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Pride and Prejudice: My Chess Thinking Sins

Pride and Prejudice: My Chess Thinking Sins

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“Till this moment I never knew myself.” 
― Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

Playing the Black side of a King's Indian Defence, my opponent chose the Exchange variation reaching the position below.







 

Here White played 10. Nxg6 which I immediately knew to be tactically wrong, otherwise this would refute the entire variation.

Black to Play

 

Pride and Prejudice

 

Instead, my first instinct was to remove the attacked Rook and create a discovered check along the e-file.

 

I played 10. ... Re8, failing to see the simple 10. ... Bxc3 wins immediately.

 

Why did I miss this? If I ask myself truthfully, I had a prejudice with the King's Indian Bishop. One is "taught" in this opening that it is a treasured piece. Subconciously, one does not want to voluntarily trade this powerful Bishop as it rakes across the long diagonal on the board.

 

Yet this type of Chess thinking, being inflexible and rigid, limits one's objectivity and ultimately Chess ability. I must work on this.

 

White to play

 

I never considered this counterattacking move from White.
 
It is an eternal quest to improve one's tactical and calculating ability to find counterblows for your opponent!
 
It must come down to a sense of danger, of working hard for your opponent as you do for yourself.
 
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