Ask Coach Jessica: The Winning Waiting Move
Bon dia, ChessKids! OppositePanda wins our Q&A of the week! The question is about waiting moves. Have you ever waited so long for something that you forgot what you were waiting for? And then when it came you were kind of surprised? Do you love waiting? Well, why wait to wait? You can wait right now and win chess games because of it! By, Mrs Jessica E Prescott (aka BoundingOwl).
I don't just mean you should follow the old axiom, "If you find a good move, WAIT. You might find something better." Althought that is super sound advice. In chess, sometimes an actual "waiting move" is the best move on the board.
Here is one example. Let's say you really want to make checkmate. But a back rank mate is not possible in one move. You don't want the king to escape. And if there were some way you could make it Black's move, magically, you would do it!
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If it were Black's move he/she would be forced to go to h8, and you would have
mate!---
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But how do you
force the king into the corner
without changing his position? If your king moves you won't be able to guard the same squares, and your mate will be less imminent. If you move your rook...?
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Anywhere along the f-file works (besides f8 of course, duh) because you are still guarding Black's escape square. This forces the king to h8. If you had chosen to move the rook along the 7th rank, the king gets out of your box!
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This is called a waiting move. You make a move that does not change the dynamics of your position. Waiting moves mostly happen during the endgame where there are not so many choices. It's kind of like passing, which you cannot do in chess! (See
Zugzwang article.)
Here is another endgame position. First, try this puzzle with the king where you want him. How can you push him closer to the corner where you'll checkmate him? No
stalemates allowed!
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Next, force the king to go where you want him, by finding the waiting move that wins. The move you're looking for is subtle...(Subtle means not obvious.)
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And it'll be mate in a few more moves. This is one way of doing it. Notice how there is yet another waiting move you have to do to avoid stalemate. At that point, almost anything will do, though.
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Sometimes you need to use a waiting move to create
zugzwang. Try this waiting move, from a position we had last week in pawn football. If you immediately push two squares, you will put yourself in zugzwang (when they push back). Instead, be a little more *subtle.* Remember to pretend that the kings aren't there!
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Great job, kids! This positional stuff is important too. What do you think is more important: positional stuff, tactical stuff, or equal?
