Piece placement is paramount

Prescient placement of pieces paramount
Saturday, May 16, 2009 2:54 AM
By SHELBY LYMAN

Position is everything.

In chess, an average expert can defeat or even crush a Garry Kasparov if his own pieces have sufficiently superior placement.

There are exceptions. The fog of war allows miraculous victories with inferior resources and force. Both Napoleon and Robert E. Lee were geniuses at reading a battlefield configuration, marshaling lesser forces at vulnerable points and then routing the opposing army.

Both, incidentally, were chess enthusiasts who played the game in their tents during military campaigns.

But there is little of the fog of war in the average chess game except during time pressure. Chess generals have a clear view of their battlefield.

Superior players win because they know how to attain and exploit an advantage in position.

Source: http://www.columbusdispatch.com