Often in chess, it's possible to discern the correct plan (or at least, a good plan) by observing the pawn structure. We can conclude that black has the superior pawn structure. Black also has an extra centre pawn - this is often advantageous, as it allows one to more easily control the centre. Black has an isolated pawn on a6, and a backwards pawn on h6. White has an isolated pawn on a5 and backwards pawns on c3, f3, and h3. White has three pawn islands to black's two fewer pawn islands are considered better, so this counts as a mark against white. Let's count the strengths and weaknesses for both sides. Well co-ordinated pieces are pieces that don't get in each other's way but complement each other's abilities, defend each other, and aren't on loose squares where they can be attacked and driven back. That means knights on central outposts, bishops on secure squares that command open diagonals, and rooks on open files. There is a definite positional advantage to having well placed, active, and co-ordinated pieces. With more space, you can quickly move your pieces into position to attack on either side of the board, while your opponent's cramped pieces are slow to respond. Having an advantage in space is usually a good thing, because it means your pieces have more room to manoeuvre, while the enemy pieces have less space and can end up getting in each other's way. So in this position, we can conclude that white has a large advantage in space. Take a look at the following example:Д«lack's space control is only 8, or a mere 6 if you take into account the fact that the f6 knight is pinned and cannot move without exposing the black queen. Space is the amount of territory on the board that is safely available to your pieces, and how much territory each player controls in the other player's half of the board.

SpaceДЄll other things being equal, the player who controls the most space has a slight positional advantage. Both are worth six points, but which is better often depends on the other factors in the position, and the ability to judge is something you must gain with experience.

Sometimes, there may be a material imbalance that makes a position hard to judge - for example, one player may have a knight and bishop while the other has a rook and pawn. Even a beginner can look at a position and see that the side with five extra pieces is most likely winning.

The most simple way to evaluate a position is by counting the value of the pieces on both sides. You can start off with simple evaluations, and move on to more complex and subtle evaluations as you gain experience through play and study. The ability to evaluate positions well cannot be learned in a day - it is something that is refined continually throughout one's chess career. Evaluating a positionД«efore you can strive for a positional advantage, you need to be able to evaluate a position and determine who stands better. Even if there are no tactics in the position, having a superior position may enable you to win eventually in the endgame. Alekhine's superior positional play gave him more advantageous positions with increased opportunities to find killer tactics. The early 20th century master Rudolph Spielmann once lamented that, although he could spot tactical combinations just as well as world champion Alexander Alekhine, he could never get Alekhine's positions. Obtaining a superior position increases your ability to attack and increases your tactical potential.

Positional play is the art of improving one's own position, while degrading the position of the opponent. In chess discussion, you'll often hear mention of positional play, or how a particular player has a positional style. Introduction to Chess Strategy: Positional advantage

Positional chess books