Handling non forcing moves - Chess Forums

89jj

Jul 25, 2017

0

#1

Hi,
Trying to improve my play, i understood that i do not know how to handle position without forcing move, or in other words i can not evaluate lines without forcing moves.
For example yesterday i reached this position, i was black:

1.d4 e5 2.e4 Nc6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Qd3 d6 5.c3 b6 6.Qc4 Bb7 7.Nbd2 Na5 8.Qb4 Nxe4 9.Nxe4 Bxe4 10.dxe5 Bxf3 11.Be3 Bb7 12.e6 fxe6 13.Rd1

Now i do not know how to choose between my candidates:

14 .. c5
14 .. Be7 then 15 .. 0-0
14 .. Qd7 then 15 .. 0-0-0
14 .. Qf6 then 15 .. 0-0-0

so i ended with 14 .. c5 just because it was the only one i could calculate and it seemed not so bad.
How could i improve in this?

Thank you,

89jj

notmtwain

Jul 25, 2017

0

#2

89jj wrote:

Hi,
Trying to improve my play, i understood that i do not know how to handle position without forcing move, or in other words i can not evaluate lines without forcing moves.
For example yesterday i reached this position, i was black:

1.d4 e5 2.e4 Nc6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Qd3 d6 5.c3 b6 6.Qc4 Bb7 7.Nbd2 Na5 8.Qb4 Nxe4 9.Nxe4 Bxe4 10.dxe5 Bxf3 11.Be3 Bb7 12.e6 fxe6 13.Rd1

Now i do not know how to choose between my candidates:

14 .. c5
14 .. Be7 then 15 .. 0-0
14 .. Qd7 then 15 .. 0-0-0
14 .. Qf6 then 15 .. 0-0-0

so i ended with 14 .. c5 just because it was the only one i could calculate and it seemed not so bad.
How could i improve in this?

Thank you,

89jj

You showed only 13 moves. At any rate, it's a tough thing to figure out what to the "best" move is in such positions. There usually would be a center configuration of pawns giving you clues.

Fortunately, you are already a piece and a pawn up, so any of them would work. You left out 13..d5 as a possibility too.

Personally, I like 13..Be7 preparing to castle kingside and putting the rook on the open f file.

89jj

Aug 24, 2017

0

#3

Thank you guys for your answers, in the end is all a matter of the weakness of the position: trying to take advantage of them, improving pieces position and coordination mixed with player "taste", right?

mog926

Sep 2, 2017

0

#4

On move 7 why are you attacking his queen? you are putting your knight on the flank and it's kind of early to start an attack...

white should've played Qa4 and then back to Qc2

You took advantage of his mistakes though. Nxe4 was good but you should've also looked at exd4 first before exchanges major pieces because it isolates whites pawn if he takes with the pawn, or gives you 4 pawns to 3 on the queen side if white takes with the queen.

mog926

Sep 2, 2017

0

#5

for your c5 move...I think it's okay (like a 5/10, 10 being the best move) because you are winning by a lot

The goal is to castle to give your opponent less opportunity to attack you though.

You have to think about the consequences..what does c5 do? it attacks the queen, but it weakens your d6 pawn slightly, it also gives the white queen a chance to move to attack you!

So you are giving white a turn to counter attack before finishing your development, you lose 1 tempo. It's only a pawn move...it's usually better to move a major piece like bishop, knight, pawns are only moved to help you speed up your development usually. In this instance you slowed down your own development.

rickr705

Sep 2, 2017

0

#6

In situations without forcing moves, calculating is ineffective. There are too many possible responses to consider.
Instead you should rely on general chess principles. Things like...develop your least active piece, limit your opponent's activity, create an outpost, etc.

89jj

Sep 2, 2017

0

#7

mog926 wrote:

On move 7 why are you attacking his queen? you are putting your knight on the flank and it's kind of early to start an attack...

white should've played Qa4 and then back to Qc2

You took advantage of his mistakes though. Nxe4 was good but you should've also looked at exd4 first before exchanges major pieces because it isolates whites pawn if he takes with the pawn, or gives you 4 pawns to 3 on the queen side if white takes with the queen.

I don t really remember why on move 7 i made Na5, but probably because i tried to gain a pawn and open the diagonal for Bishop.
Then probably my plan was Rc8 then c7-c5.
To be honest i don t know if i had seen Qa4+ -> Qc2

89jj

Sep 2, 2017

0

#8

DeirdreSkye wrote:

A position in which you are a piece up and already winning is not a good example to ask for evaluation advice.

As a general rule though , when there are no threats in sight , it's a good moment t plan ahead and decide where do you want your pieces.

In your position , the first thing I would think was to castle and the second to reposition Na5 to a better square.

The immediate 13...Be7 falls into 14.Qg4 which threatens 2 pawns(g7 and e6).Because you are up in material , it doesn't really matter if you decide to give a pawn but let's assume you are a tough guy and you don't want to give away the pawn.Then preparing long castling is the other choice and 13...Qd7 becomes an option(followed by long castling ,Nc6 and Be7-Bf6).

That doesn't mean 13...c5 is not good.With your material superiority few moves don't win but it's not a move you need in my opinion.

The only reason i chose that position was that the game was the last i played, so i still remembered my thoughts. I agree that "With your material superiority few moves don't win but it's not a move you need in my opinion."