...that I didn't know how to attack.
As black against 1.b4... on move 10 having played OK so far while my opponent had made a
couple of weak moves (IMHO) ...it's also not regarded as one of the stronger openings... but I
had no idea how to proceed and capitalise on it.
What to do with this better position? I grabbed some of the books on attacking chess that
I own but haven't read - studied as much as I could in the next couple of days then made a
move.
It was the revelation of what I didn't know and needing specific knowledge that accelerated
the learning. The books made more sense now as did the game.
I'd welcome comments on the continuation or any part of the game.
Although I won - I suspect my opponent made a few speedy moves towards the end so I don't really know if the attack was sound.
Our other game is a QGA (a tournament final - and still playing no comments please) but when it's done I'll post it in this thread as I had the same question i.e....done good in the opening - now what?
Thanks - I started off with Richard Pallisers book "Beating Unusual Openings" which suggested
playing 1.b4...c6, 2. Bb2...Qb6
It the says that 3.a3 is pretty much forced as the alternatives of 3.c3 and 3.Bc3: "are almost too ugly to contemplate"
Well my opponent played 3.Bb3 and so I was out of book but with a potentially better start.
I think White's position was OK until 14.gxf3?? I don't know what he was thinking of. After that he played very poorly. 17. ... f4! was the move of the game.
20. ... Rf6 with 21. ... Rh6# would have decided the matter a few moves quicker. This should be a reflex action - if your opponent's king is trapped on the side of the board by your queen or rook, look to see if you can get another one in to deliver a speedy mate.
Originally posted by Fat LadyThanks - I was working to stop Rf1 but of course this wouldn't have mattered if the rook was on f6 as you suggest. I had the ghost of my earlier concern about the king getting away behind the rook still haunting me.
I think White's position was OK until 14.gxf3?? I don't know what he was thinking of. After that he played very poorly. 17. ... f4! was the move of the game.
20. ... Rf6 with 21. ... Rh6# would have decided the matter a few moves quicker. This should be a reflex action - if your opponent's king is trapped on the side of the board by your queen or rook, look to see if you can get another one in to deliver a speedy mate.
I think you're referring to this position:
(I should tell, I'm looking at this with Rybka 3 here). I think the idea you missed was 10...a5, attacking the b pawn twice. c3 locks in the bishop, bxa5 activates your rook, so only decent choice is to play 11.b5 himself. and now I believe the tension on the queenside is in your favor. he isn't threatening anything, but you are.
when you played 10...b5, you took away that b5 square from him, but now he could've played 11.a4! himself, and at least get some comfort in the queenside.
I don't think you should always aim at attacking the king, maybe you were in the wrong kind of mindset here.
I play such positions (positions like white's in your game) with black in some of my openings, and when I analyze the games I lost later with a computer, I always find out that my positon was actually a lot harder to crack than it looked.
they really are. notice that you don't have any open files yet. you haven't connected and activated your rooks, your bishop still needs somewhere to go, so I think it was too early to look for ways to attack.
a continuation would be something like 11...Bd6 (to free the knight on d7 from the defense of the e pawn, and also threaten e4, winning the pawn on h2 in some lines, and clear the e file for the rook). 12.Nbd2 a5 13.Qb1 (indirectly defending the b pawn.), and now Nb6, Re8, Bb7 are all fine. it looks like black is slowly pushing white into a zugzwang.
Originally posted by philidor positionby the way, I made a mistake and posted the position after black played 10...b5. I was talking about the position just before that.
I think you're referring to this position: [fen]r1b2rk1/p1qnbppp/2p2n2/1p1pp3/1P6/P3PN2/1BPPBPPP/RN1Q1RK1 w - b6 0 11[/fen]
(I should tell, I'm looking at this with Rybka 3 here). I think the idea you missed was 10...a5, attacking the b pawn twice. c3 locks in the bishop, bxa5 activates your rook, so only decent choice is to play 11.b5 himself. ...[text shortened]... Nb6, Re8, Bb7 are all fine. it looks like black is slowly pushing white into a zugzwang.
I play this opening in the majority of my games with great success. The player with the white pieces in this game had absolutely no understanding of the opening's objectives.
When played correctly, this opening is not weak. In blitz play, you gain considerable advantage in time and space. It is also an excellent tool for otb tournament play. I don't like to play openings that are nothing but memorized lines like the Najdorf, Dragon, Colle, etc. The Queens' Indian is the worst -- there may be as many as 25 moves deep that are memorized. This is what Fischer was talking about.
It is really funny to see players not think and only play moves straight out of a database -- many of these lines are losing lines and people continue to play them because they have been played so many times.
My rating would not improve until I learned the endgame and quit playing memorized lines.
Chess should be played like Samuel Reshevsky played it!
Originally posted by heinzkatb5 was the move I played when I was stuck. I had completed the opening - or so I thought at the time - but didn't know how to launch an attack from here - even though I thought I was better placed. b5 seemed to restrict whites bishop a bit.
GG, only b5 seemed a bit strange to me
I must try and find an alternative better move and a plan.