Hi, I have a few questions on chess. PLEASE only give answers to these questions (or some of them) if you have been in the top tenth or higher on a good server, thanks.
1. Take this position:
My current thinking is that I take it only if all my other pieces are in a good position to get to that side of the board quickly. Ideally my knight would be on c3 here, but it would be touch and go whether I take it or not. I have always taken with the knight and followed with the bishop, to give a pin on his knight, is this always correct play in that type of position?
Wow I can't believe you can only post one position per message... anyway...:
2.
I had the board flipped the other way around in winboard.... anyway the question is, should black play b5 and sacrifice the pawn? I've never done it myself. Obviously the a-pawn is valuable enough on the a-file, but it would seem to solve a couple of things if black just camikazied the g-pawn...
3. Is this a decent opening for black?
I honestly can't seem to figure out where I'm going wrong here... should I exchange pawns rather than ending up in this position? I mean I don't see where I went wrong... Here's the game if anyone cares...
1. d4 d5 2. e4 e6 3. e5 c5 4. c3 cxd4 5. cxd4 Bb4+ 6. Nc3 Ne7 7. Nf3 Nbc6 8. Bb5 O-O 9. Bg5 a6 10. Bd3
And one last question..... When is a knight better and when is a bishop better? Just tell me this... all other things excluded is it a correct approximation that a knight is better in the endgame with 5-8 pawns on the board and a bishop when there are 1-4?
So use this thread to ask/or answer questions about general chessplay.
Originally posted by UhOhSpaghettioA knight is better than a bishop when the position is closed. The endgame example depends, but generally I think that more pawns means better knights than b's. On the other hand, if there is only a few pawns on the board but they are all on the same side, knights are better.
And one last question..... When is a knight better and when is a bishop better? Just tell me this... all other things excluded is it a correct approximation that a knight is better in the endgame with 5-8 pawns on the board and a bishop when there are 1-4?
So use this thread to ask/or answer questions about general chessplay.
Originally posted by UhOhSpaghettioNo, I wouldn't take the pawn with either piece. You don't have a big enough attack to cause much harm anyway.
Hi, I have a few questions on chess. PLEASE only give answers to these questions (or some of them) if you have been in the top tenth or higher on a good server, thanks.
1. Take this position:
[fen]r1bqkb1r/pppp1p2/2n2n1p/4p1p1/4P2B/3P1N2/PPP2PPP/RN1QKB1R w KQkq g6 0 6[/fen]
My current thinking is that I take it only if all my other pieces a ...[text shortened]... h the bishop, to give a pin on his knight, is this always correct play in that type of position?
If black was castled on the kingside, my response may be different.
Originally posted by UhOhSpaghettioNo, don't kamikaze it, the c knight takes it, you threaten it, it retreats, then there is a perfect outpost for white's knight on c6 (I think that is the square).
Wow I can't believe you can only post one position per message... anyway...:
2.
[fen]r2q1rk1/1ppnbppp/3p1n2/p5B1/3NP3/2N5/PPPQ1PPP/2KR3R b - - 0 10[/fen]
I had the board flipped the other way around in winboard.... anyway the question is, should black play b5 and sacrifice the pawn? I've never done it myself. Obviously the a-pawn is valuable e ...[text shortened]... e a-file, but it would seem to solve a couple of things if black just camikazied the g-pawn...
Originally posted by prosoccerJust what I was going to say, except I would say that my response would be different.
No, I wouldn't take the pawn with either piece. You don't have a big enough attack to cause much harm anyway.
If black was castled on the kingside, my response may be different.
D
Originally posted by UhOhSpaghettioThe worst, apart from white misplaying the bishop to g5 (presumably white has played 10. Bg5). Instead 10. Bxh7+ means game over for black.
3. Is this a decent opening for black?
[fen]r1bq1rk1/1p2nppp/p1n1p3/3pP1B1/1b1P4/2NB1N2/PP3PPP/R2QK2R b KQ - 0 10[/fen]
I honestly can't seem to figure out where I'm going wrong here... should I exchange pawns rather than ending up in this position? I mean I don't see where I went wrong... Here's the game if anyone cares...
1. d4 d5 2. e4 e6 3. e5 c5 4. c3 cxd4 5. cxd4 Bb4+ 6. Nc3 Ne7 7. Nf3 Nbc6 8. Bb5 O-O 9. Bg5 a6 10. Bd3
[EDIT] Oops, never saw the pgn.
D
I also think those questions can be answered by lower-rated players than that. Do you realize how many good players there are below the ten first? If something, you should be asking for higher-rated players to answer. But actually, I think people will answer if they think they know the answer... and this is also kind of a discussion forum, so I think anyone should be able to answer =)
To answer your positions:
1. No, don't take the pawn like that. Instead, I think you should think of what idea you had in mind when you played those opening moves. I think you could do better earlier. There is also no "always correct" move in a type position like that. Each position is unique and there is usually more than one strong continuation.
2. Again, what's your idea with b5? I don't see the point in it. Black should probably look out for the centre and his kings wing. Would also be interesting to know the earlier moves and ideas you have.
3. Just looking at the second move (haven't looked deeper), I don't see why you don't take the pawn. The blackmar-dieter gambit is considered to be an opening which gives only illusionary activity (at least according to my opening books).
4. This is not a real answer, but I just wonder what you're trying to get out of the answer to open up this position. Really, some background on why this particular position is interesting is needed before I take my time to sit down and analyse it for you.
The question of Bishop and Knight is usually answered, the knight is usally better in closed positions and the bishop in open ones. But this is only a generalization, and taking it as a rule is wrong. If you understand why it usually is this way, you should also be able to tell which is best in a given situation.
Originally posted by UhOhSpaghettioPlaying b5 would just give a pawn away because after Ndxb5 Black receives no compensation. If the idea was to get some play going on the g file then it would only work if you could move the Knight away from b5 after you had some pressure on it. In this case you can't because of d6 which would become very weak.
Wow I can't believe you can only post one position per message... anyway...:
2.
[fen]r2q1rk1/1ppnbppp/3p1n2/p5B1/3NP3/2N5/PPPQ1PPP/2KR3R b - - 0 10[/fen]
I had the board flipped the other way around in winboard.... anyway the question is, should black play b5 and sacrifice the pawn? I've never done it myself. Obviously the a-pawn is valuable e ...[text shortened]... e a-file, but it would seem to solve a couple of things if black just camikazied the g-pawn...
Originally posted by UhOhSpaghettioYou went wrong when you traded your c pawn and then played Bb4+. In this type of opening you should play moves like Nc6, Qb6, and Nh6-f5 to put a lot of pressure on d4.
3. Is this a decent opening for black?
[fen]r1bq1rk1/1p2nppp/p1n1p3/3pP1B1/1b1P4/2NB1N2/PP3PPP/R2QK2R b KQ - 0 10[/fen]
I honestly can't seem to figure out where I'm going wrong here... should I exchange pawns rather than ending up in this position? I mean I don't see where I went wrong... Here's the game if anyone cares...
1. d4 d5 2. e4 e6 3. e5 c5 4. c3 cxd4 5. cxd4 Bb4+ 6. Nc3 Ne7 7. Nf3 Nbc6 8. Bb5 O-O 9. Bg5 a6 10. Bd3