What is Initiative in chess?
Being the side making threats and dictating play.
The player with the initiative forces the opponent to respond rather than pursue their own plans. It's often worth a small material investment to keep it.
Spot initiative in your own games
Free. Chess2EZ finds the patterns you keep missing and explains each in plain English.
Analyze my games →More chess terms
- OutpostA square (often supported by a pawn) that an enemy pawn can never attack.
- Weak squareA square that cannot be defended by a friendly pawn, making it vulnerable to enemy occupation.
- HoleA square in your position that your own pawns can never defend, creating a permanent weakness.
- Isolated pawnA pawn with no friendly pawns on the adjacent files.
- Doubled pawnsTwo friendly pawns stacked on the same file.
- Backward pawnA pawn that can't advance because the squares ahead are controlled by the opponent, and can't be supported by its own pawns.