having an extra minor piece doesn't hurt either. 14. bxc4 accumulates a rather large advantage.
Playing for the endgame - accumulating small advantages.
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Sep 25, 2009
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#3
well, yes, a whole piece would be nice, but that wasn't as spectacular as it looks at first - it just created a good imbalance that I put to my advantage (i.e. pawns vs a piece) since his pawns were bound up in the centre and such. Due to his proper knight placement, he managed to recapture with some initiative and win 2 pawns right off the bat in exchange for the bishop.
So like I was saying, a small advantage here and there kind of thing, but yes, this was a significant gain since it was coupled to the initial doubling of my oponents pawns following the queen exchange.
Sep 25, 2009
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#4
i see, so the only thing that really made a difference the whole game was being up a piece for a pawn?
It's all good if you feel that way, I'm just trying to get feedback to improve like I said...
Sep 25, 2009
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#5
they are not mocking you just subtly saying that being up a bishop for a pawn is not exactly a small advantage accrueing, its rather big and one where you should expext to win. A small andvantage is some sort of great positional play where you grinded out the win.Well done all the same
Sep 25, 2009
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#6
no no Skept, you misread me - I've exchanged many words with both Loomis and tonydal in the past, quite a few times actually. It's all good, I was asking them straight out if that was pretty much that. Nothing to read between the lines.
Anyways, thanks all the same.
And though it did not show that much compared to the bishop for a pawn thing, I was making efforts to play for the endgame nonetheless the whole time. I was constantly thinking about it anyways, and I feel that it made a decent difference.
BTW - was there a faster way to win the endgame, or did I proceed with more or less the best plan?
It's true that it's possible to not win that game after winning the bishop for two pawns. And if you don't keep in mind exactly what you have to do from that winning position, you might slip up. I've seen people not win from that kind of position. If you let your pawns get traded, or wind up wit your bishop locked out of part of the board it needs to get to to defend a passed pawn, you get in trouble.
But technically, the position is winning once you win a piece. Accrueing small advantages is usually used to describe making an equal position better and better. I would say what you had to do in this game was to convert one (winning) advantage into another. Since you weren't going to checkmate him with your extra bishop, you had to use your extra bishop to ensure a winning endgame (pawn promotion).
Sep 25, 2009
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#8
Yes, thank you Loomis, your second paragraph there pretty much confirmed what I suspected, but wasn't sure about. That was an accurate description of what was going on in my head while the game was in progress - because I felt that I had won it, but knew that it required vigilant work still to accomplish.
Hello all - just wanted to share this recent victory of mine in turn-based where I employed the 'playing for the endgame' strategy.
Essentially when one is trying to accumulate small advantages which, on their own, may be of limited significance, but acrued together make for a decisive edge, this edge is usually noticeable in the endgame. As such, this style of playing, with small advantage accumulation, is really mostly playing for the endgame.
Obviously one has to keep an eye out for tactics at all times, but as this game demonstrates, factors such as keeping the bisohp pair, determining when to trade queens, and pawn structure can all be added on to each other to give just the right conditions for a superior endgame where we hope to have a won position.
I've often given up a lead for a draw where I was certain that I was in a winning position, but didn't know just how to finish it off properly, but in this game I felt I made the right decisions. Looking to improve though.
Feedback and/or analaysis please!