in his book Mr. Emms gives the following variation, p.62, 'attacking with 1.e4...bishops opening, ...other second moves for black', under the heading 2...f5 the calabrese counter gambit. 1.e4 e5, 2.Bc4 f5, 3.d3 Nf6, 4.Nf3 Nc6, 5.0-0 Bc5, 6.Nc3 d6, 7.Bg5 (here he comments that its black who is playing a Kings gambit declined a tempo down and white should try to make use of that tempo), for example 7...Na5, 8.Bxf6 Qxf6, 9.Nd5 Qd8, 10.b4! Nxc4, 11.bxc5 fxe4, 12.dxc4 exf3, 13.Qxf3
my question is this, why is white better? is it in the fact that black will have difficulty castling? however take a look at whites tripled c pawns, and also the isolated a pawn, is this position really better as Mr.Emms suggests?
Originally posted by robbie carrobieIf its a tactical opening then pawn structure is nowhere near as important as making sure your king is tucked away and safe. Besides, the tripled pawns can be used like a battering ram to force into blacks position.... "bad" pawns are usually positionally bad but more often than not give some dynamic advantages. There is good and bad in everything on the chess board and that's why chess is very often compared to life.
in his book Mr. Emms gives the following variation, p.62, 'attacking with 1.e4...bishops opening, ...other second moves for black', under the heading 2...f5 the calabrese counter gambit. 1.e4 e5, 2.Bc4 f5, 3.d3 Nf6, 4.Nf3 Nc6, 5.0-0 Bc5, 6.Nc3 d6, 7.Bg5 (here he comments that its black who is playing a Kings gambit declined a tempo down and white sh ...[text shortened]... ed c pawns, and also the isolated a pawn, is this position really better as Mr.Emms suggests?
Hi tomtom you are correct, but surely as the game progresses these weakness will become more apparent, in this position black has difficulties castling at the moment, but who is to say that this will last indefinitely, for example there are few attacking pieces, only a queen and a knight to hassle the black king and i believe that black has the resources to defend, perhaps exchange his latent bishop for blacks well posted knight, also if black does manage to castle, perhaps long, then whites advantage has dissipated and it is black who stands objectively better! ummmm, i think! but then who am i to argue with such an eminent scholar as the author.
Originally posted by robbie carrobieYou keep saying "if black manages to castle" blacks castling won't happen for a while and by then white can cash in his advantage or it can dwindle down into equality or worse. Initiative is a very tricky thing.
Hi tomtom you are correct, but surely as the game progresses these weakness will become more apparent, in this position black has difficulties castling at the moment, but who is to say that this will last indefinitely, for example there are few attacking pieces, only a queen and a knight to hassle the black king and i believe that black has the resou ...[text shortened]... y better! ummmm, i think! but then who am i to argue with such an eminent scholar as the author.
RC dude
here the White has already prepared his delicious haggis (out of that very Black, surely Mr Emms has right and therefore whit's fur ye'll no go by ye🙂
13. ...c6 because what else?, and then comes an a la Seiravan good ole tactical blow: 14.cxd6! Qxd6 15.N3 Qf6 16.Qh5+ g6 17.Qe2 Bf5 18.f4 0-0-0 19.fxe5 Qe7 20.Qe3 Bxc2 21.Rac1 Bd3 22.Rfe1 Qh4 23.e6! Rh8 24.Nd5! cxd5 25.cxd5 and the White has two mean criminals bucked up with the whole Scotland Yard's force;
BTW, do you remember Korch at another thread quoting that it is very hard to "really understand" the difference between a good and a bad player? Mr. Emms' good example proves that he has right. Once we see a wonderful combination we say "oh it's so simple", but the whole set up and the dynamics and the potential of the pieces and the unique intuition and the sharp calculation of a GM are far beyond an amateur's like you and me "understanding"; the thesis, the antithesis and the whole final synthesis of this very position is invisible for an amateur, hard to be comprehend and therefore to be achieved from the advanced, and simply quite normal for the expert ("...and the White stands better", said Mr Emms with ease);
Strange things, tripled pawns. Logically they ought to always be awful, but in practice they result in lots of open and half-open lines which can result in the side with the tripled pawns often having the best attacking chances.
In this position neither side has a clearly won position, but White's in much easier to play in the short term. White's queen is preventing Black from castling kingside as well as exerting pressure on the pawn b7, dissuading Black from moving his bishop. White's knight stops Black's queen going to e7 and f6 or from straying away from protecting c7. White's rooks have good squares to go to - b1 and d1/e1; whereas Black's rooks are stuck where they are (Rf8 fails to Qh5+).
White's king is safe, Black's is fairly open and still quite a few moves away from castling. Black's surfeit of c-pawns prevent Black's natural freeing moves of c6 and d5.
What should Black do now? If he takes the pawn on c5 the d-file becomes dangerously open. White would plonk his rooks on d1 and e1 and the game would almost win itself.
Another attempt for Black is c6 followed by Qf6, but this leaves his d-pawn hanging and if he is not careful White will take it and then support it with another c-pawn!
I would guess that Be6 might be best for Black. e.g. 13. ... Be6 14. Rb1 Rb8 15. Rfe1.
Originally posted by black beetlenot a bad Scottish accent for a Greek dude, ah that cradle of civilization, anyhow, with reference to some of the moves proposed, c6, looks natural but it inadvertently weakens the d pawn and like you say is just asking for cxd6, the move which i think has some merit is the one which Fat lady also was keen on, Be6 with the idea, not of exchanging that troublesome knight, although the option is there, but of putting our bishop on f7, thus enabling Kingside castling, as The Lady mentioned, however its hard to see how black can defend his queen side pawns with the open b file and the white queen being very mobile and able to come to the queenside, maybe a3 or something, i dunno.
RC dude
here the White has already prepared his delicious haggis (out of that very Black, surely Mr Emms has right and therefore whit's fur ye'll no go by ye🙂
13. ...c6 because what else?, and then comes an a la Seiravan good ole tactical blow: 14.cxd6! Qxd6 15.N3 Qf6 16.Qh5+ g6 17.Qe2 Bf5 18.f4 0-0-0 19.fxe5 Qe7 20.Qe3 Bxc2 21.Rac1 Bd3 22.Rfe1 Qh4 ...[text shortened]... normal for the expert ("...and the White stands better", said Mr Emms with ease);
Originally posted by Fat LadyThis too drives to a forced variation: 13. ...Be6 14.a4 Qd7 15.Rab1! and the Black is over;
Strange things, tripled pawns. Logically they ought to always be awful, but in practice they result in lots of open and half-open lines which can result in the side with the tripled pawns often having the best attacking chances.
In this position neither side has a clearly won position, but White's in much easier to play in the short term. White's queen i ...[text shortened]... I would guess that Be6 might be best for Black. e.g. 13. ... Be6 14. Rb1 Rb8 15. Rfe1.
Originally posted by robbie carrobieOh once upon a time that cradle of civilization, anyhow, Mr Emms has right: the Black is clearly outplayed. The Lady proposed a minimax variation indeed, but the White force is just devastating; I would pick the White any time🙂
not a bad Scottish accent for a Greek dude, ah that cradle of civilization, anyhow, with reference to some of the moves proposed, c6, looks natural but it inadvertently weakens the d pawn and like you say is just asking for cxd6, the move which i think has some merit is the one which Fat lady also was keen on, Be6 with the idea, not of exchanging tha ...[text shortened]... white queen being very mobile and able to come to the queenside, maybe a3 or something, i dunno.
Originally posted by black beetleHi, sorry for questioning this, but what is the point of a4, it seems rather a wasted move to be honest, although, granted i may be missing something, because after 14.a4, black can easily play 15...Bf7 and castle easily.
This too drives to a forced variation: 13. ...Be6 14.a4 Qd7 15.Rab1! and the Black is over;
Originally posted by Fat LadyIn this game of mine even though I had tripled pawn I ended up winning. And just like you said it was because I planned on my making my game flow through open files and diagonals.
Strange things, tripled pawns. Logically they ought to always be awful, but in practice they result in lots of open and half-open lines which can result in the side with the tripled pawns often having the best attacking chances.
Originally posted by robbie carrobieWith a4 the White provokes the Black to void his 0-0-0 option, activates his a Rook, maintains the entasis at the centre, offers the Black the perfect baits ...BxNd5 and ...b6, therefore he forces the Black to play the pathetic ...a6 or the dangerous Qe7. Not bad for a simple pawn development. And here most of the players would choose to answer a4 with the "logical" Qe7;
Hi, sorry for questioning this, but what is the point of a4, it seems rather a wasted move to be honest, although, granted i may be missing something, because after 14.a4, black can easily play 15...Bf7 and castle easily.
If 16. ...Bf7 then 17.Nd3 Rb8 18.Rfd1 so the Black has to trade queens asap and suffer at a lost position, or he has to play 17. ...0-0, therefore after 18.Qxb7 dxc5 19.Rfd1 the White wins.