Space

I'm only into week three of the first month, and already the course has really opened my eyes!

Probably the bigest eye opener for me was the recurring theme of "space" both in the main course and the opening module for 1.d4.

Just prior to starting the course I read "Elements of Positional Evaluation by Dan Heisman where space was relegated to a psuedo element. And yet as I go over the material in the course, space is again and again as a fundamental driver for most of the positional decisions, particularly in the opening. Where Heisman's book had me looking at trees, I am now begining to see that there's a forest here!

Cool! I think Heisman tries too hard to find a kind of "minimal" kernel of evaluation factors from which all others can be derived. While that may be useful for a computer, humans are better at dealing with those "derived" factors such as space, material (he calls material a pseudo factor!), etc..

Ah, space... the final frontier!

Space advantages are good, but only while there is sufficient material. I have often found a space advantage to turn into a disadvantage after material disappears... usually unexpectedly.

space is a must, i do prefer a open game. but if the opening doesn't allow it...start trading baby.

Well, against all advice I tried to use 1.d4 this weekend in a fun tournament and got a very cramped game and lost due to space.

I'm always reluctant to trade and should learn when it is a good thing to do. The only time I currently know that it is right to trade is when my opponent has more space.