Coordination of the pieces

by Jan Markos

Video introduction

The coordination of the pieces is a topic that is often neglected in the literature. Perhaps this is because other strategic topics, such as the treatment of certain pawn structures, are more concrete and therefore easier to present. On the other hand, it is clear that the coordination of the pieces must be an important factor in chess - because if your own pieces work well together, they are strong, if they do not ... With his contribution, Jan Markos offers you the opportunity to improve your understanding of the coordination of the pieces by means of three sample games.

The first example is a game between the American GM Mishra Abhimanyu (2627) and FM Harshi Parwa (2132) from the first round of the 2024 World Junior Championship. The Elo favourite in this match lost the game because he clearly didn't pay enough attention to coordination when evaluating the position. In the following position, which was still very promising for White,

Mishra went for material with 14.Bg6+ Ke7 15.Bxh7 - but after 15...Nc6 16.Ng6+ Kd7 17.Nxh8 Nxd4 18.Qd1 Qh8 19.Bg6 Ba6 it turns out that Black is so well coordinated that he can even afford a king in the centre!

In addition to the video, Jan Markos provides you with a small collection of training exercises.

Five training tasks

What would you play as White? Levin,F - Espig,L

How to coordintae White's pieces in the most precise way?
What would you play? Onischuk,A - Bruzon Batista,L

What is the best place for the black queen, so that it is fully
coordinated with its army? Morozevich,A - Bruzon Batista,L

Black's coordination is enviable. But what should he do
to acchieve something concrete? Carlsen,M - Aronian,L

Which moves gives Black best coordination? Topalov,V - Carlsen,M