Go back
Plain-ish recapture vs. speculative queen foray

Plain-ish recapture vs. speculative queen foray

Only Chess

h
Hopeless romantic

The sticks

Joined
01 Oct 06
Moves
41291
Clock
13 Aug 11
Vote Up
Vote Down

White to play in the following position:



Black has just captured on e4. Notice black's threat to the h2 pawn, which may-or-may-not be a problem.

White's options are:

Recapture with the queen on e4, after which Nf6 would shore up things for black and force white to find a useful spot for his queen. Any other move by black and white has some interesting options.

... or ...

Forget about the recapture and go for a speculative queen foray with Qxf7+, followed by Kd1, Qxg6, Re1 and further pressure from white on the kingside


What would you do and why?

Full game:

E

Joined
05 Jun 11
Moves
521
Clock
13 Aug 11
Vote Up
Vote Down

There's nothing speculative about Qxf7. It's a very forcing line and there's really no excuse for missing it here.



If you want to improve in chess these are the kinds of variations you should really try and focus on (3-5 move forcing lines). There are hundreds of these lines in every game. Captures, recaptures, checks, threats. Keep it simple but calculate all of them through to the end.

h
Hopeless romantic

The sticks

Joined
01 Oct 06
Moves
41291
Clock
13 Aug 11
Vote Up
Vote Down

Interesting line. Is it that clear cut? I'm already down a knight and after Qe7 Qxh6 black's king can move to c7 and black will have connected rooks to punt the queen away soon enough.

E

Joined
05 Jun 11
Moves
521
Clock
13 Aug 11
Vote Up
Vote Down

No it's not clear cut. White would be better, black would be worse, but there would be a long road ahead. If I had the choice between my final position and the line you gave though:



There's really nothing to discuss. White's down a pawn for nothing in the above position. Only black could be better IMO.

q

Joined
22 Oct 10
Moves
1975
Clock
16 Aug 11
Vote Up
Vote Down

Originally posted by Elmyr
There's nothing speculative about Qxf7. It's a very forcing line and there's really no excuse for missing it here.

[pgn][Event "July 2011 Mini Banded Threesomes II 1700"] [Site "?"] [Date "????.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "?"] [Black "?"] [Result "0-1"] [PlyCount "31"] {"2011. 08. [Round "1"] [White "hunterknox"] [Black "Marko Krale"] [WhiteRating "1637"] [B ...[text shortened]... t simple but calculate all of them through to the end.
white might be able to improve by playing Q takes h6 instead of Qg6....
a lot of pressure

Cookies help us deliver our Services. By using our Services or clicking I agree, you agree to our use of cookies. Learn More.