Initiative in chess is a concept closely related to the idea of time. But the initiative is something that typically lasts longer than a single tempo, or a few tempi. Owning the initiative is a potentially long-term asset. There’s more too it than simply saying that an opponent is just reacting to your moves. If you have the initiative, you are controlling the ebb and flow of the game.

This example shows how the initiative can change hands during the course of a game.
1. d4 d5
2. c4 e6
3. cxd5 Bb4+
4. Nc3

At the beginning of a chess game, white owns the initiative by virtue of having the first move. Black is forced, in most opening systems, to play something based on what white is doing. White is controlling the flow of the game. With his fourth move, black begins to wrest the initiative away from white.
4. … exd5
5. Nf3 Bg4

This binds white’s knights. Both will eventually be pinned. Black is trying to strangle white’s ability to move, and take control of the game. Black will try to maintain the pins as long as he is able.
6. a3 Ba5
7. e3 Nf6
8. Bd2 O-O
9. Be2 Nbd7
10. O-O c5

At this point my game is getting cramped, and it’s safe to say that black is controlling the initiative. But this is not something I want to allow for very long, especially with so many potential pins around the board. I begin to look for a way to break out.
10. c5 has allowed me a possibility.
11. dxc5

If my opponent had simply recaptured with the knight, I would have had a fork against his bishop and knight by playing b4.
11. … Bxc3
12. Bxc3 Nxc5
13. Bb4

At this point I begin to try and regain control of the game again. Black is forced to react to my attack on his knight. I gain a tempo when black responds, but will I be able to hold on to the initiative for a longer period of time.
13. … Rc8
14. Rc1 b6
15. Nd4

Black was forced to defend his knight with a pawn placed at b6. But this does two things: first, it weakens the light squares on his queenside. I might be able to take advantage of that before too much longer; second, it specifically weakens the c6 square. If I can get a knight to c6 then I’ll have a great outpost.
15. … Bxe2
16. Qxe2 Re8
17. b3 Ne6
18. Nb5

Now I’m threatening to put a knight on d6 and fork blacks rooks. He exchanges quickly to get out from under the threat. But my knight will hold the initiative for me for a while longer. Black is still reacting to my control of the game.
18. … Rxc1
19. Rxc1 Qd7
20. Nd6 Rb8
21. Qa6 Ne4

I have three pieces aimed at c8. Black is still reacting to my moves. I can still control the initiative for a while longer, but things are beginning to wind down already. At this point, I had expected to exchange queens and rooks, with my knight attacking both of black’s queenside pawns, but my opponent had other ideas.
22. Rc8+ Rxc8
23. Qxc8+ Nf8!
24. Qxd7 Nxd7

I got my wish as far as the exchange of material goes, but not quite in the way I had expected. I decided to simplify at this point.
25. Nxe4 dxe4

I figured it was a good exchange at the time. I assumed my bishop would be more valuable than my opponent’s knight in a fairly open endgame. It made sense at the time. At this point I have lost the initiative. Black is no longer forced to react to my plan or control of the game. The initiative is, at this point, in limbo. Neither of us controls it.
26. Bd6 f5
27. b4 Kf7
28. h4 Ke6
29. Bc7?

At this point I loose control of the initiative for the remainder of the game. It went on through 61 moves, but I was unable to recover and eventually lost. But the ebb and flow of the game changed hands several times over the course of the game. Black took control in the opening, white fought back and regained control of the initiative through much of the middle game, but black took it back in the endgame (when it really counts).

If you play through the moves a few times, you’ll begin to see where the shifts take place and why. In time, you’ll see the importance of holding the initiative as long as you can. In grandmaster play, whole pieces of one sides army will be traded to maintain the initiative. That’s how important it can be.

I can’t remember exactly what happened, but I surmise that the Queenside was safely exchanged, and then the advanced Black King was able to protect one of its pawns into promotion. It wasn’t one of my best games, but my theory in playing an endgame like this was to use the Knight to cramp the exchange on the Queenside and then use the advanced King to shepherd Pawns into promotion. If I recall correctly, tempi came into play late during the game when the Kingside pawns were locked up, and my King was bossing around its counterpart due to move tempi.

I was actually looking to draw this by keeping all my pawns away from the Bishop’s squares and then using the knight to sacrifice for the draw if necessary. The Bishop however, doesn’t always have the luxury of sacrifice in the endgame if the color is wrong.

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