Post by Radrook Admin on Dec 4, 2023 17:36:46 GMT -5
Outflanking
All students of history know that the tactic called outflanking has been in effect in warfare from its very outset because of its basic effectiveness. The reason, of course, is that an army, from its very inception, was extremely vulnerable on its flanks.
For that reason, the flanks were where the cavalry was placed as a shield. One part on the left wing, or flank, and the other in its right wing, or right flank. Now, if the enemy army could defeat any of these two flanks, then it could attack the infantry sideways or else from behind, called an envelopment maneuver, and the battle was quickly lost.
This happened at the battle or Cannae, where the Carthaginian general Hannibal used it to outflank and then envelope the far larger Roman army. It also happened years later when the Romans defeated the formidable Phalanx formations during their wars against the Macedonians and the Greeks.
Interestingly, it also happens in chess albeit without the identical total enveloping since the board dimensional parameters make that an impossibility.
But that doesn't make outflanking in chess any less effective. You see, as in real warfare, once the opponent can out-flank or attack you horizontally on the first or second white ranks, or seventh and eighth black flanks for black, then it will be extremely difficult to muster an effective defense.
That's why the occupation of the black seventh ranks and the black's occupation of white's second and first ranks with the rooks and queens, are so very important, and are so very often the deciding factor in who wins the game.
Now, this occupation of these crucial ranks is made even more effective if the opponent has managed to cramp your king into corner via flank pawn-advances on the h file. Then checkmate possibilities become far more likely. In short, appreciating the danger involved in getting out-flanked is very important in order to avoid a quick defeat under what might genuinely feel, land might actually turn out to be, an irresistible force.
Preventive measures
So how can we prevent this? Well, one crucial thing to keep in mind is that such out-flanking is usually accomplished by the rooks and the queen gaining a predominant control of a file such as the c file via creating a battering ram formation. So fighting for the control of such files by placing the rooks and queen there as a counter force is crucial.
If you don't, then suddenly, the opponent's queen and rooks will be aiming at your king's castled position on you second rank. Now, to your horror and dismay, suddenly, and seemingly inexplicably, all your forces must quickly reposition for a defense. Unfortunately, you might not now have the time to redeploy your pieces or coordinate them for an effective defense, and there goes the game right down the proverbial drain.
So whatever you might chance to do, during a chess game, do not get outflanked.