How to handle "passive" game?

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Avatar of UomoPatta

hello everyone, 

I'm playing vs bot and I'm stuck on game like this where no piece is taken and I can't think to a good move and at the end I do random move, what is the right way to "think" in this situation? What should I do? Exchenge some piece to free big piece? Pls give me some hint

Avatar of ryanovster

This is the time you open up lines for your pieces without putting your own pieces at risk, the keys are the pawns, if you play your pawn structure right you will force your opponent into a bad situation, defense is always first in games like  this. just be patient and open up lines.  you will win the majority of games.

Avatar of jerrylmacdonald

The white king is in big trouble here.  Like ryanovster said you should be opening lines to his king.  Lining up your rook with his king and clearing out that line will lead to tactics and other advantages

Avatar of practiceO

Forcing pawn trades in the center like on e5/c5 open up the vulnerable center king. Your rooks will do nicely facing towards center on the e and d file. Your knights can be improved and moved upwards maybe putting pressure on those weak central pawns or going for a trade with his dark squared bishop. since you have less central space, trades benefit you in decluttering your position.

Avatar of KeSetoKaiba

Solid advice from others for this position, but (correct me if I'm mistaken) I think the op is talking more about these types of positions in general more than this exact position. In this exact position, and in similar ones, the continuation is usually to plan a way to improve your already developed pieces. Are there any of our pieces not doing so well? Relocate it if possible, so that it becomes more active! Likewise, a piece doing a little bit...see if you can get it doing more - we want to use every piece we have to its fullest! happy.png

Avatar of catmaster0

In these positions making the "best move" isn't going to make or break the game. What you need is some kind of idea or plan. You have no checks, but there are some captures. You should at least look at those. Also look at potential threats or attacks.

 

This move should be on top of the list of moves to check, a cheap capture where even if they take back you're materially even. That doesn't mean it's one of your best options, but it's one of the most obvious to look at. See if you can find any ideas worth pursuing.

Here I cover your remaining captures, which are currently terrible, but always keep an eye on them, they could come up later. One of them offers a different move as a potential idea, trying to overload the pawn. That's easily blockable or avoidable, but they have to react to that and you can decide if they have any answer that you aren't fine with. 

Look at ways to get pieces pointed at their king and what pieces of theirs already point at your king. Or really most pieces pointed at anything more valuable. When the material there clears up attacks can emerge. 

You have to look at possible options and make a choice, and there's no perfect system to do that. Your ability to decide upon the best course of action in such situations takes time to build, but for now make a list of possible options and decide what you like more. Later you can look at the computer analysis and see what moves stood out to it. You can test lines to see where they'd go and get an idea of what kinds of threats actually come up in these positions. 

Avatar of harriw

Here are some general ideas for making a plan in a quiet position. Evaluate the following:
1. King safety. If your king is not safe, the number one priority is to get it to safety. If your opponent's king is not safe (as in this position), try to open up the position: try to force pawn exchanges (cxd4 is the obvious one, after that f5 will further help to open the center) that will open files, bring your rooks to the open files and create an attack.
2. Material balance. If you have the advantage, trade as much as you can and try to open up the position. In the opposite case, do the opposite, try to keep as many pieces on the board as possible to have counterplay chances and keep the position closed to make attacking difficult.
3. Weaknesses: are there any isolated pawns, backward pawns, undefended pieces or anything else that can be attacked. If you have weaknesses, have a plan how to defend them. If your opponent has them, try to put pressure against them.
4. Piece activity. If king safety and material are equal, then you need to get the best out of your pieces. Which piece is the least active and how could it do more to help your position?

And of course the first thing to evaluate is did my opponent's last move create a threat I need to react to? What was the idea behind that move? Sometimes you see it easily, sometimes you figure it out only when it's too late.

Avatar of UomoPatta

Great answer from all, thanks to all that give me general idea of how to treat this situation and how to think. Suggestion on move on this particular game were very helpful because I'm learning and sometimes I don't understand at all why computer mark as the best a move, so explanation of move were very very helpful, thanks again to all

Avatar of catmaster0
harriw wrote:

Here are some general ideas for making a plan in a quiet position. Evaluate the following:
1. King safety. If your king is not safe, the number one priority is to get it to safety. If your opponent's king is not safe (as in this position), try to open up the position: try to force pawn exchanges (cxd4 is the obvious one, after that f5 will further help to open the center) that will open files, bring your rooks to the open files and create an attack.

Speaking of king safety, might want to note f5 undefends the e6 pawn and leaves the black king open to losing it with check to the light-squared bishop. 

Avatar of harriw
catmaster0 wrote:
harriw wrote:

Here are some general ideas for making a plan in a quiet position. Evaluate the following:
1. King safety. If your king is not safe, the number one priority is to get it to safety. If your opponent's king is not safe (as in this position), try to open up the position: try to force pawn exchanges (cxd4 is the obvious one, after that f5 will further help to open the center) that will open files, bring your rooks to the open files and create an attack.

Speaking of king safety, might want to note f5 undefends the e6 pawn and leaves the black king open to losing it with check to the light-squared bishop. 

True, it just drops the pawn, didn't spot the bishop.