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Tactical Ability v Opening Knowledge

Tactical Ability v Opening Knowledge

The Planet Greenpawn

Tactical Ability v Opening Knowledge


When you log onto RHP you are presented with games ending
in checkmate, If I don’t recognise the final position from a previous
log in game I spin through it to test and brush up my tactical eye.

(and of course seeking inspiration for the next blog.) πŸ™‚

I often spot right away missed tricks and it’s not uncommon
to see it is the eventual loser who is the culprit.

If only players would take their time and yes I’m going to
say it again. Check all Checks.

Arayn - Sheffield4164 RHP 2009 tossed up an instructive few moves.
White to play.


If the Knight on d4 was not there then White could win
that unprotected Bishop on a3 with 1.Qa4+ and 2.Qxa3.

White could try 1.Nxe6 and if 1…fxe6 2.Qa4+.
But Black captures back with the King. 1.Nxe6 Kxe6
and there is no check on a4 winning the a3 Bishop.

So we dismiss that plan.

“What is it that greenpawn chappie is always saying? Check all Checks.”

Hopefully by now some of you would have seen 1.QxR+


1..KxQ and 2.Nc6+ wins back the Queen and White is a whole Rook up.

White missed it and instead stayed with Plan A.
The loose Bishop on a3. and played 1.Nb5


Time for Black to miss his trick.

Look at the position. If the White Queen was not covering e1
then 1…Qe1+ would mate.

Can we perhaps ignore attack on the a3 Bishop and chase
the Queen off protecting e1. Then without any further prompting
you should now be looking at 1…Rh8.


White cannot take the Rook, 2.Qf2 is forced and the coming Rh1+ is fatal.

Black failed to see 1…Rh8 and meekly retreated the Bishop to d6.
Two missed back to back tactical chances.
The game plodded on with Black finally winning on move 90!

Train yourself to look at and dissect every position in your games.

These tricks and combo’s are not the preserve of the good players.
They are there in your games but you miss them perhaps because
you think you are not good enough to see them so never look for them.
That is nonsense.

Look at the position. Take your time. Check all Checks.

Here is a full game showing you some more basic missed chances in action.

But first a word about OPENINGS.

Now I’ve got your attention. Yahoo Opening Talk.

no title

Weaker players are fascinated by openings.
The most common thread on the Chess Forum is about one
opening or another.

What opening did the first position come from?



You don’t know do you. The Opening had nothing to do with this game,

It does appear Black had a plus in the game and maybe he picked that
up in the opening. But if White had spotted QxR+ then who do
you blame. The Opening?

It’s not the opening that is going to score you points it is
middle game tactics.
You can turn a game around for or against you with just one
tactical trick or one slack move.

When you are good, and that means when you have the ability
to spot tactics and have faith in your play to convert what is
considered an opening plus and you are playing fellow good
players then by all means put a lot of effort into your opening.

Indeed a little knowledge with no tactical back up is
often worse than no knowledge.

spinit6 - Lundos RHP 2006



The following game starts at this position.



The opening moves were….

1.d4 d5 2.e4 e6 3.Nd2 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nf6 5.Bg5 Be7 6.Bxf6 Bxf6 7.Nxf6+ Qxf6 8.Nf3 0–0 9.Bd3 Nc6


or they could have been…

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 dxe4 5.Nxe4 Be7 6.Nxf6+ Bxf6 7.Bxf6 Qxf6 8.Nf3 0–0 9.Bd3 Nc6


or they could have been…

1.Nc3 Nf6 2.d4 d5 3.Bg5 e6 4.e4 dxe4 5.Nxe4 Be7 6.Nxf6+ Bxf6 7.Bxf6 Qxf6 8.Nf3 0–0 9.Bd3 Nc6


It’s the same position reach through a different move order.
This position has appeared more than 40 times on RHP with a variety
of move orders and has been won, lost and drawn in a variety of different ways.

It’s a simple transposition, nothing startling but perhaps a wee eye-opener
to those of you who worry about openings.
I’m looking at your games, believe me the improvement you seek
is not in the opening. It’s basic elementary tactics and the annoying thing is
if you just take your time your will see them.

(annoying from your point of view…..to me it’s hilarious.) πŸ˜‰

Here is the game and the fun starts from the same position but
reached via a different move order than any of the above.

eldullo - brunner RHP 2009



This next game is wonderful entertainment.
Finding wee gems like this making doing this blog
all the more worthwhile. I'm glad to share it.

marcoart - The Clarinet RHP 2008

The Planet Greenpawn

Last Post
12 Dec 24
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Blog since
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