Chess articles of any kind: games, tournament reports, web sites, ... |
October 03, 2006Thoughts upon a position: 3. Right you are if you think you areNo, the position pictured below has not been played by the Italian theatrical play writer Luigi Pirandello. It is used by GM Kotov (and reproduced by Aleksey Bartashnikov) as an example of middle game planning for the White side. As you can see both sides have completed the development of their pieces, and it is White’s turn to play. There are a lot of different choices for White, according to his taste and ability. All seem objectively equal. Please, post your own comments about the position. What would you play if you were White? What is the plan that you have in mind?
By the way... Don't scan your database for games with the above position. You are going to find a couple of games (the position is not fictional) but you are going to miss the fun of deciding your plan as if the position comes from one of your own games. It's up to you... Important notice Comments
Black has weak fields f5 and d6 and a weak h3-c8 diagonal. Probably, I would go for combined action in the center and on the King side. Maybe with a move sequence like 1.Nh4 g6 (forced, I think) 2.f4 with the intention of Nf3, dxe5 and Bh3. White must be careful to prevent Black's d6-d5 advance. After f4, White's King is somewhat in the open, so the above plan may need some preparation. Just a patzer's opinion... Posted by: Thomas Stahl at October 3, 2006 03:00 PMAs white, I don't feel comfortable with the line suggested by Thomas. After 2.f4 ef, white king is an attractive target. Just a patzer's opinion ... Posted by: Sobral at October 3, 2006 03:31 PMI can understand that you don't like f4 (I am unsure about that move myself), but what is the intention of Qa4? Capturing on a7? Posted by: Thomas Stahl at October 4, 2006 12:31 AMi think you should play bishop h3 and again b4 I think White have two compmentary plans: I suggest 1.Ch4 with the threat Cf5 who wins the d6 pawn 1...g6 seems to be the only move I agree with Thomas. This is actually a good King side plan. Perhaps the best to follow since Black has already castled to this side of the board. After 1.Nh4 g6 2.f4, Sobral proposed 2...exf4. After 3.gxf4 the White King is not exposed. On the contrary, the Pawn centre c4-d4-e4-f4 is very very strong. I checked my database. With such a formation before move 16, White has 59% success on 15000 games. Finally, Bartashnikov also proposes here the move Qd2 before f4. Seb's plan is too premature for me. I really do not understand the move Bh3. I tried to invade the Kingside with my Queen, I even tried to sacrifice my Knight on f5, but the open g-file does not promises anything but an unorganised White army against a Black army who simply waits till the storm is over to attack. Black best defensive plan is Qf8 (against Seb's plan) sooner or later. I don't believe that White would dare to exchange Queens on g7. Now Qa4 was played by Reshevsky back in 1937 against Keres. His next move was Qa3. Well, the American lost the game in the end. I do believe that there is a Queenside plan, but I am not sure how fast it is against Black's reaction. Any other proposition? According to Kotov and Bartashnikov, White can also try to strike in the centre. Do you think that such a plan (which plan?) is vital? Posted by: Michalis Kaloumenos at October 5, 2006 07:12 PMY porqué no : 1.B3h con la intención de 2.pxp,pxp 3.Kxp,Qxp 4.BxN ... etc ? Posted by: Carlos at October 6, 2006 07:19 PMI didn't dare to propose f4 , e*f and g*f but it seems to be a good plan ! I believe whites's position is very good here. He has space and initiative since Black must respond to his moves. I considered three possible moves. All of them, however were centered around the same idea. Nh4 creates a potential weakness in Black's kingside dark squares with the response g6. I agree that response is almost forced. The follow up to Nh4 g6 is interesting. White could play the immediate f4 or play slightly slower with Qd2 aiming his Queen for the weakened dark squares or a la Petrosian, h3 waiting to see how his opponent would respond (primarily where he will place his Kings Rook. The other two possibilities that make sense to me is to play Qd2 first or even h3 to bore his opponent to death. As for Reshevsky's move Qa4 followed by Qa3, I can only assume he was trying to minimize Black's play on the Queen side before undertaking activity in the center. The cost, in my opinion, is too great, because of the removal of the Queen from the areas of activity for white (Kingside and Center). This is a very interesting position. Posted by: Merle Dennis at October 6, 2006 07:52 PMYates said that it is always too early for P-KB4, and in this case I agree. I'd try simply dxe and be happy with my d-file pressure and space advantage. It's paradoxical, but the trade of black-bound bishops my be helpful to White; Bronstein noticed that this piece in King's Indian positions often stars in the last act. Posted by: dave at October 7, 2006 06:43 AM |
Links
Find articles
Archives
January 2007
December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 June 2004 May 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 Categories
Chess news
Chess philosophy Chess puzzles Community Recognition Game analysis Interviews PlayChess Open Stories Tips and tricks Tournament reports Recent Entries
Spotlight on Class M - December 2006
December 2006 Recognition Spotlight on Class E - November 2006 Thoughts upon a position: 8. The deciding move November 2006 Thoughts upon a position: 7. A Greek gem Thoughts upon a position: 6. Strong Combinational Vision Recent Comments
|