“Help your pieces so they can help you”, said Paul Morphy, one of the greatest chess masters. Indeed, that’s true – you cannot play a chess game without your (active) pieces. It is essential, as having active pieces is considered a positional advantage.
So what happens when your (or your opponent’s) piece is not active but passive? True, this would be a positional disadvantage. Chess players often say that bad pieces are just spectators in the game. Where that bad piece is a bishop, it is considered a big pawn. Worst of all is having a passive piece –that is practically equivalent to a piece down.
Suggestion: you might like to study how to make use of important chess squares – click here.
Today, IM Boroljub Zlatanovic has prepared a video lesson for you on this topic. He will teach you with a game played between the ‘Endgame Master’ José Capablanca and William Winter.
In this lesson, you will learn about the disadvantages of having a bad piece, how to exploit it (if your opponent has one) and how trying to improve a bad piece costs time and material … and lots more.
You can watch the video lesson below:
Below you will find the key points based on what you will have learnt from the lesson:
Key points
- Finding the correct plan to realize a big positional advantage
- You should play on the flank opposite to your opponent’s bad piece
- The very well-known and useful principle for a successful endgame (active pieces)
- When you don’t have active pieces, you cannot attack
- The power of an intermediate move
- Drawbacks to doubled pawns
- Converting positional advantage into material advantage
Author information
IM Boroljub Zlatanovic
Boroljub Zlatanovic is a Serbian International Master and professional chess trainer. He became a FIDE Master, and in 1995 was Youth Champion of Serbia and a member of the national youth team. He was a two-time champion of the University of Belgrade and won 10 Serbian Open Chess Tournaments.
Note: you may also like to study about “Transforming Advantages in Chess” – click here.
P.S. Have you ever exploited an opponent’s bad piece(s) and won the game? Let us know about it – please write in the comments below, as I’ll be very happy to read them. 
Recommended
Learn to play the endgames like Capablanca! Learn how endgame masters think and how they come to the right moves.
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