Chess is a sport that portrays actual warfare and uses several military tactics. Tactics and strategies have different meanings when they refer to this game.

Chess tactics are usually visible during middle games. Middle game is the time wherein most of the actions or attacks in a game happen. Capturing, sacrificing, trading, pinning and skewering are some of the moves that are present in middle games. Their main goal during this stage is to create an advantageous position in the game. Players find that it happens somewhere around move twenty.

It requires its own brand of tactical planning and strategic vision. It is possible, however, to prepare yourself for the middle game. Most players will grasp the basic middle game strategies with only a little practice and improve their overall game as a result.

It is very important to observe every move that a player makes. The main objective at this stage is to create an advantageous position in the game and having an edge at the entire game will only be attained by sacrificing a minor piece to capture a powerful piece or to capture pieces without sacrificing their own. A player can use pinning and skewering tactics during this gameplay to take pieces for free or to trade pieces of lesser values which ensures control over the flow of the game and relative advantage at the end of the game if the number of pieces that they have captured is more than the number of pieces that their opponent has taken from them.

In professional games it is very rare to have opportunities wherein free capture of opponent’s pieces is available. By careful observation of the middle game, players can easily spot mistakes that may have been committed by their opponent and to take complete advantage of it and be in control over the middle and end games. The methods that are used to capture opponent’s pieces are referred to as tactics. Thus tactics are immediate plans, usually completed in a few moves, while strategies refer to longer-term plans in the game of chess.

There are two broad ways to approach the middle games, play short term tactical chess with use of tactical maneuvers to gain advantage over your opponent. Or prefer a more long term strategy based style to attain positional dominance. This is called strategic chess.

A feasible and superior plan needs to be drawn up and executed when required to maintain any possibility of victory.
It is essential to learn and visualize patterns in the board rather than individual pieces. An experience player may be able to calculate various options for most positions and fairly select the best course of action. Beginners’ lacking sufficient knowledge and match experience still needs to formulate a plan and stick to it. It may not be the best plan however a poor plan is better than no plan.
Defeat may not be avoided if a player never visualizes and sets goal from one move to the next. Aimless drifting through a game will ensure that nothing is achieved.
Good chess attitudes don't win games, good moves do. The mastery of good moves reflects on the middle game. However, the player also needs to play with a positive, sensible plan.

A strong and if possible winning position in the end game is the foremost consideration when playing the middle games.
Following the opening, a pawn structure and the minor pieces (knights & bishops) are developed to battle for controls in the centre while waiting on the edge are the major pieces for action. These pieces wait at the opportune time to join the battle and exploit space once significant materials have been exchanged in the middle game.
One of the methods which were nearly perfected by chess champion Jose Capablanca, is to create a positional strong-hold early on and play a careful, progressive game that exploits the weakness in your opponent's position, slowly pushing a material advantage until you gain absolute dominance.
Material and Positions are the two forms of advantage every chess player struggles for. Numerical superiority can lead to a strong position which is achieved by material advantage. If material advantage is the means then a positional advantage is the end as it should lead to victory 

Analyzing and careful study of the Pawn structure is very important consideration when playing middle games. Maintaining the pawn position in order to provide a solid defensive shell for your pieces, especially the King, is of utmost importance. Pawns defending the stronger pieces on board leads to better attacking options for them instead just defending the strong pieces.

It is advisable to keep the outer pawns and not to advance them without good reason. If at all they are advanced before the end game please ensure that they form a pawn chain so as to receive support from its adjacent pawns. A good pawn structure makes a solid defensive shell and more difficult for your opponent to break through. Isolated pawn is the last thing you want

It is critical not to move the pawns in front of your castled king if at all possible. In doing so, without exception compromises his security.

The center of the board least populated at the beginning and becomes more populated as the game progresses however the ample space permits flexibility and choice to move ones pieces. By imprudent movement of pawns important pieces of your opponent become vulnerable.
The battle of the center begins to heat up. The center pawns are pushed toward d4 to d5 and e4 to e5 keeping knights and bishops to support the pawn as both players attempt to win control of the center and thus the key struggle to determine the outcome of the game.
To gain high ground in this battle, the aggressor, needs to take control of the center. His pieces command more squares than his opponent as he has taken the best squares is the center. Once the centre is controlled it increases the mobility. The player who takes the center seizes with it the initiative and the freedom to attack.
Also, pay attention to the dark and light squares of the chess board. If your opponent is weak on the light squares because he doesn't have a light-squared bishop and you do, consider placing your pawns on light squares where your opponent's bishop can't attack them. This will help to control the light squares on the board.
The player who has not gained control or loses the center tends to find pieces forced onto poor squares. These results in limited mobility and often finding themselves restricted, blocking each other thus unable to mount any pressure on the opposition.

Slow burning positional strategy is another playing style which comes into play in middle games. After the openings, this is where the player on accessing the game situation, ponders possible plans or all of his options. He then selects and executes his best plan and sticks to it rigidly. This style of game play and player is regarded as a Strategist.
The strategist works to mould his pieces into a single force of attack rather than several individual attacks by individual pieces. A solo attack always fails. The cohesive attack of pieces, supporting each other and working together, their power increases exponentially.
The weakest point in the opponent’s armor y or position is sought after by the strategist and completely concentrates his forces there. All moves and plans from this point onwards is based on slowly strengthening his own position while gradually weakening that of his opponent.
Players such as Tigran Petrosian and Anatoly Karpov are masters of the art of doing nothing. This means that they are excellent at capitalizing on their opponents' mistakes. They know how to encourage them to go wrong. They are also known as positional players. They simply go about improving their position on the board and try to gain small advantages which they later hope to exploit in the endgame. These types of players are often happy to win a game with the advantage of just a single pawn.

A player can plays a series of three to four move combinations or Tactical maneuvers in the middle game instead of an all in one master plan. This game play can lead to material or positional advantage of some sort. This type of player engaging in tactical maneuvers is thought of as a Tactician.
The tactician can use many attack styles like capture enemy pieces by means of skewer, pin his opponent’s pieces or use a fork to attack two pieces at once. Discovered attacks are another useful way to take down your opponents forces.
Through these maneuvers it is possible to gain positional advantages by sacrificing pieces however we have to remember material is important but position is infinitely more so. Your opponent may gain material by offering your piece but his position may weaken.

There are numerous instances which may lead to exchange of pieces, knowing the right circumstances and mastering these exchanges are a big part of the middle game. Learning how to profit from these exchanges is one of the strategies for middle games.
To work out whether it is indeed worth sacrificing a piece one has to play the scenario over in your head, anticipating the opponents moves and your own to work out what advantage is to be gained by sacrifice. It frees up the center of the board area to vulnerabilities and indeed strengthens the possibility of advantage.
The Queen is a strong piece, though the loss of her weakens the game. She can be used to attack, to threaten the opponent, though here, she can also be pulled back to safety or to protect the King, though one of the classic mistakes that players that are pulled into moving their Queen to protect the king, is consequence, and frequently players will lose their Queen and have no choice left to them. That is why it is essential at all times to have protection in place for the King.
A particularly vulnerable situation is when a Knight threatens the King but also the Queen. Here, the Knight is extremely powerful, and even when placed in another scenario can threaten two vital pieces at the same time, giving the other player no choice but to sacrifice one or the other.
If you have managed to gain a lead in material exchange of equal value of pieces is preferred as that will hasten the endgame. In case of Queen you should only look to exchange if it can force the king to move like in the diagram, stopping your opponent from the opportunity to castle. Also if an opportunity to promote a pawn or if the exchange can result in pulling down your opponents’ pawn structure out of shape queen exchange can be used. Capturing more of your opponent's material than they can capture of yours will help you to ultimately win the game and to do so with ease. Always be on the lookout for your opponent's unguarded pieces.

Players like Emmanuel Lasker, Bobby Fisher and young Josh Waitzkin have all experimented beyond the established boundaries of the game. All three have rejected the traditional stronghold-and-advance method, sometime to tragic end, however the experimentation has scripted some of the greatest victories in the history of the game.
Even if outstripped in material, an experienced and great chess mind can conquer the middle game through positional advantage alone. Brilliant chess players. will often sacrifice material for position; they seek specific squares in the center of the board in order to control the game.
The two different approaches often draw parallels to an advancing army compared to tactical guerilla warfare.
The brief guidelines for experimental middle game are:

1. Position over material
2. Give until it hurts
3. Do not trap your king
4. Be fearless

The rules of the middle game are thus:

• Think of movement
• Think of consequence
• Plan ahead