Seizing the Initiative

How to Seize the Initiative:

If you accept the view that White has some initiative by reason of being the first to move, you will doubtless agree that in actual practice White often loses that initiative with great rapidity.

When you are playing Black, you can snatch up White's lost initiative and become the aggressor, if you realize just what is happening.

Now, assuming that White does not lose material and does not create weaknesses, just what should Black look for in order to seize the initiative?

There are several ways White can go wrong. He may, for example* play an opening so poor that his theoretical advantage disappears at once. This gives Black his chance.

Or White may play an excellent opening and then ruin his development by a series of foolish, time-wasting Queen moves. Here again Black must be alert to the possibilities.

If Black discovers that White is wasting valuable time chasing a relatively unimportant Pawn, he can use the opportunity to get far ahead in development.

Sometimes White may avoid the sin of greed only to succumb to another fault—bad judgment. Sheer thoughtlessness, inattention, negligence, or happy-go-lucky innocence of a positional trap may ruin White's development. In every case Black should be alert to seize the initiative.

So you see there are many ways for White to go wrong, and it pays Black to keep a sharp lookout for such cases of poor judgment. Now let's see some examples of the kinds of mistakes White may make.

In this game Black gives us a classic example of slashing attacking play. His play is magnificent, and yet—it all stems from White's faulty opening. Black immediately pounces on the opportunities offered by White's faulty play!