At the start of the game, white has the advantage of the first move. This is a minimal, but a tangible advantage in high level play. Because black is at a disadvantage at the start of the game, he has to equalize before thinking of getting an advantage himself. Equalizing simply means to get rid of the first-move advantage white has.
Equalizing
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MaartenSmit wrote:
At the start of the game, white has the advantage of the first move. This is a minimal, but a tangible advantage in high level play. Because black is at a disadvantage at the start of the game, he has to equalize before thinking of getting an advantage himself. Equalizing simply means to get rid of the first-move advantage white has.
Do you think you could give me some examples? I follow what you're saying but I'd like to see it in action mostly because I'm such a novice I can't see how to equalize in any given game I'm playing.
Because white gets the first move, he has a small advantage. So when black wins he has to pass through an additional stage that white does not, namely getting the position back to equal first.
That's all there is to it, I wouldn't stress over it. The stronger you become smaller advantages become tangible. Between two beginners for example you may have the advantage switching sides on every other turn without either player realizing (which is normal).
Back to the point though, black's disadvantage can manifest in different ways. Maybe white ends up with more space or better placed pieces. Maybe it's an initiative or structure issue. Once black "solves" his opening problem(s), or white makes an inaccuracy or two, then it's equal.
There aren't really concrete examples to give. You just have to play normally, develop your pieces, get your king safe, the usual stuff. At some point, if white makes 1 or 2 more inaccurate moves than you, you will have equalized. I can give an example; please note that neither white or black have played optimally in this fragment.
The point here is that it is now black to move in a symmetrical position, instead of white. Therefore white must have made one inaccurate move more than black, meaning that black has equalized (or even has obtained an advantage).
I hope that clears things up =)
Asche wrote:
MaartenSmit wrote:
At the start of the game, white has the advantage of the first move. This is a minimal, but a tangible advantage in high level play. Because black is at a disadvantage at the start of the game, he has to equalize before thinking of getting an advantage himself. Equalizing simply means to get rid of the first-move advantage white has.
Do you think you could give me some examples? I follow what you're saying but I'd like to see it in action mostly because I'm such a novice I can't see how to equalize in any given game I'm playing.
It just depends on how strong a player is. An opening disadvantage to Anand may mean nothing to me. If you don't feel you're worse in your games, then for all intents and purposes you're not :p just keep playing normally. This is what equalizing is... you feel you're worse because... let's say you're behind in development. After you catch up in development you can say "I've equalized"
I say this because as long as you're playing players roughly as good as you:
1) they aren't going to punish any small inaccuracy as if they were a GM and
2) even if they could you're not good enough to notice GM level disadvantages anyway so no use in worrying about them :)
So if you don't feel you're worse then for all intents and purposes you're not. Now a coach or helpful player may point out something you're able to see but missed, but you shouldn't be playing your games wondering about some mystical "equalization" process like some obscure idea... if your position seems worse, you want to equalize... that's it.
For example it should be as tangible as the feeling you have when you're down a pawn or two. You want to be able to point to something specific about your position and say "I don't like ____" and after you fix it you've equalized :)
So behind in development, king safety, maybe white is attacking with initiative and when you force him to make a retreating move you're more comfortable. Stuff like this.
In opening analysis and GM games it's more subtle of course, but that's a bit different :)
Jun 2, 2011
0
#7
Equalizing: Bringing the game to state where the position is even.
Stop overthinking this.
MaartenSmit wrote:
There aren't really concrete examples to give. You just have to play normally, develop your pieces, get your king safe, the usual stuff. At some point, if white makes 1 or 2 more inaccurate moves than you, you will have equalized. I can give an example; please note that neither white or black have played optimally in this fragment.
The point here is that it is now black to move in a symmetrical position, instead of white. Therefore white must have made one inaccurate move more than black, meaning that black has equalized (or even has obtained an advantage).
I hope that clears things up =)
I'm thinking maybe instead of Bd3 white should have moved to b3. That way, assuming all the other moves played out the same, black's bishop has only one safe forward move (b4). If black took that move (which, personally, I wouldn't do), white could then move to a3 and threaten b4. If black chose not to pull back at b4, axb4 and Nc6 captures at b4 but black has lost a bishop and only gained a pawn. Nb4 could check the king next move at d3 but that's suicide with white's queen still at d1 and white's bishop at f1. Instead of Bb4 I would personally castle black's king. The rook, instead of the king, is now protecting the queen from white's queen.
waffllemaster wrote:
Asche wrote:
MaartenSmit wrote:
At the start of the game, white has the advantage of the first move. This is a minimal, but a tangible advantage in high level play. Because black is at a disadvantage at the start of the game, he has to equalize before thinking of getting an advantage himself. Equalizing simply means to get rid of the first-move advantage white has.
Do you think you could give me some examples? I follow what you're saying but I'd like to see it in action mostly because I'm such a novice I can't see how to equalize in any given game I'm playing.
It just depends on how strong a player is. An opening disadvantage to Anand may mean nothing to me. If you don't feel you're worse in your games, then for all intents and purposes you're not :p just keep playing normally. This is what equalizing is... you feel you're worse because... let's say you're behind in development. After you catch up in development you can say "I've equalized"
I say this because as long as you're playing players roughly as good as you:
1) they aren't going to punish any small inaccuracy as if they were a GM and
2) even if they could you're not good enough to notice GM level disadvantages anyway so no use in worrying about them :)
So if you don't feel you're worse then for all intents and purposes you're not. Now a coach or helpful player may point out something you're able to see but missed, but you shouldn't be playing your games wondering about some mystical "equalization" process like some obscure idea... if your position seems worse, you want to equalize... that's it.
For example it should be as tangible as the feeling you have when you're down a pawn or two. You want to be able to point to something specific about your position and say "I don't like ____" and after you fix it you've equalized :)
So behind in development, king safety, maybe white is attacking with initiative and when you force him to make a retreating move you're more comfortable. Stuff like this.
In opening analysis and GM games it's more subtle of course, but that's a bit different :)
All right. The person I was talking to had said that no beginners know how to equalize so I was thinking it was a bit more complicated than this. It looks like they were probably being a little too harsh or referring to beginners who don't really care enough about the game to try improving.
While discussing openings that use the queen, someone I was talking to brought up equalizing*. From the sounds of things, it's an important part of higher-level play. However, I don't know anything about what it is or how you do it. I can draw some assumptions from the name but I'd like to hear what more experienced players have to say about it.
*This was in a forum about openings that involve the queen so instead of going off topic in that topic, I figured I should start a new one.