Chess Online

Play online chess!

Pages:  « Previous 1 2 3 4 Next »
From	Message
tjbuege 20-Feb-08, 15:29	Some Thoughts On Positional Chess I was recently discussing positional chess with a fellow chess player, rated much higher than myself. The subject came up, because it's not one of my strengths in the game. He told me that positional chess is a very delicate game, and often is a "wait and see" game, like a stare down, waiting to see who will blink first, who will be distracted first. I take that to mean no hasty moves, but wait until the time is right. I'm definitely still learning the nuances of positional chess, but I think in our game, Rybka is likely just biding time until we make our big move. Something like Re1 is subtle as it lets us see what Rybka might have in mind. Bob suggested this line a couple moves back: 24. Kg2 Ra3 25. Qc1 Ra8 26. Re1 Ra2 27. h4 h5 28. Nde5!? with an = position He had us playing Re1 in that line, and then pushing our h4 pawn. Right now our f4 pawn is weak and isolated. I think Re1 would be a good move, as it provides us the ability to swing over to the g-file or h-file if need be. Then maybe our next move can be h4. But we'll have to wait and see. That's my opinion. Tim
searcoid 23-Feb-08, 08:33	Can we afford to wait a move? I very much like Tomas' idea of continuing the push kingside. g5 would get my vote immediately,though only if we can still play Re1 next move? As for h4, is it not either or (g5)at this stage? Oisin
stuartstaples 26-Feb-08, 01:24	If we want to attack on the king side, going back to e1 will be useful, as Tim said. We'd better wait for the next move to show explicitly that we want to attack (with g5). Since Re1 is also a response to the bishop pinning, it is not as explicit as g5.
tomasv 26-Feb-08, 02:16	can you give me your reasons behind Re1? No matter how deep I try to look, I just don't see any point of playing this move. I would personally prefer the rook to go to e3 if it needs to move at all. The king side pawns are strong enough with the support of our two knights and the queen on c1-h6 diagonal. What's more, after 27. Re1 Nf8 28. g5 h6 29. Nde5 h5 we lose any advantage we may have right now...
qistnix 26-Feb-08, 11:55	27.Re1 seems like a reasonable move, since the Rook becomes more active and gives option to play Rh1 combined with h4-h5 etc. But I agree with the former speaker that it is too slow for the position and gives black options to defend his kingside without any problems. In my opinion 27.g5 followed by 28.Nde5 still gives white an edge with possible sacks on f7 or g6, and even Ng4 could be considered.
rowdyrooks 26-Feb-08, 15:16	Next move I agree that the computer is in a "wait and see mode" ,,,,,I support the idea of a kingside attack,but I believe that our pieces should be in proper position first,,,therefore my vote goes to Re1 ( here it can support the pawn push ) Harry,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
qistnix 27-Feb-08, 00:56	But 27.Re1 doesn't support a pawn push. Only Re1-h1 does, so that means we have to insert another two moves before launching an attack. It's precisely these subtleties that can be the difference between a win or a draw...
hjemcall 27-Feb-08, 01:23	27. g5 My vote also goes to 27. g5. I think 27. Re1, at this stage, is a waste of valuable time. The only thing it does is solve the pinning of the bishop, but that pinning isn't much of a threat or a drag in the 1st place.
b123 27-Feb-08, 01:32	27. g5 I'm also convinced of g5. So let's play it and see what Rybka thinks of it!
b123 29-Feb-08, 08:36	27. g5 Qc8 She plays Qc8... A move I don't understand. Is she playing another wait and see move or am I missing something here?
tomasv 29-Feb-08, 09:48	28. Nde5 is the only reasonable move here. As for 27. ... Qc8 it seems Rybka is quite confident that White can't get enough out of the push on king side (and is probably right), although I must say I was expecting something along the lines of 27. ... h5 or 27. ... Qa8
rowdyrooks 29-Feb-08, 11:10	Re1 My vote is Re1,for reason stated earlier,,,,,,,,,,,lets keep this game rolling boys !!
qistnix 01-Mar-08, 10:12	28.Nde5 28.Nde5 isn't as slow as 28.Re1 is, so my vote goes to 28.Nde5 as well
hjemcall 02-Mar-08, 04:05	28. Nde5 Good choice, I think.
stuartstaples 02-Mar-08, 04:21	And after ? ... what is planned after Nde5 ? what if rybka exchanges the knights ?
tomasv 02-Mar-08, 05:24	exchanging the knights gives Black nothing - after 28. ... Nxe5 29. dxe5 followed by 30. Nd4 Black would have two useless bishops against White's well-placed bishop and a very active knight. Black's dominance on the a-file means nothing and White could keep the position closed until he's ready to launch attack with his pieces positioned on strategic squares... In case of 28. ... Nf8 we should continue with by 29. Ng4 and 30. Nfe5. In the last 3 or 4 moves White has substantially improved his position and is now playing for win, whereas all Black can hope for here is a draw. It's still hard to see if White can actually force a win here with correct moves and perfect defence from Black, but I believe our chances are good.
stuartstaples 02-Mar-08, 05:27	I'm convinced.. .. let's go for Nde5 !
b123 02-Mar-08, 05:35	Nde5 okay, I submitted Nde5!
omacron2 03-Mar-08, 01:29	Rybka Rybka plays Nd5 with the continuation of if Nd5 Qa8 one point of note Rybka goes from depth17 to 22.
tjbuege 04-Mar-08, 10:03	Retake with...? We have several possible moves to recapture: dxe5, fxe5, Nxe5 and Rxe5. We can eliminate Rxe5 for obvious reasons. I also think we can eliminate dxe5, as that would plug up our open files and give Rybka control over whether or not the d-file will be open; the d5 pawn is currently quite strong with three defenders. That leaves us with the choice between Nxe5 and fxe5. I'm leaning towards fxe5 for a couple of reasons. First, we get to keep our knight, very important in this closed position. Rybka doesn't have any knights right now, so if we can keep the position closed and keep our knight, I think we would have a potential advantage. So my vote is for fxe5. Any other thoughts?
rowdyrooks 04-Mar-08, 11:02	HUH ? How does Rybka play 28........Nd5 ? Do you mean Nxe5 ?,,,I'm assuming so ,considering we are planning a recapture here. Anyhow,,,my vote for our next move is 29. fxe5, reasons are obvious !
tomasv 04-Mar-08, 15:48	29. dxe5 this is a really tough one, but I would actually prefer 29. dxe5 with 30. Nd4 here. I'm not sure why tjbuege eliminated this option so quickly, as d4 is clearly the weakens point in White's position. Playing dxe5 strengthens the push on the king side, empties space for the knight and effectively strips Black's black bishop of any influence over the middle. Meanwhile, Black has no way of pushing through the d-file.
stuartstaples 05-Mar-08, 00:38	dxe5 Totally agree with tomasv.
qistnix 05-Mar-08, 01:34	So let's assume 29.dxe5 and 30.Nd4, but then what? I think the knight has better prospects on e5, and also the thought of giving Rybka a defended passed pawn isn't very appealing. The placement of the knight is debatable, but the passed pawn could become a clear endgame advantage to Rybka. My vote goes to 29.Nxe5...
hjemcall 05-Mar-08, 01:55	Rather 29. Nxe5 First, the actual situation: I'm not convinced by 29. fxe5, though it may look 'elegant' or 'natural', e.g. to get rid of our double f-pawn. What next? Are we supposed to attack with f4 and h4, or should we simply be happy with a closed structure? Notice that our knight has in fact no place to go, and re-directing it gives black too much time. Too drawish, I think. There's something to say for 29. dxe5. As tomasv rightly points out, after 30. Nd4 the black d-pawn cannot really pose a threat (at least not in the short term) and the knight would be quite strong there. We may have something more here. As to 29. Nxe5, I've had that in mind for some time yet, but strangely nobody seemed to think along that line (correction: I just noticed Martin does). In my opinion, with something like h4-h5, Ne5 and Bc2 (and possibly Qb1) we'd have quite some pressure on g6 (we'd probably have the opportunity to bring in the rook as well). Conclusion, I could live with 29. dxe5, but I'd prefer 29. Nxe5.
tjbuege 05-Mar-08, 08:27	In response to tomasv...that would be why my rating is stuck in the low 1600's!   Maybe I can be convinced of the merits of dxe5. But regarding Nxe5, which both Martin and Herman are recommending, is it a good idea to give up our knight? If Rybka takes with Bxe5 and we then recapture with one of the pawns, both us and Rybka would have a light-squared bishop, which also seems drawish to me. Am I missing something here? Tim
stuartstaples 05-Mar-08, 11:43	Nxe5 and then Bxe5 seems drawish to me also, even if we have then good bishop (that is, on the other color than our pawns) against bad bishop : this doesn't seem a sufficient advantage... am I wrong ?
hjemcall 05-Mar-08, 12:04	More on 29. Nxe5 Clearly, whatever we choose, there are no guarantees that we can really break the balance, but at least we should try, and then I'd give the benefit of the doubt to 29. Nxe5 rather than 29. dxe5 (which has its merits, too, naturally). True, we might have to give up the knight, but is that really a problem? First, it is not even certain that black will play 29... Bxe5, but let's assume that he does (if he doesn't, we have a strong knight on e5). To begin with, I'd rule out 30. fxe5: with the knight gone, we don't have Nd4 now and d5 could be nearer to becoming and endgame advantage for black than in the previous line. That leaves us with two possibilities: 30. dxe5 and 30. Rxe5. I don't see a problem in either case (we can proceed much in the same way, cf. below), but I think I'd prefer the latter (solves the bishop pin at the same time). I guess we'll aim for h4-h5... then, and, for one thing, black hasn't got the black squared bishop at g7 anymore to help and stop us. Can we break through? I don't know, but we can put up some pressure to say the least. Notice that we have moves like Qc1-b1, to engage the rook and g6 at the same time. It seems to me black will be quite busy ... Maybe not that drawish?
tomasv 05-Mar-08, 15:59	hmmm I think 29. Nxe5 loses any advantage we may have right now. 29. ... Bxe5 would definitely be a mistake (one that Rybka won't make). I still believe that after 29. Nxe5 Qa8 White has absolutely nothing because the weakness on d4 will guarantee Black a draw Qistnix, you asked what after 30. Nd4 ... I agree that is hard to see what to do next especially since Rybka has been playing weird moves recently, but Re3 with the idea of Rh3 might be worth considering, also, notice that having the Knight on d4 allows us to play Bb3 with Qb2 effectively limiting the rook's on influence on the a-file. There probably isn't a weakness in Black's position to exploit but after eliminating the a-file dominance and maybe tradings rooks and queens, suddenly sack on b5 seems possible ...
hjemcall 05-Mar-08, 23:51	Not all that clear (to me) I'm willing to accept all that, but it seems to me that Rh3 has no sense without h4 first, while black has time to keep us busy on the a-file. Also, I don't see what Bb3 and Qb2 (Qb1, you mean?) will do, apart from just 'defending' what we have. Martin's question, "What next?", still stands. Besides, I think black can avoid a rook and queen trade relatively easily. In short, I don't see the so-called "any advantage" we might have with 29. dxe5 and that we are supposed to "lose" by 29. Nxe5. On the other hand, you may be quite right about 29... Bxe5, and maybe 29. ... Qa8 makes it difficult for us to try anything on the kingside (along the lines I suggested before). The question, however, is whether black can afford to spend time and energy on the a-file, as long as our knight and bishop are 'looking' at g6. I'm not talking sacrifice right now, but I think black has to take that into account anyway.
Pages:  « Previous 1 2 3 4 Next »

GameKnot: play chess online, online chess puzzles, Internet chess league, monthly chess tournaments, chess teams, chess clubs, free online chess games database and more.