Tempo (chess)

Tempo is a measure of the time factor in the game of chess.

During the opening, it is important to develop the characters quickly and optimally place to. If, for example, Player A his characters developed faster than Player B, then one speaks of one or more tempo gains for player A. There are openings ( Gambit ), in which conscious material (usually a farmer ) is sacrificed in order to gain time.

A speed gain can be used in different ways:

• King attack
• More space (see also: space advantage )
• Material advantage
• Positional advantage

If a figure drawn several times without improvement of one's position, this is referred to one or more tempo loss. Even in the middle game and endgame pace losses can be decided the game.

Especially in playoffs, it may also be advantageous to lose a tempo to bring the opponent in a tight spot. This can be done by a Tempozug who merely satisfies the Zugpflicht without something substantial to change at the position. An extended example of deliberate tempo loss is the triangle maneuvers.