H-File Attack | Chess Middlegames
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 ก.พ. 2025
- Attacking along the h-file is among the most thematic attacking patterns in chess. You neglect material or structure and go all in to strip the opponent’s king naked!
I have attempted to demonstrate the power of h-file attacks using four games. In the first two, the attack was achieved by using pawns (specifically the h and the g pawns) to open up the king. In the other two, the players used a less common method - pieces! Without moving their kingside pawns, Kupreichik and Polgar managed to bring too many attackers near their opponent’s king and the attack became overwhelming.
1) Boris Spassky vs Larry Evans, 1962 Varna Olympiad
2) Boris Spassky vs Robert James Fischer, 1992 Match
3) Viktor Kupreichik vs Vladimir Borisovich Tukmakov, 1985
4) Judit Polgar vs Ferenc Berkes, Budapest 2003
Attacking the king is often made easier by opposite side castling, but even when the kings are both short castled, it’s still an idea to keep in mind. There are two different ways of launching an h-file attack. More commonly, it is achieved by starting a pawn storm which is used to break open the defenses and exchange the defending pawns around the opponent’s king. Less often an attack is successfully led using only pieces. That is so because pieces will have to sacrifice themselves in order to create holes for the attack. Regardless, if you checkmate the material is irrelevant, so both methods work.
The hardest thing to learn when trying to improve your attacking skill (including h-file attacks) is recognizing when the time is right for an attack. Starting it too early or too late means a lot, and often means the difference between winning or losing.
There is one major indicator which has to be taken into account. Attacking vs defending pieces. This is the most important indicator of a successful attack. Simply count the pieces which you have in the attack and count the pieces your opponent has in the defense. If you have more, it’s probably justified to start attacking!
Another thing are the potential attackers; pieces which can be transferred towards the king. They should also be taken into account (for both sides). Lastly, a certain indicator is the pawn structure. Most often, pawns on h6 or g6 make the position vulnerable because they serve as targets. If you play h4, h5 and the opponent’s pawn is on g6, that makes the attack much more powerful because you have an “anchor”, something to attack.
These are just the most important indicators, there are numerous, of course, but these should never be neglected!
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Philip D., Alexandre M., Pascal S., Daniel N.
#chess
I see a hanging pawns video, I watch, I learn, I press like.
:) Always a pleasure to read your comments.
I hit 'like' before he even uploads.
You are a gifted teacher.
Your thematic videos and analysis are unique in the chess world.
Already a new video! As you mother, I would like you to take some rest
you've raised a hero, ma'am
@@davidwhitecross1021 Thank you, dear David. I couldn't be more proud :)
Indeed you have raised a hero. He has positively impacted the lives of thousands of people and is and inspiration and a wonder. I don't know how he can keep up with his learning and turn out such high quality work so regularly.
@@RobertKaucher
And watch the fluid intake, have some water ;-)
Wow ... great video ... I'm so happy cuz I won the tournament... I played the kings gambit against someone's Elo 1760 and I crushed him ... I met a lot of great people and I learned from them
Marvelous video Mr.Tomic on the h file attack! I myself used to play Yugoslav attack against the Sicilian, but I used to get stuck when black put his knight on h5. Now I know how to attack properly!
This is an exceptional series. Thank you.
All your videos are great
By the way , thaaaanks alot
Your lessons are amazing
Very nice middlegame ideas. Thanks for sharing.
Excellent lesson! Thank you very much!!!
Very good video. Could you please do a video on methods for defending the king side fianchetto against h-file attacks? Thanks!
More great content! (as always)
Great video! Very helpful. Thanks.
thanks, mr tomic! i'm always too scared to play moves like that ;(
No problem David:) Don't be scared! I keep telling myself that strong players are human too. Remember that!
David Whitecross
Yeah me too. Attacking chess is making calculated risks, its so much easier to take calculated not-risks or small risks at most.
Hey Stjepan. I just wanted to say thanks for this video. I just used some of the principles you discussed to make my opponent's King's Indian Defense go horribly, horribly wrong. How wrong? I'll put it this way: my opponent's King was on a4 after move 20. It was the most dominating win I've had with the material remaining more or less equal most of the game.
Thanks!!!
The best!!
Liking your videos sir
Great explanation
Thank you Sir!
Very well explained. When will the D4 series come i have to play a rated tournament on 18th may. 😅 i m waiting eagerly.
Scotch, Petrov and Phillidor to go:D Soon
Do a video on how to coordinate your pieces
And your a good chess but learn a a little video editing skills😁😁😁😁😁😁😁
Can u make a video on how to defend against h file attack?
would love to see this as well
Can you please make a series on the scotch game, and the scotch gambit in particular
Isnt there already a lot of theory and literature on the scotch?
@@arasvardanyan3708 not on this channel
I did not find any theory on the scotch here.
@@arasvardanyan3708 1e4 e5. 2Nf3 Nc6. 3d4 is the scotch in case you are thinking of another opening
@@mjaber1878 well yea I mean outside of this channel, you cant expect Stejfan to know every opening
There is yes, but they are very boaring, i like stejfan's way of explaining the openings.
Harry attack!
What online chess website with rated players do you participate in?
Two tournament games won playing London System and applying H-File Attack ideas :)
Great job!
at 10:33 after Rh2 Evan's missed the obvious Ne3 fork!? well he was lost regardless.
I'm pretty late but Ne3 just gives white too much tempo for the attack
If you play Ne3 then Qh1 and if u take the rook with the knight its mate in 4
I kind of don't agree that ...Rb8 doesn't do anything at 30:00 ;-)
Saves the rook, right. Didn't even consider it:D
@@HangingPawns yup, which makes g4 more impressive! Judit ignored the material on offer and preferred playing down material to open the h-file with g4! of course the key move in opening up the file, preventing g4 by black as you pointed out.
It's not Udit, there is a j.
He pronunces it well. J is read like Y in e.g. "yesterday", not like J in "jeans"
@@ukaszkowalski725 You can google how to pronounce the name Judit or Judith, and why would a j in the beginning of the word be read like Y? It's English. I dare you to find an English word that would start with a j and be read like Y.
@@alexband7207 She is from Hungary...
@@ukaszkowalski725 yeah, but we speak English, and he was as well
@@alexband7207 But u do not pronounce foreig names in english, while u speak english. It is popular among native english speakers, but it is not mandatory.
I think it is just appropriate, and nice, to take an effort and check name pronounceation.
Definitively it is not mistake.
Thank you for sharing your ideas. I’m an older guy who has loved chess for nearly 60 years, and I wish your channel had been around when I started playing. I donated some $$ to your cause. Good luck in reaching GM status. I believe you can do it. For a good laugh, search for “how i almost beat Jude Acers” on youtube. See ya!
You look like Elon Musk, just comparitively slimmer😅