Once again, one of the keys to chess improvement emphasized by GM Seirawan was analyzing your own games. It is in this way that you will learns patterns in your own play and those that occur on the chess board in general.
He also introduced his idea of the 3 opening principles:
1. Use pawns to control your share of the center
2. Develop your army onto the most effective squares possible
3. Protect your king
He also introduced his 5 elements of positional evaluation:
1. Material
2. Time (Development)
3. Space
4. Pawn Structure
5. King position
A fair bit of time was spent today on space, with friendly territory being the first 4 ranks and "enemy territory being considered the 4 further ranks. GM Seirawan looked at how much enemy territory each piece controls at different positions on the board. One ideal position with pieces on squares that hold their maximum influence while mutually protecting each other looks like this...
In this position, each knight attacks 6 enemy squares, each bishop attacks 7 enemy squares, each rook attacks 10 enemy squares, and the queen attacks 16 enemy squares. Only 2 squares in the entire enemy camp are not attacked, and every piece is protected at least twice.
Again, we reiterated the assignment for the week is to complete a notated and self-analyzed game by next week.
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