Chess

[uberfish]

d4, d5, yaaaawn

[regoarrarr]

You can certainly make fun of me here - I was just more referring to like actual tactical and strategic discussion, which would be better placed in a place where neither of the players can see it

[Gustaran]

Well, as long as the game between rego and Darrell is still in a rather early stage, I thought I would post another chess problem. Since you guys seem to solve every tactical problems with ease, this time it is about the positional understanding of open files.

Black only needs to play Bb7 and he would equalize. But it is White's turn - what should White play to gain a substantial positional advantage (or win material) and what is his best plan?

White to move.

[Molach]

without too deep thinking, i.e. not checking what black can do to mess with my plan, I think KF6 is interesting. I mean NF6, heh. It's S ='springer'("jumper") in Norwegish.

Plan is that black open g-file right away or after pawn take bishop. Then bishop to H6 and QG4. Or other way round

[Rowain]

I do like Qg4

[novice]

I do like Qg4

..Qxe4

[Rowain]

I do like Qg4

..Qxe4

That's what happens if you try everything in your head . I first thought about Bh6 then tried to find other ways but in my mind the Bishop was out of the way and the Knight secure.

[Sian]

my initial thinking was something like Nd6 to pull the teeth out of blacks attack

[novice]

Maybe

Rfe1 Bb7 Qg4

[Gustaran]

Ok, the problem is that everbody is immediately starting to calculate moves without taking a step back and looking at the whole position first. In Civ 4 terms: If somebody gave you an unknown savegame, you would first take a good look at the different teams, analyze what your correct strategy is and then start micro managing towards that goal.


To answer some suggestions:

a) 15.Nf6+? gxf6 16.Bh6 Kh8 17.Bxf8 Lb7 18.f4 Rxf8 and Black has two Bishops for the rook and a winning position

b) 15.Nd6 is a good try but after Bb7 16.Qg4 Bxd6 17.Rxd6 Qe4 18.c3 Bd5 White has lost control over the open d-file

c) 15.Rfe1 is good as well, but not the best, since something like Bb7 16.Qg4 Rfd8 17.Bh6 g6 fails to give White a sizeable advantage


The correct way to deal with a problem like this is:

1. Step one: Assess the position
2. Step two: Create a short term or long term plan.
3. Step three: Look for candidate moves that aid you with b)
4. Calculate variations

If you were to analyze this position what would you say? What are the differences (Silman's famous "imbalances") between White's and Black's position? What would be a general goal for white? (no variations needed yet).