Event Chess Game (pjfoster1313 - hitthepin)

Sort:
pjfoster1313
 

8... Bb4 I felt was a mis-step with these rules, unless you specifically wanted him on b6 to put pressure on d4 along the a7-g1 diagonal. If it was your intention to pin, I plan on castling the next move so that's not a big threat, and if you're going to capture then you should just capture right away. Bishops are better than knights in open positions but the knights have better mobility in my opinion because they can sidestep pawns if they need to move backwards. If you move a bishop forward 2 ranks or more you're kinda committing it. That being said, I want to get castled but once I do that I planned to put your bishop to the test with a3. If you capture the knight, I can defend d4 with a pawn on c3 but once you activate your rook(s) on the c-file it's going to be difficult to hold onto any of those pawns let alone all of them. But if you don't capture the knight, I'm going to exchange knight-for-bishop under my terms instead of yours, because the bishop can't retreat. And move order is important, I don't want to play a3-b4-Na4 because the bishop escapes to c7, but if I play a3-Na4-b4 then he gets stuck on b6 and gets captured, and your queen ends up misplaced on a square he doesn't want to be. Plus from a4 there are potential knight-forks, and a good square on c5 even though your rook could do damage ...

pjfoster1313

Once your castled, Bg5 ends up being a really annoying move because your DS bishop can't drop back to break the pin like it would in a normal game. This ends up the biggest issue with Bg4 and why the rule should have been named Don't Move Forward. You'll either need to play h6-g5 immediately and have holes around your king (with compensation of a possible attack on my king, as well as a misplaced bishop on g3, or I could sacrifice my knight for the g-and-h pawns, keep the pin, and bring my LS bishop (and queen) to life on your kingside. This only works because you're already castled and because the DS bishop can't drop back, which is why imo Bb4 was the losing move ...

pjfoster1313

Tough spot because NxN dxN forces h6-g5, but I no longer have the knight sac. My N wants to get to g4 to attack your pinned N, which would force BxN BxB, where my Queen could get to f3 and after BxN QxN QxQ you're still left with doubled f-pawns. Not the end of the world in an endgame, I think you'd still have an ok chance ..

pjfoster1313

I was expecting h6-g5, but a6? doesn't seem to accomplish much and wasted a key tempo .. 

pjfoster1313

 

BxN BxB was probably better at this point, and then after g5-Bg3-NxB-QxN you're probably still ok. I would play f4 attack pinned g5 pawn and Bf2 (and eventually e3) to consolidate defense of d4 (and eventually attack your kingside), but I think you'd still be ok ..

pjfoster1313

Without BxN, NxN hits with check, forcing doubled pawns and leaving bishop on h4 permanently, staring at h6 which is still pinned and still indefensible by any other piece. Big advantage. Be2 is obstructing my queen who wants to be on h5 (or f3) right away. Qd2 right away means your DS bishop pin could still be annoying, and your N is still attacking d4 ..

pjfoster1313

As stated before, the queenside move order mattered to force NxB instead of B escaping to c7. Kg7 surprised me, you probably foresaw the queen deflection, but because of Don't Move Forward if I capture Bxf6 I'm not sure how I can rescue him, even with Be5 you already have a rook on the e-file who can do tank stuff. So my idea was that even though you had an attack on d4 and good rooks, I was going to ignore material and activate my pieces towards your king

pjfoster1313

 

Rc5! ends up being the star move that basically ends the game. The timing of this move matters because N is still on c6, interfering with your rook's ability to do anything about this. If N is anywhere else, Rc5 loses to Rxc4 and Rxc3. But Rc5! at this moment interferes with both Qxd4 and Nxd4, and puts me in position to Tank d5 and get him towards your king. Your only chance was Qxc5, which is still losing but gives you decent compensation. I would have to take away from the center because I can't defend either of the c- or d-pawns against your knight and half-open Tank ..

pjfoster1313

 

 

pjfoster1313

 

prior to Rh8 you could have tried Ng8 and then trying to run the K to g7 and f8 and maybe that's something, but with the Tank already on h5 he's going to blast thru the h-pawn and do stuff there even though he can't retreat. In a normal game you could have interfered with Qxf6 by putting something on f6 (B N or pawn), but in this game the Tank can capture back and forth in a Windmill tactic basically which I thought was interesting because it doesn't come up too often. Bd7 connects your queen to the defense of f6 and extends the game but white is still winning and still has moves like Bd3+ with the same Windmill concept ..

pjfoster1313

So anyways, gg @hitthepin. The events definitely make for an interesting game, and even though this one was short it still allowed for clever strategy and tactics

hitthepin
Gg.
Martin0

Good game and nice analysis @pjfoster1313. I will look it through more when I have time later and see if I can add some insight. I think strategically you are correct that with the "move forward" event you don't want to move forwards too much. I like the name since it is referring quite well with pieces ability to (almost) only move forward. Just a bit ironic that moving too far forward is a bad strategy. tongue.png

The name "Tanks" I am less satisfied with since it is not referring to the movement at all. I'm thinking of changing it to "infiltrating rooks" or something similar.

 

Did you guys like the rules for these events?

pjfoster1313

@martin0 I like the Tanks name, it feels appropriate for the way they can carry on with their movement and bulldoze an entire rank or file. If the second event had been different, that first rule would have been even more pronounced, esp if we were playing for pawn promotions (under-promotions?) I like the rules for this format, I think it's fun

Martin0

ok, I will probably not change any of these events for now. I can keep the Tanks name.

I'm glad that you seem a lot more enthusiastic about the tanks event than I am. I was slightly worried that the Tanks event might not be very impactful until the endgame and then it might just make the endgame more drawish since the rooks would be so good at picking up pawns (making promotions difficult). It's true that the event has more implications than that though, such as knights not easily standing still on an outpost. The rook maneuver you did this game was quite cool. I was probably underestimating how impactful the rule can be to the middlegame.

pjfoster1313

@martin0 I just really wanted there to be a windmill tongue.png

hitthepin
Oh god no