Initiative, to put in simple words, means to be able to dictate events on the Chess board. We often associate initiative with a certain degree of forcefulness. A player having the initiative generates threats which cannot be ignored by his opponent, who in turn is forced to defend against these threats. This continues until the player having the initiative transforms it into something concrete, e.g., material, decisive attack etc

To understand this concept, lets have a look at a position reached in the game between Maxime Vachier Lagrave and Ian Nepomniachtchi played in the Candidates tournament 2020, where Maxime displayed brilliant understanding of the initiative and won the game in a very nice fashion.

A common way to handle the initiative is to seek transformation, as it resolves the tension and provides clarity making it easy to evaluate the position. However, resolving the tension too soon or trying to transform the initiative before it reaches its maximum potential can backfire, e.g., sacrificing material to obtain an initiative is a common method, but transforming the initiative too soon may lead to a position where you don't have enough compensation for your material deficit.

To understand initiative we must try to understand its immaterial nature. Like time or tempo in Chess, initiative is of no value if it can't be transformed, however, it should be transformed when it reaches its peak in order to obtain the maximum benefit out of it. Chess is hard to understand with plain statements and formulations, so lets have a look at another game where AlphaZero gives us a deeper insight into the procedure of handling the initiative.

Perhaps the main reason white was able to slowly build up despite being 3 pawns down was the fact that Black didn't have a clear way of exploiting his material advantage immediately. Also, Black had no ways of generating counter-threats. A very important part of White's handling of the initiative was the restriction of Black's activity. The result is evident - in the end, Black was left paralyzed and hardly had a move that did not deteriorate Black's position.

Let's see another fragment from a game where AlphaZero again uses the art of restriction to maximize the initiative.

Some common patterns which we can observe from these games are

1 - When you have the initiative and the defending side has no ways of creating counter - threats, its a good idea to build up the position by restricting your opponent's pieces while increasing the range of your own pieces

2 - A possible strategy in positions without any concrete counter - chances for your opponent is to aim for maximum restriction. Sometimes, the result could be that your opponent is left without a move that doesn't deteriorate his position - a case of Zugzwang in the middlegame.

3 - A good way of approaching positions with the initiative on your side is to ask yourself- What is my opponent intending to do? How can he untangle or how can he create counter - threats? Sometimes, simply preventing your opponent from consolidating is a good way of increasing your initiative.

4 - Transformation of the initiative must be carried out with great care. It must be executed at the right time as premature action can backfire. Hence, the principle of do not hurry applies even to positions with the initiative.

5 - Finally, Initiative doesn't necessarily imply acting forcefully. It's possible to play slowly in positions where one side has the initiative. The games of AlphaZero are a good example for understanding this.

To conclude, let's have a look at the position reached in a game between F Saemisch and Aaron Nimzowitsch at Copenhagen 1923 which very clearly illustrates the 2nd point.