In cases where both sides have already castled on the same wing, and the opponent has weakened his position by pushing on one of the pawns of that wing, it is seldom advisable to start an attack with the advance of one of the pawns in front of the King, as the latter’s position would be weakened.  An attack of this kind is only justified if there is a prospect of concentrating with all speed a superior force before the opponent has time for a counter attack.

The Black position in Diagram 95 illustrates one much favoured by “natural” players.  Here the advance of the

---------------------------------------
8 | #R |    |    | #Q |    | #R | #K |    |
|---------------------------------------|
7 | #P | #B | #P | #P | #Kt| #P | #B | #P |
|---------------------------------------|
6 |    | #P | #Kt|    | #P |    | #P |    |
|---------------------------------------|
5 |    |    |    |    | ^P |    |    |    |
|---------------------------------------|
4 |    |    |    | ^P |    |    |    |    |
|---------------------------------------|
3 |    |    | ^Kt| ^B | ^B | ^Kt|    |    |
|---------------------------------------|
2 | ^P | ^P | ^P |    |    | ^P | ^P | ^P |
|---------------------------------------|
1 | ^R |    |    | ^Q |    | ^R | ^K |    |
---------------------------------------
A    B    C    D    E    F    G    H

Diag. 95

KRP would not be a suitable plan of attack for White as his Rook is no longer on the Rook’s file, nor could it be brought back in time.  In this case White must endeavour to take advantage of the weaknesses at Black’s KB3 and KR3, produced by his move P-KKt3.  This will be the modus operandi:  Q-Q2 followed by B-R6, forcing the exchange of Black’s valuable KB.  After that the Q in conjunction with one of the Knights will attempt to force an entry at KB6 or KR6, as for instance in the following, the moves of which are taken from a game I once watched and took note of as being most instructive.

1.  Q-Q2, P-Q3; 2.  B-KR6, PxP; 3.  BxB, KxB; 4.  PxP, Q-Q2; 5.  Kt-K4, Kt-Q4; 6.  B-B4, QR-Q1; 7.  BxKt, PxB; 8.  Kt-B6, Q-K3; 9.  Q-Kt5, B-B1 (to prevent Kt-Kt4); 10.  QR-K1, Q-B4; 11.  Q-R4, P-KR3; 12.  Kt-Q4, KtxKt; 13.  QxKt, P-B4; 14.  Q-Q2, P-Q5; 15.  P-KB4, P-B5; 16.  P-KKt4, Q-K3; 17.  P-B5, Q-B3; 18.  R-K4, B-Kt2; 19.  R-B3!, Q-B4; 20.  QxPch, KxQ; 21.  R-R3ch, followed by R-R7 or Kt-R7 mate.

A somewhat more difficult case is shown in Diagram 96.

---------------------------------------
8 | #R | #Kt|    |    | #Kt| #R | #K |    |
|---------------------------------------|
7 |    | #B | #Q |    |    | #P |    | #P |
|---------------------------------------|
6 | #P |    |    | #P |    | #B | #P |    |
|---------------------------------------|
5 |    | #P | #P | ^P | #P |    |    |    |
|---------------------------------------|
4 |    |    |    |    | ^P |    | ^P |    |
|---------------------------------------|
3 |    |    | ^P |    | ^B | ^Kt|    | ^P |
|---------------------------------------|
2 | ^P | ^P | ^B |    |    | ^P |    |    |
|---------------------------------------|
1 | ^R |    |    | ^Q | ^R | ^Kt| ^K |    |
---------------------------------------
A    B    C    D    E    F    G    H

Diag. 96