If you see a free pawn, think twice about taking it - and then don't! :) Yeah, sometimes it is objectively good to do so, especially if you're a computer and easily able to navigate through a jungle of complications... but hey, for us mere mortals, it is always easier to have the initiative than to be on the defensive.
Anyway, I played an attacking game today which was sort of thematic. I sacrificed three pawns for the initiative (one by one) - and my opponent accepted them all. I was actually quite surprised, but also delighted. It was a different type of attack than I discussed in: http://blog.chess.com/the_cheradenine/crash-and-burn2 as there were no piece sacrifices involved, this one was just about letting go of the pawns and exploiting the extra tempi and the positional bind. So, here is the game:
Ok, so I was careless (too relaxed) and I essentially lost a tempo... Black can easily gang up on the e5 pawn now, but that is very very risky. Rybka actually thinks it's good, but it slowly changes its mind as we go down the main variation. Black decides to take the pawn and enter a bind - and I get a slowly building but very dangerous attack.
So, we're nearly there... Black still has the material advantage, but the position has become increasingly difficult to defend. There are jut too many weaknesses and not enough time to defend them all properly. Objectivelly, White is already much better, but now Black makes the final slip and the house of cards tumbles down with a roar!!
And so it came to an end. My opponent didn't play a very precise game, but it was a genuine minefield - and it is always difficult to choose a lesser evil when there are 15-moves deep lines before you can actually see if your move works or not. Anyway, this game was yet another example of how important the initiative is - and that material is only of secondary importance. In my next post I will discuss another game in the French, but from a more self-critical perspective, in tune with the previous post:
http://blog.chess.com/the_cheradenine/the-next-to-last-mistake-part-i where the play was mutually imprecise and the advantage went from one player to the other and back.
Well, I hope you enjoyed this ;) Comments are, as usually, welcome.