Counterplay

Counterplay is the active play a side creates while responding to the opponent's pressure or plan. Instead of merely defending each threat, that side generates problems of its own: a pawn break, an advance that directly challenges enemy pawns; an attack on another part of the board; an invading piece; or a passed pawn with no enemy pawn ahead on its vertical file or a neighboring file.

It does not have to be a direct counterattack against the same piece or the same part of the board. Its purpose is to contest the rhythm of the game. If the opponent must use a tempo, meaning one move, to respond, coordination may be disrupted or the original plan delayed. Sufficient counterplay may neutralize the pressure and even regain the initiative, the ability to make the other side react.

Useful counterplay creates a concrete threat and arrives quickly enough compared with the danger being faced. It usually draws on a source that can be sustained, such as a pawn break, an open file, a vertical line with no pawns, or a group of pawns advancing together. It must also avoid abandoning an essential defense before the new threat takes effect.

Having counterplay does not necessarily mean that the position is equal or good. A side may remain worse while retaining practical resources that make it difficult for the opponent to convert an advantage, an overall superiority in the position, into a win. With no counterplay, the opponent can often improve freely.