Lesson 11

Strategic Elements: Space

"Space" refers to how much territory you control. This is usually determined by the placement of your pawns. Examine the following board:

Each sides' pawns form a kind of territorial border. Each pawn wall encloses the field of the squares behind it, preventing invasion by enemy pieces and providing a safe haven for allied pieces.

All things being equal, it's an advantage to control more space than your opponent. This is because more space usually means greater freedom of movement for your pieces. Conversely, less space usually means cramped, immobile, and awkwardly placed pieces. Therefore, it's important that you stake a claim for your fair share of space from the very beginning of the game. In fact, we've already discussed this!

Think back to our Basic Opening Strategy lesson on control of the center. In the opening, the center is the most important area of space on the board. As we saw, control over that central space was accomplished by advancing central pawns and supporting them with pieces (like the Knights and Bishops).

You can do the same thing on the Kingside and Queenside too. Advanced pawns, supported and protected by pieces, can create a territorial wall in any sector of the board. If your pawn wall is further advanced than your opponent's, then you probably have a space advantage. Be warned, though: pawn advances are a double-edged sword. Sometimes the pawns themselves can become targets for your enemy's pieces, especially if they are not properly supported by your pieces. Moreover, pawn advances can sometimes leave weak squares in their wake, so make sure that you can keep the territory behind your pawn wall secure before you consider a pawn advance.

If you find that your opponent is about to secure an advantage in one area of the board, don't panic! There are a couple of ways to deal with this. First of all, you should consider challenging your opponent's control over that area with pawn advances of your own, or by attacking and / or exchanging your enemy's pawns. Second, you might consider securing your own territory in an entirely different area of the board, in order to create a balance of respective spatial advantages.

Even if one side manages to secure an overall spatial advantage, that doesn't mean it will necessarily last. As pieces are exchanged during the course of the game, an advantage of space can become less of an advantage. This is because the fewer pieces on the board, the less cramped the side with less space will be. So as a general rule, the side with the space advantage should avoid piece exchanges, and the side with the space disadvantage should seek piece exchanges