Well, I play the English Opening so I'm delaying my occupation of the centre until my opponent has revealed his intentions. So let's say 1.c4 e5. He's now committed so I draw with 2.e3. He makes some other developing move like 2... Nf6. I target with 3.d4. Play might continue 3... exd4 4. exd4 and I now have a nice pawn centre and he has to start again.
Very simplistic, but you get the idea. You can use the same principle but with your knights and bishops
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1318052
This is about as good of an example as I can find:
After 3. Nf3, White forces a decision from Black. Black can either play a Reversed Alekhine's with 3...e4, when he'll have to worry about being overextended, or Black can enter a Reversed Pirc like he did with 3...Nc6.
White then plays 5. c4!, striking at the center from the flanks in true hypermodern style. If 5...dxc4 6. Qa4, threatens 7. Nxe5, allowing White to play 7. Qxc4, leaving him with a splendid Bg2 and an extra center pawn. Black is forced to play 5...d4 (He can try to just develop too, in which case the position will resemble a reversed Dragon), taking more space, a double edged decision, since it could turn out to be overextended. White's plan now revolves around arranging b4-b5, weakening e5, and playing e3 at some point to attack the d-pawn.
Note that 6...Be7?! is dubious on account of 7. b4! Bxb4 8. Nxe5! Nxe5 9. Qa4+ Nc6 10. Bxc6+ bxc6 11. Qxb4, when White is better. 6...Bd6 protects the e-pawn such that 7. b4 can then just be met by 7...Nxb4.
7. Na3 intends Nc2 at some point, eying further the b4 advance, but also the d4 pawn.
After 9. Nc2, Black needs to play ...a5 to stop b4 for a couple of moves. Notice that he can't really stop it forever, but it's worth the tempo since White has to use two tempi to prepare b4 again. That said, since White gains control of the a-file later, maybe it's not a good idea. Who knows.
NOT 10. a3? a4!, when White will never get b4 in because of axb3 en passant. So 10. b3 is played first.
After this, White follows up with his plan nicely, playing b4, then b5, then e3, when it's hard for Black to maintain his center. He decides to cede the center with ...dxe3, and runs into some problems.
Note that the White queen ends up on a1 in this position. This is more common than you might think in hypermodern systems like the Reti. Black has enormous problems down the a1-h8 diagonal and with the e-pawn, so much that he decides to trade it for the b-pawn. Geller still gets hacked up along the long diagonal!
Truly a great game, one of my favorites! Larsen rules the Earth! 😀
It happens much more in the Reti than in the English. Here's another famous example of hypermodern chess.
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1007029
Note that White held back his center pawns, and once the dust had settled, he had managed to trade his a and b-pawns for Black's c and d-pawns! A truly hypermodern accomplishment. Not only did Reti's central pawns roll over Rubenstein, but the open a and b-files gave White a lot of queenside pressure. Note the Qa1 again! 😀
Well after a ropey start with 1.Nf3 he pulls it back with 4.c4! (I have a slight obsession with moving my pawn to c4.)
Seriously though, when I see things like that it just makes me realise how clunky my own play is. After he takes the King's Bishop he's starts switching his attention between pressure on the Queenside and his pawn centre. Really graceful.
Here's a game in the Reti I played nearly 6 years ago, probably about a year after I started playing chess. At the time me and my friendly nemesis were probably about the same rating. The White queen makes it to a1 and everything! 😀
Game 145930
Pretty good, but you're no Reti are you? 😉 Well it does have a nice pc4 in it. Quite the crowd pleaser aren't we?
Only joking, really good game.
Actually, I was just looking back though your graph. Nice to see you were once rated at 1197. I'm wondering if I'm about to crash back to 1550 or maintain myself at 1700. Gives us all hope 🙂
Originally posted by LukerikHere's one of my own with a Sokolsky opening, not sure it qualifies as being hypermodern, though.
Anyway, stop being bashful and show us an example from one of your own games. Come on, we know you want to 😉 😀
Game 5652468
The exchange of my b-pawn for his e-pawn gives Black time to develop as my d- and e-pawns remain at bay (apart from e3) and move in later to destroy Black, helped by some questionable moves on Black's side.
Originally posted by AThousandYoungHi,
What does it mean to "target center Pawns" in hypermodern style? I know there are Knights and fianchettos, Alekhine's Defense etc. but I'd like to see some examples. Got any?
When White has a what we call a good centre,
at least two pawns on either c4,d4,e4,or f4, then Black must
disturb them with c5,d5,e5 or f5 depending on the centre situation
and the placing of the minor pieces.
Look at this.
The Pawns are very good covering four critical squares in
the Black position. But if you can pull one pawn foward,
for example the d-pawn to d5 then e5/c5 is a potential base
for a Knight.
The KID, Pirc/Modern set ups encourage the pawn mass
hoping to prove that when disturbed Black can exploit
the holes the advanced pawns have created and also state
these pawn when too far advanced are weak.
As I said, it all depends where White places his minor pieces how
Black re-acts against the centre.
The placing of White's QB is often critical in this decision.
For example if it's on g5 then it's unwise to launch e5
as a centre buster.
If the QB is on e3 then c5 is usually prevented.
Timing your centre attack is very important.
Too late and you will get swamped.
Too early and it won't have the desired effect.
You usually only get one shot at the centre. It must tell.
I usually kick off a central thrust by hacking the f3 Knight
because it controls d4 & e5. (see game below).
There are many centre breaking tricks at Black disposal,
pawn sacs, pseudo piece sacs. Undermining pawn shoves.
If you play the Black side of these openings you must know them
all and must be alert because the chance to play them usually
only comes around once.
As with everything only experience can help you from here.
Though a gifted 'feel' for handling such positions helps.
I'm of the opinion that KID/Pirc players are born and not created.
You cannot wake up one morning and decide you are a Pirc player
and rush out and buy a book on it.
As Larry Evans said; "You must know yourself."
Traps in the Fianchetto Defences by Howson (I think that is his name)
is a very good book showing you the strengths and weakness's of
broad centre's from actual play.
A lot of the traps are not 0-1 in 15 moves.
They are positional traps where the centre has been broken and
Black has the better game.
Finally here is an example of a blitz game I played on here recently.
It's not the greatest game in the world but it's one I
can lay my hands on right away.
I can win a piece with 14...f5 but at Blitz with me it's
usually the first trick I see I play.
It perhaps shows my train of thought. I am always looking for
ways to chip away at a centre. It what I saw first.
The centre busting tricks are based around the f-apwn being shoved
forward exposing the White King to pins/checks on the g1-a7 diagonal
and unprotected pieces in the White camp.
When the pawns go forward things on the third rank are hanging.
Twice my opponent fell for my little tricks revolving around this theme.
Stonewall v Pirc.
First I win a central pawn with a psuedo Knight sac and before
my opponent has a chance to recover I win another and then the exchange,
skipping into an easily won ending.
Let us leave the last words to Tarrasch.
"Chess is a terrible game: If you have no centre, your opponent
has a freer position; if you do have a centre, then you really have
something to worry about. "
Originally posted by greenpawn34This helps. So you want to make homes for Knights. Looking at white's QB never crossed my mind. I've always made this choice: if White plays d4, ...cxd4 and my center Pawns live on e6 and d6; if White plays d3, I play d6 and g6 instead, though I often eventually play e5 in this line.
Originally posted by AThousandYoungThe question as written is certainly legitimate. I would add that it is important to realize that Black's strategy in a hypermodern opening is not merely to (a) target White's central pawns, but also to (b) target the central squares (where pawns OR pieces of either color may be now or go later). The exact deployment will depend upon the details of any given opening.
What does it mean to "target center Pawns" in hypermodern style? I know there are Knights and fianchettos, Alekhine's Defense etc. but I'd like to see some examples. Got any?
Additionally, a lot of Black's tactical threats involving the center may actually derive from (c) simultaneous threats to unmoved pawns in the second rank, and/or back rank pieces (typically unmoved rooks trapped by undeveloped neighboring pieces) -- these threats usually involving fianchettoed Black bishops whether or not with the assistance of a knight or queen. In this strategy. White is forced to choose between ceding the center positionally (whether having his center chopped down or otherwise disrupted, sometimes with the loss of a pawn) or else losing other material in the back ranks.
Black wants to make White's defense of the center complicated to calculate and ultimately to undermine it: that is to say, while White is filling the center with pawns, Black wants to develop pieces BUT with the purpose of targeting central squares for his own timely pawn advances, thereby forcing White to make concessions in his control of the center. Needless to say this is a double edged sword, and as I said earlier hypermodern openings generally require a much more sophisticated understanding of these matters by Black than do many classical openings. Greenpawn34's comments about timing are particularly cogent. But not only does Black generally need to time his counterpunches properly, but also to carry out the right combination of piece and pawn development in the right order.