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Has anyone taken this online test?

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TheMutatedDonkey

this guy doesn't know how to do math, does he?

Farm_Hand

Some of the explanations are overly simplistic. It's like a low rated player trying to imagine a reason a move is good.

 

Right away with question #1 it says black is better because he will queen.

null

 

"OMG a queen!" - the beginner squeals.

But both sides queen at the same time so this is silly. 1.c5 b3 2.c6 bxa 3.c7 a1=Q 4.c8=Q

Black is better because he queens first and has 4...Qf1 mate.

In Q endings like this there are often perpetuals to draw. The point is black has checkmate so there is no draw.

 

 

The last one says white is better because of the blockade in the center. Ok... sort of that's correct.

null

 

More to the point is black is passive and has a bad structure while white has both kingside attacking chances and the better endgame. It makes it sound like d4 and e5 are blocking the pawns when more importantly they're blocking the b8-h2 diagonal and are active centralized pieces.

Farm_Hand

Hah, good point.

TheMutatedDonkey

yeah...