WilliamShookspear vs DeirdreSkye

Deirdre and I have completed another game, where I was simply outclassed. Let's take a look.

Position after 23...Be7
White to move

Just clicking through the game at a somewhat quick pace, I paused here. I think this would be a moment where as white I try to figure out what's going on and where I should play.

First of all the e7 bishop looks bad, but these positions can be tough to break down i.e. it's a good defender.

Anyway, so it's important you realize b3 is a target (you have maximum 4 pieces that can attack it, black has maximum 3 defenders plus it's on your side of the board which makes it more vulnerable).

You have lots of influence in the center (3rd rank heavies can shift to kingside. 5th rank can shift to the queenside). d6 is pressured, but B on e7 is keeping it solid.

Your f5 pawn and more generally the opposite color bishops also gives you kingside and checkmate ideas.

So you have 3 areas to choose from (queenside, center, kingside)

Ok, but you have to consider your weaknesses and what black can try. Your weakest pawn is b2. It's not too bad, because maximum... probably 1 piece can attack it (rook on a2). Black can also try to sacrifice on c3 at a moment when the only defender is bxc and then push his b pawn to queen.

So black wants the a, b, and/or c files. Black's play (or at least his hopes and dreams) is definitely on the queenside.

It's very important to understand what's going on before choosing  plan, because white has lots of options.

Position after 26...g6
White to move

So in the game you chose f6 and took the h pawn. Ok, that's very reasonable.

But now again, you have to choose. You have to make your game plan.

I'd rather make this position a test... and it's not even that it has a wrong answer, I just want you to use some of the things I said in the first post to think about it and find an answer. This is exactly the process I went through while analyzing the game, and this is what I'd try to answer for myself during a real game:

1) What area of the board will you decide to play on? (queenside, center, or kingside)

2) What is the main mechanism or idea of this play? (in general choose pawns or pieces)

Pawns mean a pawn storm or pawn break to open lines for your pieces
Pieces mean you'll pursue a plan of action no pawn breaks/storms necessary

And again there's not really a wrong answer I just want you to come up with something focused and deliberate. In the game you played c4 with the pawn break c5 in mind to open the d file (center play)... but I feel like this wasn't a plan as much as it was just playing for tricks. For example black could play 27...Ke8 or 27...Rbb8 and the d pawn is no longer pinned. And even if it's still pinned black doesn't have to take the pawn, for example 27...Kg7 28.c5 28...R-moves 29.cxd and it's the situation where all your pieces are blocked by a friendly pawn again. Yes this wins a pawn, but you're exchanging this massive positional plus for a single pawn. It just doesn't feel correct. Honestly c3-c4-c5 wouldn't have even been a candidate for me. (and credit to DS for finding the best defense plus laying a tactical trap).

Thanks Farm_Hand,

This was a really interesting response, I haven't thought of targets the way you mentioned (e.g. "… so it's important you realize b3 is a target [you have maximum 4 pieces that can attack it, black has maximum 3 defenders plus it's on your side of the board which makes it more vulnerable ...") Even though it makes lots of sense, and I had sort of half considered it before.

Now, for my homework... My thought is that Black has two pawns that need defending: d6 and b3. I notice that from d5, my Queen targets both at once, and also a very important pawn on f7. So, I would like my queen on d5. 

My LSB  cannot target the d6 pawn, but it can target the b3 pawn. So, after I get my Queen to d5, I am tempted to reroute my bishop to c4 via d3.

Here's how I would go about it: 

Is this good?

Hey, I didn't even mention the pawn on f7, but yes, that's definitely a target, good thinking

The thing with d6 in positions like this is it's usually a big fat distraction. We're told backward pawns are weak, we line up our rooks on it... but that dark square bishop usually makes it meaningless in terms of winning material. I've definitely tried and failed against such pawns and that's the only way I know now.

I like your idea.

I was thinking of starting with Rb5 too, just because it's usually nice to trade off heavy pieces whenever you think you have a superior pawn structure. If we imagine an opposite color bishop endgame for example, we can probably instantly win b3.

I had two ideas. First was the h5 pawn break. So the plan would be something like g3-h4-h5. I'm sure you saw the Bxg6 idea during the game (long before you played it) but h5 is an important pawn break with the same idea (black's king is weak).

My other idea was putting both rooks on the a file because that zeros out black's queenside hopes and dreams. Choosing plans is sort of complicated (haha, of course )  I like to think of it like if my play is worth a 10 but theirs is worth an 8, then maybe it's just a draw. But if I choose a plan that's worth a 5 while at the same time they're left with 0, then that's probably going to crush them even though 5 is only half as much as my 10 plan.

After getting the rooks to the a file, then I'd try to target f7 and b3 much like you were thinking of doing. For example a rook on a7 and a3 would definitely help.

Oh, and rooks to the a file also helps trade off heavy pieces.

Whenever you have a goal to trade pieces, it's useful to keep in mind you usually have to wait until your opponent asks. In other words if you want to trade off your knight for their knight, then make your knight as powerful and annoying as possible. If you do, then their knight will come to you and willingly trade itself

I wasn't considering trading heavies as being something to aim for, but you're right, the BOC endgame is very nice.

Lots of great ideas here, thanks a bunch Farm_Hand!

I sometimes feel like my posts are too long...

but I'm always happy if someone finds them useful

I have the same problem outside of chess. 

I, for one, appreciate the long posts, as within them there is often to be found a treasure trove of golden bits of information!

Or in my case, sometimes huge amounts of blather...

No worries, I'm also fine with the long post. Thanks for sharing. 

Thanks Deirdre, as always illuminating. I guess it'll take a while to get myself out of the emotion-laden mindset. Many years of playing otherwise is hard to break. 

I remember you gave me this same advice in this post I made in October of last year. I think I've gotten better since then, but now I've decided to try and approach this problem as the next step in my chess development.

Requires a lot of practice, I guess. But we'll get there.