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Gummed up middle

Gummed up middle

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I've noticed a couple of games that I've looked at had a bunch of pieces sitting out there in the middle seemingly slowing things down. It doesn't seem to be the normal way of things. Is this a just a question of style?

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How players seek advantage and what they are doing with their pieces can be a matter of style.

Chess Strategy Books usually define central structures as:

Open Centre, Closed Centre, Fluid/Dynamic Centre and Fixed Centre.

They then give ideas how to play in each structure. Each type of game can look quite different.

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Centralise your pieces!
I had this position once.Was a bit disappointed when he didn't play 16.... Re8.


toet.

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Thank you Ragwort. That's just what I wanted to know.

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Hi toeternitoe that's one interesting layout! I must say that I've never seen anything like that before. Normally I get stuck dancing around pawns.

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Here is one recent game where my opponent simply imploded and his pieces totally balled up together: Look at the end position, his pieces are useless, not even close to co-ordinated. I am black here a piece up at the end, my queen set to barrel into his queenside and he literally can't do a thing to stop it. My queen takes the pawn with check and soon forces the trade of rook and queen for knight and queen, leaving me a full rook up and still be barreling into his queenside with more pawns.
After my last queen move, he is forced to go R-f1 to stave off mate in 2 but that is what allows me to trade knight and queen for rook and queen, since I was already a knight up, I would be a whole rook up and my h5 pawn just itching to advance!

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Hi sonhouse I do like the line of marching pawns. I was just wondering why you didn't ignore his bishop attack and go straight to a queen check? Did I miss something? Maybe I'm just tired. 😕

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Originally posted by stretchkiwi
Hi sonhouse I do like the line of marching pawns. I was just wondering why you didn't ignore his bishop attack and go straight to a queen check? Did I miss something? Maybe I'm just tired. 😕
I think you are talking about somewhere after 23 f4? I would have lost a pawn if I attacked queen with queen on g3. It would have given him some scope with his bishop if he got in f4 with the pawn, his bishop would be attacking my h pawn. The way it was in the game, the bishop was tied down, useless. So when I attacked white's h pawn with queen, the whole stack of cards tumbled because the h pawn could not be defended and it would have led to mate or I get to be a rook up.

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A leisurely build up after all White's pieces get kinda stuck on the Queenside - notice how I spurn the capture of the Queen to keep them under lock and key!

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Originally posted by chessicle
A leisurely build up after all White's pieces get kinda stuck on the Queenside - notice how I spurn the capture of the Queen to keep them under lock and key!

[pgn][Event "August 2010 Threesomes II"]
[Site "http://www.redhotpawn.com"]
[Date "2010.08.17"]
[EndDate "2010.09.01"]
[Round "1"]
[White "johnnybike"]
[Black "chessicle"]
[WhiteRating "1331 ...[text shortened]... Bb6xf2 28. Qe1xf2 Rf8xf2 29. Kg1xf2 Ra8f8 30. Kf2e3 Qe6h6 0-1
[/pgn]
One bad move there downhill follows.

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Originally posted by chessicle
A leisurely build up after all White's pieces get kinda stuck on the Queenside - notice how I spurn the capture of the Queen to keep them under lock and key!

[pgn][Event "August 2010 Threesomes II"]
[Site "http://www.redhotpawn.com"]
[Date "2010.08.17"]
[EndDate "2010.09.01"]
[Round "1"]
[White "johnnybike"]
[Black "chessicle"]
[WhiteRating "1331 ...[text shortened]... Bb6xf2 28. Qe1xf2 Rf8xf2 29. Kg1xf2 Ra8f8 30. Kf2e3 Qe6h6 0-1
[/pgn]
yes, because obviously capturing a queen for free while threatening to promote a pawn (with the threat on the rook still there) obviously isn't the best move. But, hey. When your opponent is just moving the same pieces back and forth you have the luxury of winning in many different ways.

Clock
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You want to "gum-up" that middle to a degree. Control the four center squares of the board. Use your opening (whatever style) to first protect the control of center squares but then to open the center up to promote a pawn for first advantage.

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