As always, I hope this thread is helpful for others as well as for me.

 

The fianchetto.  Is it decaf?

 

I’m afraid I’m clueless about the fianchetto.  I understand it is a way of contesting for control of the center but little beyond that.  I feel naked playing against it, as I don’t know what squares I should be fighting for or even a general strategy to contest it.

 

A plea for help.  I would greatly appreciate any explanations for 1) the strategy/thought process behind the fianchetto, 2) how to employ it, and 3) how to combat it.  Advice from all levels of understanding, from the very basic to the advanced, is more than welcome.  Also, you needn’t address all 3 issues if you don’t care to.  Any input is welcome.

 

Not necessary but particularly useful are sample games or diagrams showing basic principles behind using and/or combating the fianchetto.  [The bat sign shines over Gotham.]  Well, batgirl may be busy fighting chess crimes, so if your name is not batgirl and you have a game/diagram to contribute, by all means, please share.

 

Multimedia.  I thought instead of skinny dipping pics, you might want to see a chess game.  ;)  This game is an accurate reflection of my silliness when playing against the fianchetto.  Regardless of the outcome of the now finished game, by move 7 I wanted to post the game to receive feedback.  My opponent is gracious enough to give permission for me to do so.  Should you comment about my opponent’s play, please, of course, write with due respect.

 

**Ugh.  How many times do I have to annotate a game only to see it disappear!!!  I'll try to include the game in a later post.**

  

Whew, that’s a lot to respond to.  Feel free to pick and choose what you would like to comment on.

 

Thanks so much for your help!

 

~Lisa

In essence (as my meager chess knowledge grasps it) a fianchetto'd bishop places the bishop in the longest diagonal while maintaining defensive coverage of both light and dark squares. The bishop takes a sniper position at the center and far corner of the board while relatively safe from capture or exchange.

A kingside fianchetto can be great for both attacking the center and defense... but if you are not careful... the fianchetto can also set up a target for your opponent. Fianchetto's obviously involve a pawn push which in the end needs to be cared for lest the weak squares becomes big bullseyes for your opponent.

I'm sorry.  I think I entered the wrong thread.

C'mon in SFS, the water is warm... and.. sort of dark.

A nice fianchetto game from a collection i have. I love Raymond Keene.. his games are always a challenge to analyze

Italian coffee comes in a tiny plastic shot glass.  Fritz grants the decision to skinny dip in it "??"  It's a famous move, though, and has it's own name - the "Napolitan"

 

Not sure how I feel about fianchettos.  They go well with the Napolitan.

 

 

 

 

Impressive!... The incredible lengths that you go to. Spending countless hours pouring over mountains of chess instruction. From the endless volumes of reading to a vast cache of online how to. Backed by copious amounts of advice from GMs, NMs, & WGMs down to a random class of kindergarteners. I envision you camping for days in their front yards  just to find out what that next bishop move should be.

All this stupendous effort... just to stay one step ahead of me and steal my points. Isn't that speaaaaaaaaaaacial!

(blushing) I'm honered! (sheads a tear) 

Woohoo!

/disrobes.

//looks around

///oh wait, all you guys are still wearing clothes...

////isn't this the skinny dipping thread?

That's what I thought.  We probably took a wrong turn at 'I won a game without moving my king at all. :).'

Thanks for your patience.

This is the annotated game.  Any comments are welcome, and as mentioned before, please speak of my opponent respectfully.

We were both rated around 1600 at the time of the game, so we'll use that rating as a benchmark.

I hope you enjoy the game!  Thanks!

Oginschile--thank you!  I like the game, and your clear annotation.  Instructive example of how to wield the defense/attack in the hands of someone who knows.  It seemed crucial (and clever) to spoil white's kingside pawn structure to force a castling in the bishop's path.  As white, I tend to stack my pawns on the a1-h8 diagonal to stuff the bishop, but I rarely have an idea how to coordinate my pieces around the pawns.

OckhamsRazor--Hmm, skinny dipping in Napoli.  I'll have to study that defense.  ;)

Rael & Silentfilmstar--the king's lost his clothes.

and finally, sigh, A.katt.--Me?  Special?  http://youtube.com/watch?v=-7Hy7uAb_eU

   I remember the first time an opponent played the fianchetto against me I was amazed.  Seemed as though there was no way to successfully attack.  So I began to give it a try and it seemed suddenly there was no way to prevent its being penetrated.  Two things I did learn: 1) When playing white with a kingside fianchetto try and not advance the d pawn until absolutely necessary & 2) Hang on to your fianchetto bishop.   

  sorry,  try not to advance the  e pawn until necessary

Thank you.  Yes, you've reminded me that the pawns in general seem to be reined in no further than the 3rd rank for longer than silly me would expect.

You have a good point.  Playing the fianchetto is a good instructor.  I'll certainly keep your two points of advice in mind!

I see there's a banner ad for a coffee maker now.  lol

I know this is an old thread, but....

The fianchetto is a beautiful thing when effective.  The majesty of possessing a firm grip down the longest diagonals of the board can be intoxicating, and damnable for those on the receiving end.

When it goes bad, though, it can be very ugly, as its creation necessitates the weakening of pawns, often directly in front of a castled king.  An assault against said king seeks to take advantage of this fundamental weakness and the bishop is exposed (naked as mentioned by the original poster) as a poor defender against the heavy artillery.

Thanks, by the way, to Lisa V for having the good grace to ask the permission of her opponent to post a game and to ask for the same good grace to be shown by later commentators.  The first time I have run across someone doing that.

I likes skinyy-dippin' - does it every year - me lives in Spain or the Caribbean - me always thought a fianchetto was an Italian ice-cream

---

 

Yes, it shows a lot of her.

I have high hopes for the skinny-dipping, too! 

An old thread, but always relevant, no.  :)

Thanks for the advice and the kind words.

I'd kinda forgotten about this thread.  Too cold outside, so I think I'll skinny dip in a hot bath with herbal soap, dangling a glass of red wine in one hand....

I skinny showered this morning...really wasn't any fun.