battlefield. When examining the typical positions discussed in
the previous chapter the fact will strike the observant reader
that the winning player always has a decided superiority of
forces at his disposal where the actual fight is going on, so
that in some cases he can even sacrifice a great amount of them
and still have enough left for the final onslaught against the
King. The same holds good in combinations where lesser objects
than the King are fought for; the player who has more pieces
ready to take part in the struggle will emerge victorious; the
player who attacks with less pieces than the opponent has on the
spot for defense, cannot hope to succeed.

The important point, therefore, is to place the pieces so that
they will be in readiness for concentration on whatever part of
the board they are needed.

Moreover, it will be important to place the pieces on such
favorable squares in the shortest possible time--meaning with the
smallest number of moves--as wasting moves on maneuvers which do
not further the mobilization of the troops will give the opponent
an opportunity to gather a superior force somewhere on the board
and make an attack with the best chance in the world to succeed
before reinforcements can be brought up.

With this aim in mind the beginner will readily see that it is by
no means immaterial which Pawn moves are made in the opening. The
fact that a Pawn move opens an outlet for a piece is not
sufficient. If possible Pawn moves will have to be found which
enable the development of more than one piece for they will lead
to an advantage in the mobilization unless the opponent, too,