What’s on the Tempo & Development poster
A 6-row table: Action · Effect.
How tempi are gained and given away.
- Developing with a threat — Gains a tempo
- Moving the same piece twice — Loses one
- Being forced to retreat — Loses one
- A pawn move that develops nothing — Loses one
- Castling — Develops rook and king together
- Chasing an enemy piece to a better square — Gives one away
Attacking a piece that wanted to move anyway does not gain a tempo. Check first whether the square is worse for them.
Questions about the Tempo & Development poster
- What’s on the Tempo & Development poster?
- A 6-row table: Action · Effect. How tempi are gained and given away. Developing with a threat — Gains a tempo; Moving the same piece twice — Loses one; Being forced to retreat — Loses one; A pawn move that develops nothing — Loses one; Castling — Develops rook and king together; Chasing an enemy piece to a better square — Gives one away. Attacking a piece that wanted to move anyway does not gain a tempo. Check first whether the square is worse for them.
- Who is the Tempo & Development poster for?
- Tempo & Development belongs to the Chess section rather than to a school year, because games is not something one grade owns. Anyone learning openings can pin it up — a beginner, a student mid-course, or someone revising years later.
- When should you use the Tempo & Development poster?
- A tempo is a move. Three lost tempi in the opening is usually a lost position. A wall chart earns its place by being glanceable from where the work is happening, so Tempo & Development belongs on the wall where that games work actually happens, within glancing distance, rather than filed away.
- What other posters go with Tempo & Development?
- Avoiding Theory, The Caro-Kann and When to Castle sit alongside Tempo & Development in the Chess section. Printed together they make a wall rather than a single sheet, which is how a reference set actually gets used.Avoiding TheoryThe Caro-KannWhen to Castle
- Is the Tempo & Development poster free to download and print?
- Yes. Tempo & Development downloads as a free PDF with no account, no email and no watermark, like everything else in the Chess section. Print as many copies as you like for a home, a classroom, a library or a tutoring group; reselling the file is the only thing the licence rules out.Read the licence
- What size does the Tempo & Development poster print at?
- Tempo & Development is a vector PDF laid out for US Letter, and prints on A4 with Fit to page — the same file, no separate download. Because every mark on it is drawn rather than photographed, it stays sharp enlarged to A3, A2 or A1 at a copy shop. Colour carries emphasis only, so a greyscale print of Tempo & Development loses nothing.Printing guide
Related posters
Charts that sit alongside Tempo & Development on the same wall.
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