This forum is for discussing any unusual positions that emerge in the 960 midgame. Feel free to add examples or to comment.
In Chess960, many starting positions are not actually starting positions. You can think of them as already deeply emerged midgame positions. That is what is so beautiful about 960. The game is already deeply underway from move one.
With that in mind, by the time we get into a midgame that we can understand a bit better, we find that in 960 there is no such thing as a genuine midgame for a long time into the game! This is because many starting positions make it difficult to develop our pieces, and so deep into what we understand to be the midgame, there are still pieces remaining on their original starting positions. Therefore there are many situations where you get a mixture between opening and midgame themes.
This makes it a real challenge to evaluate some 960 positions. Here is a classic and very beautiful example. It is beautiful because it manages to seperate out the influence of the rooks in the game from the other pieces. Please take the time and try to give an evaluation of who you think is winning and by how much (measured in the value of a pawn 1.00):
Black To Move:
Did you have any confusion about your evaluation? Was it a bit challenging perhaps? The answer that is computer confirmed to quite a depth, is that white is some where between three to five pawns in the lead (the equivalent of a minor piece)! Black's position is totally lost after a mere ten moves. The rooks in the game play only a minor part. The discussion is mainly about the minor pieces. To dissect the reasons why, we have to have a good understanding of chess theory generally. Here are the most basic reasons:
1) Material count: N+B+P v R = 7 verses 5
2) Black's mate threat is non existent in all lines
3) White's minor pieces will become incredibly cooperative and effective. The bishops are easy to see but the knights are the really beautiful pieces in this position. The two white knights work perfectly together throughout the entire next phase of the game. They can move anywhere on the board and most of the time they work together. Some of the particular paths that they use are:
Nf1-d2-c4-d6-e8
Nf1-g3-a5-f6-e4
Nf1-g3-e2-d4
Nf1-g3-e2-c3
Nd1-c3-a4-c5-a6-c7
Nd1-e3
Nd1-e3-d5
Nd1-e3-c2-d4
So when we evaluate 960 midgame positions, we must not evaluate them in terms of our understanding of standard chess SP518. I submit that this position above is actually a deeply immersed midgame position already. Black's pieces are totally ineffective (not even to mention the rooks) and white's minor pieces are extremely well coordinated already. Black does not have a single useful move in the next passage of ten moves, while white has so much scope and opportunity for play.
This forum is for discussing any unusual positions that emerge in the 960 midgame. Feel free to add examples or to comment.
In Chess960, many starting positions are not actually starting positions. You can think of them as already deeply emerged midgame positions. That is what is so beautiful about 960. The game is already deeply underway from move one.
With that in mind, by the time we get into a midgame that we can understand a bit better, we find that in 960 there is no such thing as a genuine midgame for a long time into the game! This is because many starting positions make it difficult to develop our pieces, and so deep into what we understand to be the midgame, there are still pieces remaining on their original starting positions. Therefore there are many situations where you get a mixture between opening and midgame themes.
This makes it a real challenge to evaluate some 960 positions. Here is a classic and very beautiful example. It is beautiful because it manages to seperate out the influence of the rooks in the game from the other pieces. Please take the time and try to give an evaluation of who you think is winning and by how much (measured in the value of a pawn 1.00):
Black To Move:
Did you have any confusion about your evaluation? Was it a bit challenging perhaps? The answer that is computer confirmed to quite a depth, is that white is some where between three to five pawns in the lead (the equivalent of a minor piece)! Black's position is totally lost after a mere ten moves. The rooks in the game play only a minor part. The discussion is mainly about the minor pieces. To dissect the reasons why, we have to have a good understanding of chess theory generally. Here are the most basic reasons:
1) Material count: N+B+P v R = 7 verses 5
2) Black's mate threat is non existent in all lines
3) White's minor pieces will become incredibly cooperative and effective. The bishops are easy to see but the knights are the really beautiful pieces in this position. The two white knights work perfectly together throughout the entire next phase of the game. They can move anywhere on the board and most of the time they work together. Some of the particular paths that they use are:
Nf1-d2-c4-d6-e8
Nf1-g3-a5-f6-e4
Nf1-g3-e2-d4
Nf1-g3-e2-c3
Nd1-e3
Nd1-e3-d5
Nd1-e3-c2-d4
So when we evaluate 960 midgame positions, we must not evaluate them in terms of our understanding of standard chess SP518. I submit that this position above is actually a deeply immersed midgame position already. Black's pieces are totally ineffective (not even to mention the rooks) and white's minor pieces are extremely well coordinated already. Black does not have a single useful move in the next passage of ten moves, while white has so much scope and opportunity for play.
Cheers