A Positional Checklist

We are all aware of one of the two tactical checklists: Checks, Captures, Attacks or Hanging pieces, King's safety, Alignments.. However, only a few have developed a positional checklist for themselves. As for the videos I've watched on YouTube, nobody discusses this subject on the social media platform, which, at this point, is way more popular for learning chess than the age-old books. However, I am someone who reads age-old books, and I'm glad to say I have learned something important about the subject in question. Let me present to you the 3-question method of solving positional problems developed and explained by Jacob Aagaard in his excellent book Grandmaster Preparation: Positional Play.

The 3 questions

The 3 questions Aagaard presents in his book are aimed to help you decide the path you should take as the game progresses. These questions aren't as easy to answer as the questions in the tactical checklist, and unlike the tactical checklist, these questions show you the path to take, but not the moves. So, using these questions in a real game requires practice, but they will give you a great advantage over opponents without a well-rounded positional knowledge.

The questions are as follows:

1. Where are the weaknesses?
2. Which is the worst-placed piece?
3. What is my opponent's idea?

Now, let's see how these questions work in practice using a few examples.

Position #01

Black has two weaknesses on e6 (the exploitable one out of the doubled pawns) and b7 (hanging). White's worst placed piece can be the bishop or the g1 knight (the rooks aren't bad because nothing is expected from them this early). If we consider the analysis up to this point, Nge2 and Nh3 (getting the knight out), Qh3 and Qg4 (targeting a weakness and making room for the knight), and d3 (activating the bishop) can be considered as serious candidates. But we have one more question left: What does the opponent want? The opponent might want to target the potential weakness on f2 using the rook and the bishop after developing the knights. Hence, removing the bishop with Na4 is also an idea. Black cannot prevent ideas like Nge2, but he can prevent Na4-NxB, and it is too good of an idea to allow to be prevented.

7.Na4! Bb6 8.Nxb6 axb6 9.Qh3 Qf6 10.Nf3 Nc6 11.c3! (prophylaxis) d5 12.d3 and white won on move 38.

Position #02

Black has a weakness on f4. The g6 pawn is exposed, and white pieces can easily get to it. It can also be targeted by playing h5. For these reasons, the g6 pawn is a potential weakness. White's pieces are placed quite well, but Black's rook is passive, and he might like to trade it off for white's rook with Rf5. Black also has the idea of activating the rook by putting the queen on f6 to defend f4. So it is clear that we have to attack g6 and prevent the rook from getting active or trading itself with Rf5. That means Qd3 and Qe4 are serious candidates. We can look at the piece placement to choose between these two moves. If white is trying to attack g6, the white rook, even though it is good where it is, would be even more effective on d6. Hence, white chooses...

45.Qd3 Qf6 46.h5 Qh4+ 47.Kg1 and white won on move 65.

Position #03

White has weaknesses on c3 and e4, and black has a weakness on e6. Black's king can also be potentially weak. Black's worst-placed piece is the rook on f8 (Black's bishop is only one move away from its ideal square on f6). White is trying to play fxe6, and if black stops this, he will try to generate a king's side attack by playing f6. Considering this analysis, it makes sense to trade the queens to further weaken the pawns by removing a defender and to prevent a king's side attack. The move e5 to prevent fxe6 is also a serious candidate, but these moves have to be carefully calculated as f6 is a real threat (for example: 21...e5 22.f6! Bxf6 23.Rxf6!! exd4 24.Bxd4). Qd7 is a safe and sound move to protect e6 without creating any weaknesses with Bf6 to follow.

21...Qc4 22.Qxc4 Rxc4 23.fxe6 fxe6 24.Re1?! e5, and black won on move 47 after letting the advantage slip only at one moment during time trouble.

Position #04

Black's e6 pawn is weak, his pieces are passive, and his king is weak due to the semi-open centre and the g6 pawn. White's pieces are all placed well, and as we observed before, most of black's pieces are passive, except for the bishop on d5 and possibly the rook on h8. Hence, black would be looking to activate his pieces by playing Qb7 and Ra8 to trade off white's active rook and get a good post for the queen, where a future queen's side invasion might be on the cards. So we have to prevent Qb7, make use of black's weak king, e6 pawn and our active pieces. Qb7 can't be prevented directly (c6 and Qb5 are not good moves), and all our advantages except the weak e6 pawn are dynamic. That means we've got to act fast (these kinds of moves shouldn't be played without calculations), near the black king, and eliminate the light square bishop if possible (because it is black's most active piece, as we observed earlier). So we sacrifice the ROOOOOOOOOOK!

29.Rxe6! Bxe6? (Nf8 was better) 30.Qxe6 Kd8 and it's time for our next position...

Position #05

Many moves maintain the advantage, but only one move pushes it to the level of +3. Black's king is obviously weak; his pieces are passive, there is an alignment on the a5-d8 diagonal (this is difficult to notice and might not seem relevant), and white has the initiative. White's pieces are all placed well, but there is an alignment on the e-file that black could use now that the e-pawn is gone. Black's idea in this position is to play Bxc5, threatening Re8. So we have to push the initiative by creating threats against the weak king, possibly make use of the alignment on the diagonal, and prevent Bxc5-Re8 by breaking the alignment on the e-file. Hence, the move becomes obvious.

31.Qa2! Re8 32.Kf1 Qb7 33.Ba5+ Rc7 34.Bxc7+ and white won on move 41.

Conclusion

The 3-question method makes positional decision-making a much less hectic process. It is fun for those who understand the beauty of strict logic governed by intuition. It certainly takes a good amount of practice to use it effectively, but once this is done, your play will improve dramatically.