As white, if your opponent doesn't have a dark squared bishop it's going to be a lot safer. Also, if some of the centre pawns are locked. Otherwise it's probably going to be a mix of experience and judgement.
When to push the f-pawn?
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jetfighter13 wrote:
You forgot the kings gambit
That's one example where it's a bad idea.
Scottrf wrote:
jetfighter13 wrote:
You forgot the kings gambit
That's one example where it's a bad idea.
Haha let's not turn this into a thread about the merits of the King's Gambit. I'm mainly interested in pushing the f-pawn as a positional idea.
Mar 23, 2014
0
#6
Scottrf wrote:
jetfighter13 wrote:
You forgot the kings gambit
That's one example where it's a bad idea.
Not exactly but for the sake of the op let's not debate here, and if we do please be more polite than pfren
I have been really grinding early f pawn strikes on chess.com for some time now. It is a tricky manuveur, and once you gain an understanding of it's chances to strike it will be your ally against most moderate and lower scaled players. KGA, three pawns game is a great example of the potency of f4, I suggest you check out some games. Pushing f pawns makes very quick development with lots of attacking chances inevitable. For either side. I currently play Bird mainline, KG, Dutch defense and Latvian gambits, all of my current repertoire is based around the f pawns frontier and focusing the game around it's arsenal of ambitous attacks and sacrifices.
Jan 16, 2016
0
#8
I usually go by the opening.
All the examples you gave (Bird, King's Gambit, Dutch, etc.) clearly move the f-pawn the full 2 squares within the first 3 moves and all those openings have names and all are well-known, so there's no question that those are reasonably sound (barring controversial, questionable gambits like the Latvian Gambit). Similarly, many 3-or 4-pawn attacks by White such as in the main line Najdorf Sicilian, Gran Prix Sicilian, and Austrian Attack of the Pirc are well-known for using f4 in their kingside attacks, as are a number of defenses by Black such as certain variations of the Ruy Lopez and Petrov's Defense, which are well-known for using ...f5. Similarly, many openings commonly use f3 or ...f6, such as the Yugoslav Attack against the Dragon Sicilian, or many variations of the Caro-Kann or French Defense by both sides, but anyone who knows anything about those openings knows those standard moves.
Some of the times you are flirting with disaster are when: (1) You play P-KB3 with the intent of defending the K4 pawn, in defenses that resemble Damiano's Defense, whether you're playing White or Black; (2) When you're in a conventional-looking position whose opening name and character is unknown to you and you play P-B3 to drive off an enemy piece from the vicinity of your castled king; (3) You play ...f5 as Black in a gambit that is either known to be questionable (e.g., Englund Gambit, Latvian Gambit, or 1. e4 e5 2. f4 f5) or is so novel that there exists no name or analysis of it.
So as usual, it depends, but I believe the situations can be divided into fairly reliable cases like those I mentioned above, which cover probably over 95% of the positions you'll ever encounter. Therefore some advice that could sum it all up nicely is: "Know your openings to the extent that you know if it is safe to push the f-pawn in each, and when in doubt: don't."
I know the principle that the f-pawn is the most dangerous to advance early, because it exposes the weak h4-d8 diagonal (h5-d1 diagonal for white) to attacks on the uncastled king. But I also know that several openings include an early f-pawn advance, including the Dutch, the King's Indian Samisch, the Latvian gambit, and even of course the Bird opening.
So my questions is: what are the general positional considerations that would indicate whether an f-pawn push is safe, dangerous, or even recommended? I know specific things like in the Samisch it reinforces the pawn center and white usually castles queenside anyway; I'm looking for more general principles.
Edit: And of course who could forget the King's Gambit!