using the game database

We recently reached this position in a vote chess game, and were debating about Be4 vs Bg2.  Here's the position:

How do you solve this position?  Well, you can look at the moves other great players have played in this position and discover all kinds of very specific things.  For example:

Be4 f5 Bg2 happened here a couple times.  Since this is an obvious response for black, what can i conclude?  Clearly, white would only play this way if they felt f5 was a weakening pawn move.  If f5 was good for black, white would simply play Bg2 directly.  Now I don't have to decide if f5 is weakening or not...  I've been told by a player a lot better then me that it is.  I just need to figure out why it's weakening (the e pawn is backward, the king is more exposed, etc).

If f5 weakens black's position, why doesn't black simply play Nf6?  It's a very obvious response, yet several very good players didn't play it, opting instead for weakening pawn moves.  Wow.  Why would they do that?  This tells me that there is probably something wrong with Nf6, something even more weakening then just playing f5!  I can look at the position knowing that Nf6 fails, and my job is simply to figure out why it fails.  With that information, again given to me by players much stronger then I am, it doesn't take me long to suspect that maybe dxc5 works out for white.  What else could it be?  A little analysis and voila, now I get it.

Be4 Nf6? dxc5! and white wins a pawn in all variations.

So I'm not coming up with all this stuff on my own.  I'm trying to let the great players guide me by inferring their feelings about the position from the way they play it, then doing a little analysis to try to understand why they feel that way and whether I agree.  I usually start with the assumption that they are right, especially if they won the game, and work from there, keeping in mind that even great players make mistakes and I should ultimately decide for myself.

Considering the position, f5 seems the strongest reply to Be4. Game might go as Be4 f5 Bg2 cd Bxd4 Bf6 and soon black pushes e5 thereby converting to a better pawn and white losing a tempo.. So Bg2 seems better.

Considering the position, f5 seems the strongest reply to Be4. Game might go as Be4 f5 Bg2 cd Bxd4 Bf6 and soon black pushes e5 thereby converting to a better pawn and white losing a tempo.. So Bg2 seems better.

This seems like a reasonable analysis, but what I'm really pointing out in this post is how you can use the games database to get the opinion of outstanding players on the position, often deducing their opinion of moves that weren't actually played in their game.

For example in this case, the database is clearly telling us that Be4 Nf6 doesn't work, even though there is no actual game showing that position.  The db tells us that at least a couple players feel that f5 is weakening for black.  Then again, a couple players played Bg2 directly, so maybe great players disagree about the merit of black playing f5.  Knowing there is some disagreement about f5 might lead you to think about the pros and cons of this move, and this can help you find the best plan if your opponent plays a move that differs from the main game.

Bg2 - 2001: white (2550) plays Bg2 and draws against a player rated 2404

1982: white(2206) plays Bg2 and draws against a player rated 2385

Be4 - 1995: white(2360) plays Be4 and draws vs 2280

2000: white(2386) plays Be4 and wins vs 2211

1973: white(2355) plays Be4 and wins vs 2330