In search for assault patterns

 The past weeks I have been busy to evaluate my conclusions and to ponder about how to continue. I get to the same conclusions over and over again, so I will give it a go. The problem is, that I hypothesize a sweet spot in my approach, while I have no idea whether such sweet spot actually exists.

My focus is the area where a kingside attack is prepared. On the one hand it is easy to get lost in the myriads of variations which can be used to describe a kingside attack, on the other hand it is easy to debit some trivialities that are too general to be useful. Like "a knight on f5 is worth 4 points", or "a pawn on e5 is worth an extra piece".

The problem is that I don't get much help from chess authors, who tend to choose for one direction or the other.

In order to try to focus on the sweet spot and not to get lost into the variations, I will try to base my conclusions on the lines of attack. After all, we know that a line of attack ends on a square in the vicinity of the enemy king (focal points), or on an invasion square (additional focal point), and that it can make use of pivotal points. I reckon that focusing on the state of the lines of attack will help me to find the patterns that accompany an assault on the king, while helping me to stay clear of the thickets of variations that are ogling at me.

I will not hesitate to use incomplete and impossible chess positions, so I can drive my points home. Please bear with me.

Without further ado, and in no particular order:

White to move

rn1qr1k1/1p2bppp/p3p3/3pP3/P2P1B2/2RB1Q1P/1P3PP1/R5K1 w - - 1 19

Polugaevsky, L. vs. Torre, E.

We need to develop an eye for the lines of attack. The state of the lines of attack tells us the subjects to ponder about. The move a4 was played some time ago with another purpose, but it too enables a rooklift at some point. Currently the rooklift is not possible, but we need to realize that it puts a burden on the shoulders of the black bishop, which is obliged to keep an eye on a3. An important issue in positions like this, is that the potential defenders are cut off from the lines of attack that lead to the black king.

Furthermore, we should keep the 3rd rank clear of pawns, and regret the dog-ear at h3.

So:

• Be aware of the lines of attack (LoA)
• Be aware of overloading of defenders when they guard a pivotal point on the LoA (a3)
• Be aware of defenders that are cut off from the LoAs (R, R, N, Q)
• Be aware of your own pawns that block a LoA (h3)
• Be aware of the potential escape route of the black king (via f8)
• Notice the pieces that block a potential escape route (B, Re8)
• Notice our pawn that shut off some escape possibilities (e5)
• Notice that blacks knight, bishop and rook would like to make use of f8 in order to defend and how that would block the escape route
• Be aware of tempo moves like Bxh7+, clearing the third rank and prying the king position open

This LoA awareness might not give you a list of candidate moves immediately. But at least it is a start.