the c-pawn is threatened.
black can pin the white knight at c3
white can force the retreat of the black knight on b3 to d7 with c4-c5, also hampering the dark bishop.
white has not yet castled and cannot yet castle.
white has a rook on the c-file and may be able to open it with cxd5 targeting the somewhat weak c7 pawn.
blacks knight on f6 is not pinned and can move to e4
whites knight on f3 can advance safely to e5
Originally posted by GolubAt first glance I like whites position because it has good development...the light squared Bishop has waited ,so as not to waste a move if needed to recapture on c4...but then I see the dark knight on b6 mmhhh maybe this was blacks last move as the knight must have got here via d7...using a move but creating a double attack on c4.
Can someone help me evaluating this position?
White to move.
[fen]r1bq1rk1/ppp1bppp/1n2pn2/3p2B1/2PP4/2N1PN2/PP3PPP/2RQKB1R w K - 0 8[/fen]
Aha just push the pawn to c5..kick the dark knight and give myself a nice long pawn chain. But where will the black knight go knight go...c4...yikes a supported knight on my side of the board..so soon...and I have the white pieces...or would it really come forward? And what about that dark bishop on e7 ready to hit b4 pinning my knight...oh if only this were a puzzle then I could just sac a couple of pieces and do a check mate.
Mind you blacks light squared bishops a bit jammed in and my rooks lined up on the soon to be half open c file and look at the light squares on the board...I own them!! But if I play c x d5 and they recapture with e x d5 then they will get the bishop out...or would they recapture with the b6 knight....
oh help...this will need a long think and some piece shuffling to resolve...any stronger players out their willing to help? My thought processes aren't up to it despite reading Varenka's post three times today!
Good position to study though as I play the queens gambit...thanks
BTW Golub...if you don't mind me asking - how come you have some games resigned after just one move...how does this occurr?
Now having seen ChessJesters post where the b6 knight coming to c4 wasn't considered I thought:
if I play 1. c4...Nc4 2.Bxc4 Now black has used three moves to get the knight exchanged and I have used one move to capture it. Also I'm exchanging a knight for a bishop but blacks light squared bishop is still closed in and my long pawn chain closes the game a bit and this makes the knights more valuable.
So this makes 1.c4 even more attractive..but I will need to look carefully at where that knight is heading and what the consequences might be. Perhaps not so good for my c file rook.
Looks like the knights got to go back to d7 losing two tempi...good for me bad for them!
Originally posted by pootstickAnd I also managed to play a few moves in some games and THEN resigning.. it's what brought me from 1620 something down to 1420 something.. after which I haven't played enough to catch up. I recommend resigning at move 1 instead of move 4, if you don't have time to play 🙂
to lessen gameload if you resign tourney games before they begin you don't lose ratings
Normally white wouldn't play c5 because black can counterattack with b6 and possibly e5. But here, white can take advantage of the tempo.
1.c5 Nd7 2.Bd3 c6 3. O-O b6 (black can't easily play 3...e5 because it loses a pawn after 4.Bxf6 Bxf6 5.dxe5 Nxe5 6.Nxe5 Bxe5 7.Bxh7ch!) 4.b4 bxc5 5.bxc5 and now white has options of playing along the b file with Rb1 and Bf4 and Qa4(if black doesn't play Qa5) putting extra pressure. If black attempts a simplifying exchange By moving the f6 knight, then Bxe7 followed by e4 is very good. In fact, the e4 advance is always lurking.
An alternative line of play which may need further investigation is 1.cxd5 and if black recaptures exd5 then black is in a position like that of the exchange variation except that black's knight seems out of place. Normally, it would travel towards the kingside to counterattack there or is played to b6 behind an advanced b5 pawn to stop a minority attack. If black recaptures with a knight, then e4 is a natural followup for white.