Tempo

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    From Wikibooks, under CC BY-SA 4.0, as the source states it. This page at Wikibooks.

    Tempo

    Each turn is a precious commodity, which we call a tempo (Italian for 'time'). A tempo is an opportunity to move something.

    Chess is a turn-based game, so you might think that Black always gets one tempo for every tempo White gets.

    Not quite.

    If you can make an improving move, like a developing move, in a way that makes your opponent react by doing something they'd rather not do, like move a piece twice in the opening, you have gained a tempo on them.

    Gaining and losing of tempo

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    Position after 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Bc5 3. Qh5. White threatens Qxf7#.

    White and Black sit down at a chess board and start playing. After 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4, White's bishop attacks the weak f7-pawn. It's now got one attacker and one defender.

    Black continues 2...Bc4 and White plays 3. Qh5. The queen attacks both f7 and e5. That's two attackers on f7, and still only one defender (see diagram).

    If Black defends the f7 pawn with 3...Nh6?, then White can take the e5 pawn with check, 4. Qxe5+. If Black plays 3...Nc6?? to defend the e-pawn instead... White would play 4. Qxf7#. The # stands for checkmate. Oops! So instead Black plays a move that defends both f7 and e5: 3...Qe7.

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    Position after 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Bc5 3. Qh5 Qe7 4. Nc3 Nf6. White's queen is under attack and must move.

    White's attack thwarted, let's say they now play 4. Nc3. But, what does White's queen think she's doing on h5? Everything she can attack is defended. She can't make any more progress. If she was a hockey player, she would be offside.

    But more importantly, Black is going to play 4...Nf6 next and gain a tempo on the queen. (diagram)

    Chess is a turn-based game, and you can only move one piece each turn (except when castling). So, if your queen is doing something this turn, bad luck, the rest of your pieces have to stay put. In business-speak, there's an opportunity cost to moving the queen.

    White reverses the queen back to 5. Qf3. Now it's Black's turn again, and they have a chance to make another useful move, like 5...Nc6. Black now has more pieces developed than White.

    White moved: Black moved:
    1. Their bishop. 1. Their bishop.
    2. Their queen. 2. Their queen.
    3. Their knight. 3. Their knight.
    4. Their queen again. 4. Their other knight!

    Through tempo magic, it's almost like Black got to make two moves in a row.

    It's hard to overstate how powerful that is. This is how Larry Evans, a grandmaster and prolific chess author, described it:

    The first question a good player asks when he looks at a position is: “Whose move is it?” Time is so vital that if a player with only mediocre ability were allowed to move twice in a row, at his option, just once in every game, he could become World Champion!
    —Larry Evans[1]

    Tempo in the opening

    Gain of tempi

    		a b c d e f g h
    8a8 black rookb8 black knightc8 black bishopd8 black queene8 black kingf8 black bishopg8 black knighth8 black rook8
    7a7 black pawnb7 black pawnc7 black kingd7 black pawne7 black kingf7 black pawng7 black pawnh7 black pawn7
    6a6 black kingb6 black kingc6 black pawnd6 black kinge6 black kingf6 black kingg6 black kingh6 black king6
    5a5 black kingb5 black kingc5 black kingd5 black kinge5 black pawnf5 black kingg5 black kingh5 black king5
    4a4 black kingb4 black kingc4 black kingd4 black kinge4 white pawnf4 black kingg4 black kingh4 black king4
    3a3 black kingb3 black kingc3 black kingd3 white pawne3 black kingf3 white knightg3 black kingh3 black king3
    2a2 white pawnb2 white pawnc2 white pawnd2 black kinge2 black kingf2 white pawng2 white pawnh2 white pawn2
    1a1 white rookb1 white knightc1 white bishopd1 white queene1 white kingf1 white bishopg1 black kingh1 white rook1
    		a b c d e f g h
    Knight attacking a pawn

    You gain tempi when you attack a piece with a developing move and the opponent can not defend the piece with a developing move, so she or he loses tempi.

    Loss of tempi

    		a b c d e f g h
    8a8 black rookb8 black knightc8 black bishopd8 black queene8 black kingf8 black bishopg8 black kingh8 black rook8
    7a7 black pawnb7 black pawnc7 black pawnd7 black pawne7 black kingf7 black pawng7 black pawnh7 black pawn7
    6a6 black kingb6 black kingc6 black kingd6 black kinge6 black kingf6 black knightg6 black kingh6 black king6
    5a5 black kingb5 black kingc5 black kingd5 black kinge5 black pawnf5 black kingg5 black kingh5 black king5
    4a4 black kingb4 black kingc4 black kingd4 black kinge4 white pawnf4 black kingg4 white queenh4 black king4
    3a3 black kingb3 black kingc3 black kingd3 black kinge3 black kingf3 black kingg3 black kingh3 black king3
    2a2 white pawnb2 white pawnc2 white pawnd2 white pawne2 black kingf2 white pawng2 white pawnh2 white pawn2
    1a1 white rookb1 white knightc1 white bishopd1 black kinge1 white kingf1 white bishopg1 white knighth1 white rook1
    		a b c d e f g h
    Knight attacking the queen

    You lose tempi when your opponent attacks your piece with a developing movement and you cannot defend that piece with a developing movement, so you have to spend one tempo by retreating your piece or defending it (with a non developing move).

    1. ↑ Evans, Larry (1974). "Basic Chess Strategy". How to Open a Chess Game. New York: RHM Press.

    Generally, you want to gain tempo in the opening. Many beginners hear "knights first in the opening", which shouldn't always be true. Whenever you lose tempo, your opponent can start going on the offensive. So (generally) you want to keep tempo in the opening, maybe even in subtle ways (like the italian).