Initiative in a
chess
Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...
position belongs to the player who can make threats that cannot be ignored, thus putting the opponent in the position of having to spend turns responding to threats rather than creating new threats. A player with the initiative will often seek to maneuver their pieces into more and more advantageous positions as they launch successive attacks. The player who lacks the initiative may seek to regain it through .
Discussion
Due to moving first,
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
starts the game with the initiative, but it can be lost in the
opening by accepting a
gambit. Players can also lose initiative by making unnecessary moves that allow the opponent to gain
tempo
In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given musical composition, composition, and is often also an indication of the composition ...
, such as superfluous "preventive" (
prophylactic) moves intended to guard against certain actions by the opponent, that nonetheless require no specific response by them. The concept of tempo is closely tied to initiative, as players can acquire the initiative or buttress it by gaining a tempo.
The initiative is important in all phases of the game, but more important in the
endgame than in the
middlegame and more important in the middlegame than in the
opening. Having the initiative puts the opponent on the defensive.
Grandmaster Larry Evans considers four elements of chess: ''
pawn structure'', ''force'' (), ' (controlling the and
piece ), and ''time''. Time is measured in
tempi. Having a time advantage is having the initiative. The initiative should be kept as long as possible and only given up for another advantage.
See also
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First move advantage in chess
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Tempo (chess)
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Sente
References
Bibliography
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Further reading
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{{chess
Chess terminology