help improve your tactical ideas.

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About This Video:

The top 10 best chess plans for the middlegame. After the opening, one of the biggest problems beginners and intermediate players have is what to do next. In this video I go over several examples of types of chess plans and strategies that you can use in your next game!

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271 Comments

  1. Honestly NM Lopez is a fantastic instructor. His videos need to be considered standards for chess education. Clear, concise, and easily digestible education to even the worst patzers like myself. Thank you for the rating points Nelson!

  2. 0:49 vs computer: the computer never moves their pawns only 1 square lol
    so that plan is useless, the computer is always very aggresive n plays to attack right away

  3. One thing I'd like to add about pawn storms is that there often isn't enough time to storm with multiple pawns, often it's better to just storm the h or the g pawn alone and sacing it for open files / diagonals

  4. Man I am in love with this video. I’ve been playing chess since I was 10, I’m 25 now. I’m fallling back in love with the game again. I’ve came to a stalemate and an awkward stage at this point because I never developed my game after the opening. And it was super frustrating because I wanted to get better and better develop my game. I finally stopped being stubborn and ended up going to YouTube and man am I in awe. Much love from Chicago my man

  5. Thanks Nelson. Two plans were new to me.

  6. I just got the coolest checkmate by watching this video.., Thanks

  7. "-If you havent seen the top 10….." bla bla bla. Those phrases at the end of your videos is the reason that i have watch all of your videos dude. You delivering a check mate on my brain when you are doing it, i can stop watching, plz stooop…. Hahahahahah great work, keep going

  8. I am not used to the middle game I always watch videos about the opening and I just thought I need to get better at the middle game . I am not used to seeing a game in the middle I feel I want to watch from the beginning 😅

  9. This is like the most instructive channel for intermediate chess players.. it has all I have been missing all along.. thank you Nelson

  10. As a novice player, this was great info. Congrats on another sub. 🍻

  11. Woah!!! This is what I needed, after developing I just didn't have any principles like these to take the initiative
    thank you so much 😀

  12. 6:53 I don't recommend people trap their bishops like this lol

  13. This is where I fall off. My end game has improved a lot. Able to even turn losses into wins. I am happy I have a strong opening arsenal. But I can dominate in the opening then make two moves and it's over

  14. Btw the battery on the open file (in my opinion) is a bit better than the diagonal, because you can pile on more pressure on a target, but for a diagonal, it can only have 2 pieces (Q+B), and is generally harder to attack the target with other pieces as the target is often far away from the battery.

  15. Triple battery? No offense but that seems dumb

  16. like your videos a lot. Don´t really know my rating, but i really enjoy your videos and playing chess

  17. I'm finding myself watching more and more of your content, it is awesome! Really helping elevate me from beginner ranks, easy to understand and on the money – please keep it up!
    Do you offer coaching?

  18. 3:30

    Why don't you just activate that Bishop since there are a lot of dark squared openings between pawns?

  19. This was an excellent video!
    I would love to see more about these early middle game (right after the opening) plans and how to execute them. (Like show more examples of these plans in action, in scenarios when they work, and show when they don't work/are not applicable).
    Thank you very much, NM Nelson!

  20. I find this one very interesting. I would appreciate another similar one giving tips "pawn chain points to the attacking side", "attack where you have space" style principles. Cheers

  21. This has been a game changer. I literally reached 1700 ELO rapid in two days at lichess. ( I was fluctuating from 1500 to 1600). All my homies love you Nelson. I wont ever forget about you if I become a master. No, maybe an international master hahahahah

  22. Exactly what I was looking for. Thank you!

  23. Nelson Lopez is hands down the best online instructor I've seen. Clear explanations, interesting and just plain helpful. Thanks Nelson!

  24. Great advice just what I am looking for

  25. I really like when you tell us to pause the video and try and figure out the best move

    That really exercises the brain n helps us improve in our game

    Thank you for that! 🙂

  26. Is the position in example number 8 even possible?

  27. 0:41 1 break open the centre
    1:39 2 attack opponent's king with a pawns
    2:55 3 trade your weak pieces for opponent's
    stronger ones
    3:45 4 create a battery on a half-open or open file
    4:45 5 create a battery on a long diagonal
    6:04 6 rook lift
    7:15 7 relocate a knight for an outpost
    8:19 8 locate opponent's weaknesses
    9:26 9 eliminate weaknesses before get attacked
    10:49 10 make opponent's pieces innefective

  28. I smash the opening, even finishing with plus 3, however it all goes to pot in the middle game.

  29. Brilliant video! This is such a fantastic channel, so pleased I found it.

  30. This is one of the best chess videos I have ever seen. Fantastic ideas. Soooooo helpful. You are such a good teacher.

  31. 0:43 Break open the Centah
    1:39 Pawn Storm hiz az
    2:55 Trade Up: your weak piece for his strong piece
    3:45 Create a Battery 🔋 on open and 1/2 open files
    4:47 Create a Diagonal Battery 🔋
    6:04 Rook Lift
    7:14 Knight Outpost
    8:20 Weakness stack attack
    9:20 Prophylaxis: Eliminate weaknesses before opponent can attack
    10:50 Crystalize enemy piece

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