How to Win Using a Space Advantage (Model Game)
Convert a positional advantage into victory!
Most openings lead to one player (usually White) having a space advantage. Sicilian Defense? White gets a space advantage due to the e4-pawn being in the center (especially if the game goes towards an Open Sicilian). French Defense? Another space advantage for White (especially if White goes for the Advance Variation). King’s Indian Defense? Same story. Some openings lead to an equal space situation such as 1. e4 e5 or the Queen’s Gambit Exchange Variation. However, there’s much fewer openings where White starts off with a space disadvantage on purpose. A couple that come to mind are 1. Nf3 + 2. Bg2 Reti-style openings and some variations of the English Defense where Black gets to play …e5, …c6 and …d5. That all being said, especially if you are playing the White pieces then in a decent percentage of your games, regardless of whether you play 1. e4 or 1. d4, you will usually have a space advantage at some point in the opening or early middlegame. Do you know how to play correctly with a space advantage?
In this post I wanted to show a game that I came across recently that I feel is a model game for how to win when you have a space advantage early in the game. This game was played on June 4th, 2023 between Grandmaster M Venkatesh (2469) and Maheshwari Arnav (1995) in the 6th round of the 2nd Maharashtra GM Open. There is a pretty big difference in rating between these two players (over 450 points). I feel that these types of games where one player is a big rating favorite usually make good model games because the stronger player tends to be in control the majority of the game and is able to demonstrate how to grow and convert small advantages as the game progresses, especially with a bit less resistance coming from the lower-rated opponent. Games between evenly matched players tend to be more balanced and back-and-forth. Those games can be great too but I personally like these mismatch games for learning purposes. Ok, let’s get into it!
1. e4 c6
2. d4 d5
3. exd5 cxd5
The Exchange Variation of the Caro-Kann is one of the openings where White doesn’t begin with a space advantage. However, let’s see how this changes as the opening progresses.
4. Nf3
I’m not going to debate the opening moves too much but 4. Bd3 or 4. c4 are the more common moves here. The downside of 4. Nf3 is that it allows black’s light-square bishop to develop to f5 or g4 easily (even though Black doesn’t do this in the game).
4…Nc6
5. c3 Nf6
6. Bd3 g6
7. O-O Bg7
A lot of the time Black looks play …Bf5 to trade off the light-square bishops after playing the …g6 set-up. Again though, Black doesn’t go for this in the game.
8. Re1 O-O
Now it’s too late for 8…Bf5? since it would lose material due to 9. Bxf5 gxf5 10. Nh4! Qd7 11. Qf3 and Black cannot save the f5-pawn. Playing 11…e6 would still allow the f5-pawn to be captured due to the pin on the e-file.
9. Nbd2 Re8
10. Ne5 Nxe5?
Neither side has played the most precise moves in the opening so far but at the same time no one had made any mistakes either…until now! Capturing the knight on e5 here was a mistake that Black should have avoided. This capture allows White to gain the space advantage.
11. dxe5!
Recapturing with the pawn pulls the pawn from d4 up to e5, attacks black’s knight and gives White a space advantage now due to the pawn crossing into black’s half of the board. Recapturing with the rook would have lost material due to 11…Ne4 trapping the rook on e5.
11…Nd7
12. Nf3!
Defending the e5-pawn and opening up the c1-bishop to develop soon. Playing 12. f4?! instead would have been inaccurate since Black can play 12…Nc5 13. Bc2 d4! which opens the center of the board when white’s pieces are a bit jumbled up.
12…a6
13. Bc2 e6
Here is the key position that I want to discuss. Usually when I think of space control and who has the space advantage, an easy way to do this is to count the number of pawns on the fourth and fifth ranks. Whoever has more pawns (or whoever has further advanced pawns) will be the one who controls more space on the board. White has a space advantage here because of the e5-pawn that has crossed into black’s half of the board while black’s furthest advanced pawn is on d5 (still on their half of the board). If we get a bit more specific, we can see that white’s e5-pawn is giving them a space advantage primarily in the kingside part of the board (controlling the f6-square and blunting the g7-bishop). When one player has a space advantage, there are usually a few steps to using it:
Secure the advantage (defend your pawns and make it difficult for the opponent to chip away at them easily)
Push your pawns further down the board (especially if the space advantage is in the center and the pawns are mobile)
If the center is a bit more locked up, then look to maneuver your pieces towards the area of the board where you have the space advantage and potential pawn breaks
Because the center of the board is a bit locked (White cannot advance the e5-pawn) and white’s space advantage is a more kingside-focused, then they should be looking to build an attack against black’s king from this position. Let’s see how White executes these steps with their next few moves.
14. Bf4
White begins by developing their final minor piece and securing/over-protecting the e5-pawn which is the key to their space advantage. White wouldn’t mind if Black were to play …f6 at any point to attack the center since exf6 would result in a compromised pawn structure for Black (hanging pawn formation on d5/e6) and a weak square on e5. One of the main benefits of having a space advantage is that it is more of a static/long-term advantage. There is no rush to use the space advantage and try to crush Black in the next few moves. Compare this to a dynamic/short-term advantage like a lead in development that needs to be used ASAP before it disappears. That being said, we still want to work towards improving our position with each move.
14…b5
15. h4!
A very important pawn advance with the idea to play h5 in the near future. This pawn break will help to weaken and soften up black’s kingside which will make it easier for us to attack later.
15…Bb7
16. h5 Rc8
17. Qd2 Qc7
White has continued to push their h-pawn and develop the queen. On the other side of the board, Black has been trying to make some progress on the queenside since that is the side of the board where they have the space advantage themselves. Black’s recent move 17…Qc7 set-up some ideas for themselves though. What does Black want to play with their next move? This is a very important question for us to always ask ourselves, no matter what our own plan is. We should always try to be aware of what our opponent’s plan is and what their goals are too. Here, Black wants to play …b4, taking advantage of the pawn on c3 being pinned. If Black is able to play this move then they would stir up counterplay on the queenside which could potentially distract us from our own plan of attacking on the kingside. How can be use some prophylaxis and stop our opponent’s idea?
18. Rac1!
There were other ways to work around black’s …b4 idea but this one is the most logical. We develop a new piece, protect the bishop on c2 so that the c3-pawn is no longer pinned and the rook on c1 also eyes the queen on c7 in some situations. White doesn’t really want to be too focused on responding to black’s queenside plan but in this case some cautious prophylaxis was a good idea.
18…Ba8
19. Bb1 Rb8
20. Nh2!
White played a few moves on the queenside to slow down black’s plan and now it’s time to get back to playing on the kingside. The knight is going to maneuver towards the g4 where it will target the weak f6 and h6-squares. Note that White is never really worried about Black capturing the pawn on h5 since it would open the diagonal for the b1-bishop towards the h7-pawn and weaken black’s kingside more.
20…Qc4
21. b3 Qc6
22. Ng4
White isn’t concerned about any …d4 advances which would open up black’s queen to threaten checkmate on g2. This is because White could answer …d4 with Be4 to block off the diagonal and attack black’s queen.
22…Rec8
23. Bh6
Time to trade off black’s main defender of the king.
23…Qc5
24. Bxg7 Kxg7
25. Qh6+ Kg8
26. hxg6 fxg6
27. Bxg6!
White blasts through the front door and invests the bishop for two pawns. Black is toast now since their king will be completely exposed.
27…hxg6
28. Qxg6+ Kf8
29. Re3!
Adding the rook into the attack completely overwhelms Black and the rest of the game is all about White mopping up.
29…Ke7
30. Qg5+ Ke8
31. Rf3 Qe7
32. Qg8+ Nf8
33. Nf6+ Kd8
34. Nh7 Qa3
35. Rxf8+ Kc7
36. Rf7+ Kb6
37. Qg5 Rg8
38. Qe3+ d4
39. Qxd4+ Ka5
40. b4+ Ka4
41. Qd1+ 1-0
A nice model game on how to convert a space advantage into a win! Black didn’t make any glaring mistakes in the game but ended up being behind in space and White did a great job of transforming that space advantage into an attack against black’s king.
To summarize:
You can have a space advantage when you have more pawns on the fourth and fifth ranks (or even further up the board) compared to your opponent
A space advantage can be specific to one area or half of the board (White had a space advantage on the kingside while Black had a bit more space on the queenside)
If you do have a space advantage, you usually want to play in that area of the board
When the center of the board is a bit more locked then playing on the flanks (kingside/queenside) becomes more important
Make sure you keep the pawns that are giving you the space advantage secure and well-defended
A space advantage in the center or kingside is usually a green light to attack the opponent’s king (assuming they are castled kingside)
Look for key moments when preventing your opponent’s idea/plan (prophylaxis) can really make their life difficult
Usually when you’re attacking the opponent’s king there will come a moment when you may need to
sacrificeinvest material to press the attack forward
Hopefully these tips and advice will help you out in your own games when you have a space advantage! Let me know in the comments what you thought of this game and the analysis. Finally, if you enjoyed this post then feel free to subscribe to the blog below and share it with your friends :-)
Very well explained. Agree about the usefulness of games where the players' ratings are a mismatch. Do you have a way to find these? (Please don't say Chessbase). Look forward to future columns.