If you control and/or occupy the center of a chess board, then you can move to any place of the board faster than your opponent. The board's center is the high ground of a chess battle.
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[Event "US Open"]
[Site "Cleveland"]
[Date "1957.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Walter Shipman"]
[Black "Igor Garais"]
[Result "1-0"]
[BlackElo "0"]
[FEN "r3k2r/pbq2pp1/1pn4p/1B1p4/Q2P4/P4N2/1P1K1PPP/R6R w kq - 0 1"]
[SetUp "1"]
[TimeControl "0"]
[WhiteElo "0"]
{ Win material. } 1. Ne5 Rc8 2. Rac1 O-O 3. Bxc6 Bxc6 4. Qxc6 Qe7 5. Qxc8 Rxc8 6. Rxc8+ { White wins with a large material advantage. } 1-0