Supercharge my chess - day 1
Today I start to write my daily experiences about the 21 days to Supercharge your chess course
This step is very straightforward. We compare the number of pieces and pawn to the opponent’s. For ease of evaluation it is common to use a point (pawn) value system and add the number of points to get the total score for each side.
2. Presence of Threats
If you have an extra rook, but you lose a queen the very next move, it is quite incorrect to assume that you have any sort of advantage. Therefore, it is very important to check for threats and possible combinations that your opponent may have before continuing with a full analysis.
3. Position of the Kings
Position of the kings and their safety is an important aspect of position analysis, since if you’re getting checkmated 3 moves from now; it’s meaningless to talk about any positional advantages or better pawn structures you may have. You should do a relative comparison of positions of the kings and take into account the presence of any sorts of threats for their safety. You need to make a conclusion about whose king is safer and how much.
4. Presence of open files and diagonals
You should evaluate the number of open files and diagonals as well as what side takes greater advantage of them (rooks on open files, bishops on long diagonals, etc.)
5. Pawn structure, weak and strong squares
You should evaluate the pawn structure, pawn weaknesses, presence of passed pawns, etc. Also it makes sense to evaluate the presence of weak and strong squares on the board. Strong squares are the squares that can be occupied by your pieces that cannot be removed (i.e. chased away) by your opponent’s pawns and vice versa.
6. Center and space
You need to evaluate the type of center we are dealing with in the current position. The center is considered not just the central squares (e4, d4, e5, d5) but also the pawns and pieces that control these squares. You need to pay specific attention to the type of center. The two most common structures are: dynamic and static. The dynamic center is the center that can change its form, for example by movement of pawns or pieces. The static center is the center that cannot change its form so easily. Also we need to distinguish between closed center and open center positions, based on the pawn structure.
Space – defined as availability and control of squares by one of the players. The more squares your pawns and pieces control the more special advantage you possess. Space is important, because the side with the greater amount of space has the luxury to more effectively organizing the pieces and maneuvering them for an attack/defense.
It is important to decide the type of the center you have and the amount of space you control since the overall game strategy is often dictated by the positional factors like this.
7. Development and Pieces Activity
You need to consider the activity of the pieces and their development, meaning how well are the pieces positioned, how many open diagonals, ranks, files they control. The easiest way to compare the pieces’ activity is by doing a relative comparison. For example, you take one of your pieces, and compare it to the opponent’s counterpart. Then you take another piece and so on. At the end you need to make a conclusion about whose pieces are more active.
Finally, after doing the position evaluation you need to come up with a conclusion what’s sides position is better and to come up with a plan for the game based on your evaluation. For example, if your position is better you must attack in order not to lose your advantage.
If your opponent’s position is superior, you need to find a defensive plan, at the same time, looking for counter play and counter attack.
6. Center and space:
White has a small development advantage, because black's king is still in the center. White need to take immediate action to prevent the castling and use his development advantage.
1.Nc5 Bxc5 Black must take the knight.
1...Qd6 2.Rad1 White gets a very active position. 2...Qb8 3.Rd2 0–0 is mistake, because the b4 knight has no way to escape. 4.Qc4 Wins.
2.Bxc5 The knight is under attack and could not be saved. Black need to counter-attack. 2...Bb5
3.Qf2! With this move white moves the queen away from the attack and protecting the bishop on c5 and pawn on c2 and he sacrifice the f1 rook for the bishop. By protecting the c5 bishop white prevents the castling of the black king.
3.Nxb5? gives time for black to consolidate his position. 3...Rxc5 4.Nc3 0–0³ Black castled and he has an active position on the queenside.
3...Bxf1
4.Bxb4
The b4 bishop stopped the castling. Black has an exchange advantage. White need to attack quickly.
4.Rxf1? Bad, because the f2 queen us overloaded. 4...Nxc2 5.Qxc2 Rxc5 Black won a pawn. 6.Qa4+ Qc6 7.Qb4 0–0 Black castled and has a winning position.
4...Bc4 5.b3 Forces the bishop to go back and it helps to active the other white bishop.
5...Bb5 6.Nxb5 axb5 White sacrificed an exchange and 1. prevented black from castling 2. he has the pair of bishops 3. black has 2 weak isolated pawns on the b-file
7.Be2 White activated the bishop and attacks the target.
7...Nxe4 8.Bxb5+ Kd8
9.Qa7 Moving the queen closer to the black's king and attacking the b7 pawn at the same time.
9.Rd1+ This is a mistake, because gives time for the black king to escape. 9...Kc7 10.Qa7 Rhd8 Black protected his king and balance the position.
9...Qd5 10.Qb6+ Forces black to move to the pin.
10...Rc7
11.a6! Key idea. White need to open the a-file to activate the rook to penetrate to the black position.
11...bxa6 12.Qb8+ Rc8
13.Qa7 With a mate-in–1 threat on e7 white wins time to save the queen and the bishop.
13...Rc7 14.Ba5 Time to win back the material.
14...axb5 15.Qxc7+ Ke8
16.Qc8+ It was a small mistake, white can checkmate black in 6 moves.
6.Bb4 Nf2+ 17.Kg1 Nh3+ 18.Kf1
Black can not defend against the saveral checkmate treats on a8, e7, c8. 18...Qxg2+ 19.Kxg2 Nf4+ 20.Kf1 f5 21.Ra8# 16...Ke7
17.Qxh8 Another mistake in a winning position. White should look for the counter-moves. 17.Bb4+ Important to open the a-file first. 17...Kf6 18.Qxh8 Qd4 19.Ra6+ Wins.
17...Nf2+ Black played the right idea in the wrong move order, he should create the threat of the smothered mate, instead of the check. 17...Qd4! Attacks the rook and create a checkmate treat. 18.Qd8+ White should sacrifice the bishop to go to a winning endgame. (18.Re1
Nf2+ 19.Kg1 Nh3+ 20.Kh1 Qg1+ 21.Rxg1 Nf2#) 18...Qxd8 19.Bxd8+ Kxd8 20.Rd1+ Kc7 21.Rd5 Wins one of the pawns and the endgame.]
18.Kg1 Qd4 Black created a checkmate treat.
19.Qd8+ Forcing the exchange of queens andn wins the f2 knight to go to a winning endgame.] [Here is the trick black had in mind: 19.c3?? Nh3+ 20.Kh1 Qg1+ 21.Rxg1 Nf2#; 19.Rf1 Nh3+ 20.Kh1 Qg1+ 21.Rxg1 Nf2# 19...Qxd8 20.Bxd8+ Kxd8 21.Kxf2
1–0
You can replay the first practical exercise of the
21 days to Supercharge your chess course :
In the next step I solved 6 tactical puzzles. I show you them with the solutions I found.
Tactics Puzzle 1 of day 1:
Tactics Puzzle 2 of day 1:
Tactics Puzzle 3 of day 1:
I like the format of the daily training program because it improves all important areas. The uncastled king exersice was fun.
Reading the daily theory and solving the exercises improved my confidence too. I am happy to study again.
Until tomorrow you can find the details of the 21 days to Supercharge your chess course if you click here and you can become a student too.
