Is Black losing here?
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This position came out of the winawer french defense and the computer says white is up about 1.5 here but this line is almost never played for white by anyone good.
After castling, it looks like white is up by half a pawn (obviously based on position as well as material).
Why isn't this variation ever played then?
White's Advantages: Up a pawn. More space for piece movement. Black's queen is in a tight position.
Black's Advantages: White has tripled pawns. White's queen is in a tight position. More center pawns.
I'd say overall white has a small advantage.
EDIT: I don't know much about the French, but my guess as to why it's not used often is that maybe it's a hard position to reach.
No in this variation white plays an alternative move and almost every time he takes when black plays ...f5 but not here. I don't want to trust the computer saying it's that bad though.
How is the position reached? White doesn't usally take on c5 in the french winawer.
I think if memory serves me correctly Nigel Short playing as white in the winawer has played a positional version where he exchanges on c5.
I prefer whites position in the diagram.
josef5555 wrote:
How is the position reached? White doesn't usally take on c5 in the french winawer.
Because dxc5 was forced since black was threatening ...c4 followed by ...Qxc2 before.
hmm. black does
The computer is wrong. Contrary to what benedictus says, the black queen is excellently placed. White has problems guarding the e5-pawn. In the position you give, black is threatening to win the e5-pawn with ..Qg4. It follows that with black to move, he gains the advantage with 1. ..Qg4. White to move should prevent this with 1. h3, I think. 1. O-O is also possible so as to answer Qg4 with 2. R(f)e1, but this allows black to trade queens and I'm not sure that's what white wants. I'm not sure he wants to castle kingside in the first place; a common plan in these kind of positions is the h-pawn's advance, but again black will play Qg4 and thwart white's plans.
So in summary, white has some problems to solve (defense of e5-pawn, where to put the king). Black has to see how he is going to use his queen's excellent position (move it to the kingside or pick up the c5-pawn with Qa5 and then try for play on the c-file?). Black to move has the advantage, white to move is equal.
but Alphastar18, so what if white loses one of his pawns? Hes already up a pawn anyways, and that pawn is a lost cause. One problem with blacks position is that the e pawn is either very weak, or black has a bad bishop, his choice. It seems to me that an eventual Ng5 for white leads to major advantages if Black chooses to free his bishop.
yes, white can afford to lose one of his pawns, or maybe even two, but the e5-pawn is a thorn in black's side. If the e5-pawn is lost, black can shove his own centre down white's throat. Later on the tripled pawn on the c-file will be a nice picnick for black. Ofcourse black has a bad bishop, but in what way is white's own light-squared bishop better? It is blocked just as much by black's pawns.
I could imagine the computer miss evaluating that position since it is a complex strategic situation. Maybe Fritz just sees that the white pawn can be held and the two bishops to combine to give white a big advantage. But since I play the winawer variaiton, I'm glad to hear someone say that the computer is wrong and that black is fine. I personally liked black because of white's weak e and c pawns and good queen position for black but the computer had quite a huge favor for white that it was just scary.