Why is taking with the pawn bad?

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Avatar of Rayeloy

In this position, why is taking with the pawn or rook almost losing 1 whole point? Why is taking with the queen or Knight good? I dont really understand.

My analysis is that taking with the pawn is bad maybe because you leave open, but I thought that after Kh1 you are usually ok, right? Also you create a stronger pawn chain in the centre which is good. If you take with the rook you develop a piece and you can later do Rg3 and attack the enemy king.

Ok the other hand, the knight is at an incredible outpost in the middle and I don't understand why it is good to move it out of that perfect position 😵‍💫 I also dont get why taking with the queen is much better than the rook

Avatar of Marshall7593

So in short time is a factor in chess, and I dont mean your clock but rather tempos. By taking with the queen you activate it, and give it a job. If you take with the rook....it doesnt gain any extra jobs, and doesnt really improve itself much. Taking with the pawn actively blocks your rook, and it leaves your king weaker over the long term. Sure the white king CAN go to h1, but even then the diagonals and other critical squares (h3/f3) are weaker nearby the king. It is unnecessarily risky, when an option like queen takes keeps you safe and activates pieces the quickest.

Avatar of Rayeloy
Marshall7593 wrote:

So in short time is a factor in chess, and I dont mean your clock but rather tempos. By taking with the queen you activate it, and give it a job. If you take with the rook....it doesnt gain any extra jobs, and doesnt really improve itself much. Taking with the pawn actively blocks your rook, and it leaves your king weaker over the long term. Sure the white king CAN go to h1, but even then the diagonals and other critical squares (h3/f3) are weaker nearby the king. It is unnecessarily risky, when an option like queen takes keeps you safe and activates pieces the quickest.

Thank you for your answer! Can you explain to me why is the rook not improving his position by taking while the queen is?

Also, if I understood correctly, by taking with the pawn, even if it does improve the center and creste a bigger pawn chain, blocking your rook and making your king a lot less safer is way more important, right?

And why is taking with the knight the best if it moves it away from the incredible outpost it had?

Avatar of Marshall7593

Rxf3 doesnt help the rook much. Its already on an open file...and you just move it along the same open file. It also serves to block the queen from getting active. 
King safety is ALWAYS a priority over something like pawn chains and sometimes piece activity as well. ITs probably the single most important thing in chess positions. 
As for Nxf3...thats a really odd move that I wouldnt consider here. It probably want to move that knight to g5 in order to support a kingside attack, but honestly thats a bit unhuman of a move. Your evaluation with your knight being well placed on e5 is great. It can stay there.
If you want more explanations I can offer coaching?

Avatar of LieutenantFrankColumbo

No idea what you're using that states you lose 1 point depending on how you recapture. All 3 captures are acceptable.

Avatar of Marshall7593
LieutenantFrankColumbo wrote:

No idea what you're using that states you lose 1 point depending on how you recapture. All 3 captures are acceptable.

All 3?? Did you forget about gxf3 the original question asked? Also, Qxf3 is the best practical choice. The most activity, doesnt block pieces, doesnt retreat a knight thats on a great outpost. Qxf3 is clearly the most natural move, and the other 2 piece captures have very clear downsides. 
gxf3 is out of the question for consideration though.

Avatar of Just_an_average_player136

Doesn't it open up the king position or something

Avatar of SacrifycedStoat
I can only see up to move 11, where no move like you describe happened.
Avatar of LieutenantFrankColumbo
Marshall7593 wrote:
LieutenantFrankColumbo wrote:

No idea what you're using that states you lose 1 point depending on how you recapture. All 3 captures are acceptable.

All 3?? Did you forget about gxf3 the original question asked? Also, Qxf3 is the best practical choice. The most activity, doesnt block pieces, doesnt retreat a knight thats on a great outpost. Qxf3 is clearly the most natural move, and the other 2 piece captures have very clear downsides. 
gxf3 is out of the question for consideration though.

No I didnt forget about gf3.

Avatar of pfren

After 12.Rxf3 Nd7 it's practically impossible to maintain the grip at e5, and 12.gxf3 Nd7 13.f4 considerably weakens the white squares around your king, e.g. placing that bishop at b7 looks quite tempting.