Hivechess Lecture: Build an Attack before You launch it.

Hi there,

We will be looking at a new Hivechess lecture, which says build an attack before you launch it. It is very common to go for premature attacks, which are attacks that lead to zero advantage, something like a mirage. It is always important to build the attack before you go ahead to launch it. This is where the idea of visualization in chess comes into play in chess. You need to have a mental picture of where you will attack or what piece you would like to attack, then think of how you will do it; that is the move orders.

The game we will be using for this lesson is between Pranav Anand and Barnabas Panda in the International Chessopen in round one. I will be focusing on the crucial parts in the game where the lesson of building an attack before you launch it was employed. The lesson began on the 18th move for white: h3, which, on the surface, looks like a simple prophylactic move in the position that will prevent any piece from coming to g4.

But here is the thing, no piece is moving to g4 anytime soon, so why the need for the h3 move? What white understands in this position is that black has fewer pieces on the kingside, and he wants to create an attack on the black king seated on g8, so the h-file will be crucial in this play. Therefore, a pawn break with g4 will come in handy.

26. g4

It took a couple of moves later, after navigating his pieces towards the white side, for white to go for the g4 move. Now he is ready for the break and opening more files for his pieces, and I am almost certain it is for the queen and the rook.

The necessary square has been opened, and as I predicted, the rook has moved to the open file. At this point, it is almost over since the king has only a few squares to run to, and more pieces will be coming in soon, especially white's dark square bishop.

You need to understand that white had to visualize where he was going to attack because I am sure he saw up to 15 moves right from move 18 for both white and black. Building an attack requires vision. You need to know what you are building before it appears on the board.

Here is the game link for the full game:
Game link

And here is the PGN game:

[Event "Round 1: Pranav Anand - Panda, Barnabas"]
[Site "https://lichess.org/broadcast/international-chessopen-graz-2026/round-1/0BRr9TwC/8mnKVLdn"]
[Date "2026.02.12"]
[Round "1.1"]
[White "Pranav Anand"]
[Black "Panda, Barnabas"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2606"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[WhiteFideId "46626786"]
[BlackElo "2193"]
[BlackFideId "799556"]
[Variant "Standard"]
[ECO "C02"]
[Opening "French Defense: Advance Variation, Lputian Variation"]
[UTCDate "2026.02.12"]
[UTCTime "23:54:08"]
[BroadcastName "International Chessopen Graz 2026"]
[BroadcastURL "https://lichess.org/broadcast/international-chessopen-graz-2026/round-1/0BRr9TwC"]
[GameURL "https://lichess.org/broadcast/international-chessopen-graz-2026/round-1/0BRr9TwC/8mnKVLdn"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Qb6 
6. a3 Nh6 7. Bd3 cxd4 8. O-O Bd7 9. b4 Rc8 
10. Ra2 Nf5 11. Rc2 Be7 12. Bb2 O-O 13. cxd4 h5 
14. Re1 a5 15. b5 Na7 16. a4 Rxc2 17. Bxc2 Rc8 
18. h3 Bb4 19. Rf1 Qd8 20. Bd3 Ra8 21. Nc3 Nc8 
22. Bxf5 Bxc3 23. Bh7+ Kxh7 24. Bxc3 Nb6 
25. Bd2 g6 26. g4 hxg4 27. hxg4 Qf8 
28. Bg5 Be8 29. Kg2 Nd7 30. Rh1+ Kg8 
31. Bf6 Nxf6 32. exf6 Rc8 33. Rh4 1-0

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_{I am @samostically, a chess player and writer. I love to share the experience I have gained from different battles over the 64 squares and the knowledgeable insights from books I have read. But most importantly, I am a Midnight Owl and I founded the community Midnight Letters.}