There was an interesting world championship game Karpov-Kasparov 1-0 game some decades ago that might serve as a good example for the intended question. I remember how Helmut Pfleger gave Kasparov's fxg6 a "?" in an old book, and later Kasparov attaching an "!" to it in one of his blue books. As my wife is prodding me to get my ass up, maybe someone else would like to find the game and place it here.
h2 pawn vs f2 pawn
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Pfren's right, we need a more complete example. I believe it depends on who holds the initiative and where. I'll bring an example later
I've never truly believed in the old saying that pawns should recapture towards the center (ie that on principle hxg3 should be better than fxg3). However fxg3 is often more unbalancing : White weakens the g1/a7 diagonal but gets the semi-open f file. It requires good judgment to tell which factor is more important, but the weakening of e3 can have very serious consequences.
hxg3 is not without danger though, when a N can land on g4. The attack with Ng4 and a queen is surprisingly difficult to handle even with several tempi to defend.
As always, there are exceptions to the rule-of-thumb about capturing toward the center. In general, I think the long term benefit is that the h-pawn promotes itself to a full pawn after it captures on the g file, whereas if the f-pawn captures, it becomes less influential on the center.
One important factor (besides the ones already mentioned) is that capturing with the h-pawn gives you pressure along the h-file, which is often harder to meet than pressure on the f-file. Nxg6 hxg6 is often seen in the Slav. In the following game, Gelfand made effective use of the h-file, though he went astray later on and lost:
I always thought that a capture with h pawn comes with a vulnerability to king side because the opponent's rook can swing over to the semiopen h file. I may be wrong I guess ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
bb_gum234 wrote:
jchoi678 wrote:
As a chess novice it always struck me when people (usually grandmasters playing in top games) usually recaptured the lost piece with h2 pawn instead of f2 pawn. As much as I think about it, I find the capture with f2 pawn more appealing than h2 pawn, since the capture with f2 pawn opens up a file for the rook. If not, can someone please explain to me the advantage of capturing with h2 pawn over f2 pawn? Enlighten me folks!!
**vice versa for black side too.
As Pfren (sort of) points out, opening the file for the rook in those positions is pointless because it's a dead draw either way.
One reason the h pawn is preferred in most positions is because rook pawns are on average worth less. Notice:
1) They attack fewer squares (only one at a time), and they are squares further away from the center and
2) in various endgames having a rook vs non-rook pawn is the difference between a win and draw (in those cases, often any other pawn is better than a rook pawn).
Also you should look at the lines they open, not only files but also diagonals. So now we have:
1) The f file isn't often critical, so
2) often more importantly recapturing with the f pawn openings the king's position a bit, on the g1-a7 diagonal.
3) Note too the open f file works both ways. It can be a weakness to your king depending on the position. In contrast the h file is often harder to make use of for your opponent.
One last point, as far as general pawn structure goes, it's usually preferable to have fewer pawn "islands." Capturing away from the center often splits your pawns in this way.
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That said, there are plenty of times it's better to recapture with the f pawn. Opening the f file for a rook (in positions where that matters) is one of the reasons to prefer the f pawn.
Sometimes the h file offers all the play. And in some endgames, it's better to have passed pawns far away from the center (e.g. king and pawn endgames and knight endgames).
Like any move in chess, you weigh the pros vs the cons in the specific position, do some calculation, weigh some more, and make your best guess.
Thanks bro. You enlightened me :)
jchoi678 wrote:
Any pawn push or capture will weaken the shelter surrounding the king. The exploitation of that weakness would depend on the position. The question is, all other considerations being equal, is the f or h capture better. The best advice is to take with the h-pawn as it does improve the placement of that piece.
I always thought that a capture with h pawn comes with a vulnerability to king side because the opponent's rook can swing over to the semiopen h file. I may be wrong I guess ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
As a chess novice it always struck me when people (usually grandmasters playing in top games) usually recaptured the lost piece with h2 pawn instead of f2 pawn. As much as I think about it, I find the capture with f2 pawn more appealing than h2 pawn, since the capture with f2 pawn opens up a file for the rook. If not, can someone please explain to me the advantage of capturing with h2 pawn over f2 pawn? Enlighten me folks!!
**vice versa for black side too.
Diagram 1
Diagram 2