Chess Patterns ❯ Control of Squares ❯ Control of Color Complex

Control of Color Complex

You Control a Color Complex when you dominate most squares of a particular color. This limits your opponent's mobility and provides meaningful positional advantages. Dominating a color complex involves strategically placing pieces, especially Bishops, to control diagonals and key squares of that color. In the diagram above, White has great control over the light squares.

Ideas for when you control a Color Complex: (1) Exchange your opponent's pieces that can challenge your control of the color complex, (2) Invade the opponent's position on the controlled color. Ideas against the control of a Color Complex: (1) Exchange the opponent's pieces that control the color complex, (2) Consider pawn breaks that challenge your opponent's control.

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Take Control of Color Complexes

When we started adding a playful touch to chess learning, we looked through thousands of videos and hundreds of books to find the best resources out there. Here's our curated selection of the best content we encountered on Color Complexes and how to control them. We also included some smaller creators who are growing fast and we believe deserve your attention. Check out these resources if you want to master this important chess concept.

Weak Color Complexes | Chess Middlegames
This is another excellent video by the awesome Hanging Pawns YouTube channel. Here Stjepan introduces us to the concept of Color Complexes. After a very instructional premise, he analyzes two interesting games. Start here.

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Attacking a Color Complex - GM Sam Shankland
Have a look at this engaging live lesson by GM Sam Shankland for the Saint Louis Chess Club. On a vertical chessboard (!), Shankland presents a game between Grischuk and Gelfand in which the Color Complex imbalance was key. Very instructive.

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2012 American Open: Light Square Domination*
This nice Chess.com lesson by Grandmaster Khachiyan is a great demonstration of how controlling a Color Complex can be such a powerful advantage that can translate into a certain win. Have a look at it.

WATCH ON CHESS.COM
Understanding Chess Move by Move*
This book by John Nunn walks you through the moves of 30 games, step-by-step. And it includes several examples that illustrate the concept of Color Complexes. Ideal for club players looking for a clear and thorough explanation of game strategies.

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Evaluate Like a Grandmaster*
This recent work by Eugene Perelshteyn is unique. It contains roughly 200 exercises, similar to many workbooks. However, the focus here is not on calculation. The positions have to be "evaluated". Obviously, we think it’s a must-read.

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