List of preconditions

 What I'm looking for is a list of preconditions which must be met before an assault. Let's try to abstrahere such list from the previous position. The following conditions must be met before you make committal moves:

Pawn storm

Mobile pawns have the following tasks:

• clear the LoAs (lines of attack)
• chase away defenders
• pry the killbox open

Notice that the semi open files are important because they activate your rooks, while the enemy has no pieces to do the same to you on that LoA. It changes the balance on that file.

Convergence

You need a focal point where your attackers synergize. Usually g7 is better than h7, since the king has more problems to skedaddle via f8, and g7 is more difficult to protect than h7.

Trades

Piece exchanges can change the balance on:

• a focal point
• a color complex
• an invasion square

Common trades to consider are: RxB, changing the dominance on the color complex. Notice how the opening of a file activates your rook, basically giving you an extra attacking piece. Trading your rook for a bishop changes the domination on a color. That is a way to put that extra rook to use.

Schlucking Tempo's

Furthermore, there are useless trades, that are just schlucking Tempo's (gulping tempi). Like blacks Nc6 x d4 in the position.

Passive pieces

And there are pieces that play no active role at all.

• Attackers that don't enter a LoA
• Defenders that have no time to reach a defensive position

Counter attack

The LoA landscape from the perspective of your enemy tells you if  there is any counter attack possible. In this position, 10.g4 must be judged as: your opponents king behind his pawns is more in danger than your naked king.

These are the preconditions to judge before you commit your pieces to an assault. Notice that the amount of scenarios is finite, though the amount of ways to combine the scenarios are endless.