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Many times, I can play the opening correctly and find myself in a favorable position. This is because the opening has clear principles that I can follow (i.e. develop minor pieces, control the center, safe king). This positional advantage is especially exaggerated when my opponent makes mistakes that cost them some tempo, for example through early queen attacks.

However, upon securing a comfortable position, I am usually clueless as to how to play the middlegame. Usually, I end up pushing pawns recklessly or shuffling pieces and hoping for the best.

So, what are some things that I can do after I develop to milk a positional advantage? It would be great if you can address specific cases such as:

  1. What to do when your opponent is underdeveloped?
  2. How do you pawn storm without creating weaknesses?
  3. How do you conceive long-term plans?
  4. Aside from attacking pieces outright, are there better strategies for putting pressure on your opponent?
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    This type of general questions hardly ever has a valid answer. You'll have to ask about and analyze more specific positions
    – David
    Feb 7, 2022 at 9:55

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The middlegame is too vast of a topic to be fully covered in an answer here.

We already have a question with book recommendations on middlegame strategy: Best books on middlegame strategy?

So I will take this opportunity to recommend some other resources which aren’t books.

The Wikipedia article is a nice high-level introduction: Chess Middlegame (Wikipedia)

Hanging Pawns on YouTube has a playlist titled Chess Middlegame Ideas with around 50 videos on the middlegame.

Also on YouTube, The Golden Rules for the Middlegame | Chess Principles | Improver Level | IM Andrey Ostrovskiy is a great 30-minute video on the middlegame.

Chess Middlegame Strategy | Chess lesson # 91 (35 minutes) by NM Robert Ramirez is also good, but it focuses on examining different positions to find a strategy, so perhaps you can use it to practice or to assess what you have learnt.

Finally, there are some (paid) Chessable courses on the middlegame with good feedback:

Mastering Chess Middlegames by GM Alexander Panchenko

Chess Calculation Training: Middlegames by GM Romain Edouard

Sharp Middle Games: A Practical Guide to Chess Calculation by GM Daniel Gormally

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