Advanced Puzzles

No puzzles  for you yet.  Feel free to post anything you find interesting.  Try to continue reading through the 7 imbalances I gave you. Once we are done with that I will start posting problems from that book.

Ok  I'll post the first problem.  Think about all the imbalances when examining the position. Post to the forum and we discuss it in class once we finish learning all the imbalances. 10 puzzles points for the first attempt to answer this problem. It has to be a serious attempt with an explanation in the forum                                                                       

gxf5

it recaptures the pawn while keeping white's pieces off e4 and opening the g file

gxf5        because it attacks the kingside and it contral the center very well

And what's wrong with Bxf5? 

I think the best move should be Bxf5 because

1. Bishop on f5 become active

2. Bishop on f5 will  threats white Queen to move away

3. Once white Queen moves away, Black can move pawn f7 to f5, which makes f5 the permanent home for Bishop

4. the tempo of the game will be leaded by Black

5. a strong wall is formed

Bxf5 is worst than gxf5 but your answer is more complete than the others.  We will discuss this position tomorrow.

The best move is definitely g x f5.

Because if we use the Bishop,white will play g4.

I'm sorry for posting this late. We'll go over this tomorrow but here is problem # 2 from "Reassess Your Chess. Remember that in order to get points you need to post an answer that addresses the imbalances we talked about.

 I think the best move is Bxf5 because white queen has to move to c1 or b2 and when the white queen moves, black can let his Knight move to d3 and then if white plays Bxd3, black can play Bxd3 and it threatens white for now.

Answer for Problem 1 (from "Reassess Your Chess Workbooks")

1....Rxf5 is obviously wrong. The rook is placed in a dangerous square, give white control over e4, and gives Black no particular gain other than gaining the pawn back.         

1.....Bxf5 looks good but  2. NdXe4 Nf6 3.BXc5  dXc5 4. Bd3 and the e4 square belongs to white. So although BXf5 looks like the best move (developing a piece, capturing a pawn and threatening the Queen) it doesn’t do ANYTHING to improve Black’s position

1.....gXf5 looks bad because it breaks the pawn structure on the King side but it is the correct move. It has many good points:     1) It keeps the White pieces of e4 .       2) Black’s central pawns are mobile and both sides now need to consider the pros and cons of f5-f4 and e5-e4. For example: if Black plays at one point e5-e4, he gives up the f4 square but activates his g7 Bishop. The g7 Bishop would remain inactive if Black played 1.....gXf5                                          3) The last advantage is that it opens the g file for Black. Even though it looks like it leaves the Black King open it gives Black more space on the King side. This means the Black will make his plans on the King side (Because he has more space there) and will play Kh8 followed by Rg8 at one point.

Summary of imbalances:

1) White owns more queenside space because of his pawn on c4 and d5

2) White would like to take advantage of this by playing a2-a3 followed by b2-b4 chasing the Knight away and opening the files on the Queen sid 

3) Black’s c7-d6-e5 pawn chain gives him more kingside space which he will try to turn into a King side attack 

4) Black is a pawn down and needs to decide how to get the pawn back. If possible, he should do this with a move that will help his kingside dreams

5) White’s Knights and Queen are watching the e4 square. If possible, black should avoid letting that central square fall into enemy ends

5/10 points for Alfred and Michale for getting the correct answer but not explaining enough. 4/10 for Sam (reason is short and wrong) and Mark. 7/10 for Tienlan because even though he got the wrong answers, he gave the best reasons. All points have been added to your puzzle ratings. GOOD JOB! 

Each of the positional problem I post can give you a maximum of 10 points. Each tactical problem I post can give you a maximum of 5 points.

PLEASE look at this position again (on a real board) and play through the lines.  Make sure you understand the reasons and the imbalances. I know it's not as exciting as a checkmate combination but it's important. 

Start posting your answers to the second problem, listing imbalances and giving good explanations. We'll go over problem 2 next weekend.

Imbalances:

The largest imbalance is that white has two knights while black has two bishops. Black has a weaker pawn structure, with the double pawns on the c-file. I think white is more developed, and all his minor pieces are out, good, and active.

Right now I am thinking either Rd1 or e5.