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wrecking_ball 06-Apr-14, 18:42 |
 Basic pawn and/or major piece weakness's...Now,in many circumstances,simply having doubled pawns,especially later in the game,is weak all by itself due to the rear pawn being more open to attack and most of the time that rear pawn cannot be defended by another pawn.And if that pawn CAN be protected by a major piece,that major piece may be forced to "keep defending"its own pawn for a long time...creating what is called overprotection.Overprotection will many times "lessen"the true point value of that major piece due to the fact that it cannot move freely anymore as it pleases,while your opponents major piece may have full unrestricted movement capabilities. And speaking of the front pawn in a doubled scenario,the front pawn is many times difficult to also defend either by a Rook or other pieces and is subject to attack. Now,which side,white or black,with the diagram below has a considerably weaker pawn structure and why?Can you see it in less than 5 seconds?Both sides have structural weakness with doubled pawns and black has "isolated pawns"on a6 and h6.Unprotected isolated pawns can also be weak in many games.The exception may be in the very endgame with just 4 or 5 pieces left to move up for "passed pawn"Queening...but this is not the case in the diagram below. Answer:Black has a considerably weaker pawn structure.You should be quick to notice that almost ALL of whites pawns cannot be attacked by blacks Bishop,while whites Knight would be able to attack all of the black pawns.And if you can perceive ahead a bit in that diagram...white can even create a "passed pawn"position of considerable endgame strength by playing g5,hxg5 and then Nxg5.The "passed pawn"then would be the remaining pawn on g2.Notice way ahead of time that that g2 pawn is very powerful and can easily be key to winning this game.How?Well,look at its final advancing resting square if it manages to get up to g8 and Queens.What is that square,dark or light?And what is blacks Bishop...a dark square or light square bishop?g8 is a light square...so the advantage is whites because blacks only major piece left on the board is a dark squared bishop,so it cannot attack that g pawn very well at all and certainly cannot capture it on g8!So the goal here would be to try and take that g2 pawn to Queening victory! |
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wrecking_ball 06-Apr-14, 18:44 |
Answer:The bottom pawn,if captured can leave the other two front pawns unprotected with no structural support from the now captured bottom pawn.It also "disconnects" the two front pawns creating a gap of weakness that can be more easily exploited later in the game.Even your opponents Rook could possibly slip in between those two front pawns and later capture one or both of them!So,keep an eye out for exchanges either initiated from your opponent or yourself that in your "mind"will form this inverted V pawn formation after the exchange.If you see that it would cause this V formation of weakness...try to avoid it!Perhaps a counterattack somewhere else on the board,or perhaps instead of exchanging,advance one or more of the pawns ahead one rank completely avoiding the exchange that would give you that weak geometric formation! |
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wrecking_ball 06-Apr-14, 18:46 |
Answer:Because white has "restricted"its movement by placing it on an edge file!Now this is not the best example because it is in an opening.But lets say in another game on move #34,for example,you place you Knight on an edge file maybe for no particular reason or perhaps because you see a loose pawn on h7 or something similar.Well,it might be a good move,but then,maybe not.Sometimes even if you capture than h7 pawn and your now a pawn "up",you have also restricted your Knights movement by 50%.And your opponent may be able to freely advance his Knights,controlling the center of the board and controlling the game and DIMINISHING the value of your +1 pawn capture to next to nothing or nothing! So avoid placing your Knights on the edge files.Restricting the Knights movement to the left or right side(depending upon which side of the board you are on) generally LESSENS its "point value".In essence,you could end up with a Knight that has a theoretical positional value of 2.2 while your opponents Knight may have a full 3 point value.Understanding these positional changes in value can then etch out a proper attack plan for yourself.In addition,if you can "force" your opponent to place his Knight OR Bishop on an edge file,this is another advanced tactic to forcibly lessen the value of your opponents pieces.Now certainly this is not always the case,and it goes by a game to game basis,but "statistically"speaking....major pieces that are on the edge files for prolonged periods of time or are "froze"on the edge files,generally have much less positional point value in the game.And less value generally = less of an advantage to win. |