Hivechess Lecture: Play the position and not the pieces

Hello everyone ,

In this edition of the Hivechess lecture, we will examine playing the position, not the pieces. As a beginner in chess, you may be solely concerned with moving your pieces from one square to another, and at this point in my Hivechess lecture, you should be familiarized with developing your pieces. It takes more than just creating your pieces; it also takes understanding the position to know what to play in a given position.

Chess smiles at the idea of sticking to one rule throughout the game. You have to be flexible in understanding what the position requires, and by understanding this, you get to know what piece to move. The game we will be using in today's lecture is from the upcoming Tata Steel Tournament in India, between Van Foreest with the white pieces and Anish Giri with the black pieces.

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 e5 7. Nb3 Be7

The game was a sharp opening style, the Sicilian Najdorf, with both sides playing with swift develpoement and things got interesting when castling to opposite directions was employed. When something like this occurs on the board, there is usually an attack from both sides. White focuses on attacking the kingside, where black castled, and black attacking the queenside, where white castled.

8. f3 Be6 9. Qd2 h5 10. O-O-O Nbd7 11. Kb1 Qc7 12. a3 Rc8 13. Nc1 O-O

As I anticipated, castling on both sides because this is how most Sicilian positions later turn out. It makes it obvious that both sides are playing for a win. Very few games played using the Sicilian opening usually end up in a definite result and rarely a draw, like how this game turned out.

Let us look at when Van Forest employed this theory of playing the position and not just moving the piece at random.

It was on the 26. Nc1, 27. Nb3, 28. Nd2, 29. Ne4, which made it interesting. The position had changed, and Van Forest was quick to switch it. The turning point of maneuvering the pieces to a better position. The knight was at the edge of the board and the least piece in the game, but then he brought it into the game, and just like that, he began to improve his pieces. This could only work because he understands the position required and how to play accordingly.

Although Van Forest won the game, it was a product of realizing it very early when to improve the position of the pieces, which made it possible to get the win. It is what helped him to get the win in the game.

A simple switch in the position can change the dynamics of the game to a better gameplay, where who is going to win and who is not going to win.

Game Link

[Event "Tata Steel Chess Masters"]
[Site "https://lichess.org/broadcast/tata-steel-chess-2026--masters/round-3/T4KlhCEf/z69MRZby"]
[Date "2026.01.17"]
[Round "3.4"]
[White "Van Foreest, Jorden"]
[Black "Giri, Anish"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2703"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[WhiteFideId "1039784"]
[BlackElo "2760"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
[BlackFideId "24116068"]
[Variant "Standard"]
[ECO "B90"]
[Opening "Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation, English Attack"]
[UTCDate "2026.01.17"]
[UTCTime "10:56:39"]
[BroadcastName "Tata Steel Chess 2026 | Masters"]
[BroadcastURL "https://lichess.org/broadcast/tata-steel-chess-2026--masters/round-3/T4KlhCEf"]
[GameURL "https://lichess.org/broadcast/tata-steel-chess-2026--masters/round-3/T4KlhCEf/z69MRZby"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 e5 7. Nb3 Be7 8. f3 Be6 9. Qd2 h5 10. O-O-O Nbd7 11. Kb1 Qc7 12. a3 Rc8 13. Nc1 O-O 14. N1a2 b5 15. Nb4 Qb7 16. Ncd5 Nxd5 17. exd5 Bf5 18. Rg1 Nb8 19. g4 hxg4 20. fxg4 Bg6 21. Bd3 Bxd3 22. Qxd3 a5 23. Na2 b4 24. a4 Qa6 25. Qxa6 Nxa6 26. Nc1 Bd8 27. Nb3 Nb8 28. Nd2 Nd7 29. Ne4 Be7 30. g5 f5 31. gxf6 Nxf6 32. Ng5 Ne8 33. Ne6 Rf3 34. Bb6 Ra8 35. Rd3 Rxd3 36. cxd3 Ra6 37. Be3 Ra8 38. Ka2 Kf7 39. Kb3 Rb8 40. Rg2 Bf6 41. Rf2 Kg6 42. Rf3 Rb7 43. Rh3 Be7 44. Kc4 Bf6 45. Rh8 Nc7 46. Nxc7 Rxc7+ 47. Kb3 e4 48. dxe4 Re7 49. Bb6 Rxe4 50. Bxa5 Re2 51. Bxb4 Rxb2+
52. Kc4 Be5 53. a5 Bxh2 54. Bc3 Ra2 55. Kb3 Rg2 56. a6 Bg1 57. Rd8 Kf5 58. Rxd6 Ke4 59. Kc4 g5 60. Re6+ Kf3 61. d6 Rg4+ 62. Kd5 Ba7 63. d7 Rg1 64. Re1 10

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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.}

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Thanks For Reading!