Time is a difficult thing to define under the best of circumstances. Whether you’re talking about time’s impact in physics, history, literature or engineering, the concept can be nebulous and difficult to explain. At one point it’s a firm matter, with a concrete definition that’s easy to measure and understand. A moment later it’s harder to grasp, less defined, more ephemeral. Time is no different in chess.

A single unit of time in chess is commonly called a tempo. The plural is tempi. Most of the time you play without feeling the presence of tempi. They exist, but they aren’t of great importance.
One side moves, then the other. There’s really no more to it than that. But at other times, the

10. Nxd5 Nf6
11. Nxf6+ Qxf6

Things are going well.
We’re 11 moves into the game, and I’m a piece up. At this point, I promptly stopped thinking, and started playing greedily. Things could have gone more smoothly for me if only I’d left the b7 pawn alone.

12. Bxb7 Rab8
13. Bg2 e4
14. Rb1 Bxa3!

This is a clever move, that wouldn’t have been possible if I hadn’t taken the pawn on b7. Thus, my greed, has aided my opponents game.

15. Nf4

At this point, I decided I needed an insurance policy. Nf4 works well in this respect. I couldn’t save the pawn on b2. But I could do something that would give me a tempo later on, when I might need it more than an extra rook. By moving the knight to f4, I have the threat of moving it to h5 and directly attacking black’s queen. From h5 it also leans on the g7 pawn, and may lead to an attack there.

15. … Bf7

Ok, so maybe he saw my h5 move. Maybe he was just protecting the bishop. Either way, it’s time to start breaking out of my rather cramped position. I decided to meet his attack on my queenside with an attack in the center.

16. f3 Bxb2
17. fxe4 Ba2

This was one I hadn’t seen coming. In fact, I doubt that my opponent had either. If he’d done this on the previous move, I probably would have lost right then. But now, I have a tempo attack that will eventually win another piece.

18. Nh5

This move wins a tempo. Black is forced to react to my knight, as my threat is greater. He could take my rook, it’s true, but then I take his queen with check. This is the basis of a tempo attack. He has to react immediately to my move. He can’t do anything until he clears the attack by my knight.

That loss of time on black’s part is crucial, when tied in with his need to maintain contact between his queen and bishop on b2. Remember, if his queen looses contact with his bishop, I would have two pieces attacking it, while he would only have one defending.

18. … Qe5

He realizes that he has to keep the contact between the queen and bishop. I figured he’d do this. It was really his only move.

19. d4

Another tempo attack, and this one is fatal. Black not only looses time having to react to my attack, but he also has to break contact with his bishop. His bishop will be lost, and I’ll be able to exchange the rooks. If he maintains contact with the bishop by playing Qb5, then I take his bishop with Rxb2. The queen is attacked, the rook behind skewered (though protected), and I’ve won the bishop. The bishop on a2 would also then be attacked and require the queen’s protection. Instead, he chooses to abandon the bishop.

19. … Qe6
20. Rxb2 Rxb2
21. Bxb2 Resigns

The uses of tempi are critical in this game. Without them, white would probably have been crushed. Yes, white was ahead a minor piece when the last combination began, but the prospect of loosing a rook made matters look long and hard for white. After all, material would be two minor pieces and rook to a queen and knight…roughly equal. White is aimed at the kingside, while black would work hard to promote his a pawn. It would have been a tough grind for both sides.

But this demonstrates the importance of using time in attack in chess. If you can force your opponent to react to your moves, you can keep him off guard and off balance.
Both of these tempo attacks took place well away from the piece that was actually threatened. This will, at times, allow you to take over the initiative in the game. The initiative is a related topic, but more lasting.

While a tempo lasts a turn, the initiative may last for several moves or, in the best of circumstances, the entire game.

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