Exchanging active Bishop for passive Bishop in Italian game - why?
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iresignindisgust
Jan 2, 2021
0
#1
Jan 2, 2021
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#2
The engine (see highlighted analysis) indicates Black to play 7...Bb5 to follow up with 8.Bd2 Bxd2. I'm wondering why I should swap my nice active Bishop for White's unmoved one on c1, with the end result in White having developed his Knight (9.Nxd2) at the expense of my Bishop.
Jan 2, 2021
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#3
Thanks slabflow, but aren't I even worse still with my active Bishop off the board in exchange for White activating his queenside Knight?
It's early in the game and black hasn't developed his pieces very well. White is developing pieces and grabbing space. Under the circumstances, it's better to trade off the bishop, then start trying to develop his game. In no particular order, castle and activating the bishop on c8 is high on his priority list. I'd castle first, just to get the king out of the center. But without looking at the position harder, I'm not going to suggest a move yet, since I don't know what white's response is to the check will be.
Jan 2, 2021
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#5
Thanks Caesar, so when my opponent has more space and/or a better centre, I should exchange off pieces to simplify?
Jan 2, 2021
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#6
Great explanation slabflow thanks very much - that gives me a lot to think about and learn. So now I'm thinking not to play 4...h6, rather 4...Nf6 and the later follow-up with 6...Bb4+ to exchange off the bishops - then h6 is irrelevant as there is no Bishop now to pin the f6 Knight...
Jan 2, 2021
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#7
slabflow wrote:
Yeah, moves like h6 and a6 should be limited as much as possible (and a3 , h3 when you're white). Sometimes they're important, but most new players waste time in the opening playing them for the sake of feeling comfortable.
As for trading bishops here, I think you're trying to search for some kind of comprehensive a priori reasoning that will let you choose good moves in any position. Usually these are called positional principals. For example rooks go on open files, knight go to outposts, don't move the pawns in front of your castled king, and so on. But these are rules of thumb that can be broken, particularly when there's something concrete going on (like a tactic). In the position you ask about I think it's more concrete than positional. White is threatening to take over the center, so black has to find a way to fight back.
Yes...I've been reading (and playing the games out on the board) Chernev's 'Logical Chess, Move by Move' and he says the same thing - the early h3/h6/a3/a6 moves 'for comfort' as you say (so true!) are generally beginner or amateurish moves that should be avoided. I will change my thinking on this opening forthwith - thanks again!
vivement wrote:
The engine (see highlighted analysis) indicates Black to play 7...Bb5 to follow up with 8.Bd2 Bxd2. I'm wondering why I should swap my nice active Bishop for White's unmoved one on c1, with the end result in White having developed his Knight (9.Nxd2) at the expense of my Bishop.
Ok i haven't analyzed this position deeply or anything but this is what i can tell from my instincts. You played your bishop to b4 to get out of the attack of the pawn right? Bb4+ is recommended so as to not lose time. Notice that if you play Be7 instead to maintain the bishop white can play d5 striking the knight and forcing it to retreat. My instincts tell me to play Bb4+ and then after Bxd2 Nxd2 play d6 so that in case of d5 my knight can move forward and be supported. Can also play d5 myself to gain some control
So basically, according to me, the idea is to not lose any time since white has some pawn pushes at hand. Also white knight on d2 is not that well developed as it would be on c3 since from c3 it has more support for it's center pawns ... if white takes with the queen then it isn't that bad either since i think queen would rather play to a4 or b6