Chess Principles In Action (Some Thoughts On My Own Game)
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Based on the book "The Tao of Chess".
This game teaches me why we have chess principles and why we should not violate them. The first principle I realized in this game was: "before beginning a wing attack, make sure your center is secure."
5.Ng5,
White decided to launch a wing attack, which was, in my opinion, sharp and dangerous. It had a surprising psychological factor because I never played against such an early attack. Maybe, my opening moves were flawed and White saw his opportunity. This position was very unsecured to me because a wrong move would destroy my game. Fortunately, this was a daily game so I had time to think carefully all the options on the table. I realized that White did not have an absolute control over the center. I remembered the another principle: "a wing attack is best met by a counterattack in the center."
So, I visualized what would happen if I was be able to wipe off some, if not all, minor pieces in the center. I realized that I would have more space and a strong pawn structure. I also realized that the very first thing I must do was to stop White's continuation, which involved Knight and Bishop. I remembered another principles: "in order to get the most from your knights, give them
strong support points." and "to be at their best, bishops require open diagonals and attackable weaknesses."
White Knight had no support but I had nothing to capture it or to prevent its attacking either. Therefore, I must focus on his Bishop. Bishop was aiming at my f pawn because I had nothing defend it but my King nor did I have anything to block his Bishop. Therefore, I must either move my f pawn and get mate or I must block Bishop with my pawn. The principle "leave the pawns alone, except for center pawns and passed pawns" did encourage me to block White Bishop with my pawn.
After a series of exchange, the result was: