Weak Squares

In chess, weak squares can look a few different ways and some might be more obvious than others. In this article, I’m going to teach you how to identify weak squares in games and also how to take advantage of them. 

Weak squares are squares that are lacking sufficient defense or that are lacking pawn control specifically (the latter is usually referred to as an outpost). In general, we like for squares to be over-defended, so if a pawn is sitting on a square that’s undefended (but not yet attacked), that pawn/square is a weakness that should be targeted.

Weak squares can also refer to a color complex issue. If one side trades their dark-squared bishop off for a knight (leaving the other side with the bishop pair), the dark squares are now weak in that side’s position.

Being able to identify and properly target weak squares can make you a very strong player that’s difficult to play against. Most players can only defend so long, so if you can continuously target weak squares, your opponent is likely to slip up and let material go or create more positional weaknesses for you to target.

Weak Squares – Lacking Defense

This is the most obvious kind of weak square and one that most players can identify. Most players (especially beginners), though, often go after pieces only with the goal of winning the piece. This isn’t the best, since attacking one piece pressures our opponent to defend and once they do, if we did nothing else with our move, we end up with nothing. We should use weak squares as targets to further improve our own position and to provoke more weaknesses from our opponents. 

Weak Squares – Outposts

Weak Squares – Color Complex

Weak color complexes occur from a combination of pawn structure and bishop placement. If you’re missing one bishop, those color squares will be weak for the rest of the game or if your pawns are on mostly, for example, dark squares, the light squares will be weak. Infiltrating and using these squares of a weak color can lead to a crushing advantage.

White infiltrated on the dark squares and used those weak squares to shift to a direct attack on the king. As black tried to defend against the attack, other weak squares (this time on light squares) began to pop up. It’s very hard to defend without conceding new weaknesses, so keep a sharp eye out for new weak squares as you attack.

Example Game – Opera House Game

One of the most famous chess games is a perfect example of weak squares and how to punish them. Morphy masterfully coordinates his pieces to enact an attack on the weakened light squares (specifically f7).

Notice how Morphy shifted the attack from weak square to weak square. He didn’t tunnel in on one weakness and refused to let it go. Instead, once the opponent scrambled to defend it, he found a new weak square and started pressuring that, which caused the opponent to scramble once more and by doing so, they created more weaknesses. 

Finding weak squares and being able to punish them is a crucial factor to being a strong chess player. While solving tactics (which you should be doing often), practice scanning the board for weak squares and consider how to pressure those. Even if they don’t lead to the correct tactical answer, that will train your mind to always be on the lookout for weak squares.