Here are several tournament positions I reached as a youngster and botched. They are from the Edison (New Jersey, USA) First Sunday of the Month Quad on 1 December 1974, and I am White in each and was rated 1470 USCF at the time.
The first position was against Hochberger (1491). (I didn't write down Black's first name, but a search of the U. S. Chess Federation's website indicates that it's probably "Gabe".) It's White to move after 16...Nx(N)f6.
To figure out what White's strategy should be, it might help to visualize the pawn structure:
See a target? How about Black's c-pawn, which occupies White's only open file.
So, White should restrict and ultimately lay siege to Black's c-pawn. Playing 17. b4 (to control c5) would facilitate this plan. The game might have unfolded as shown below.
This PGN could not be parsed.
- move 2 could not be played: Invalid PGN : Error converting move Rac8
[fen "r3r1k1/pq3pp1/1pp2n1p/8/3P4/4PN2/PP3PPP/2RQ1RK1 w - - - -"] 17. b4 {Now, the attempt to gain queenside play by 17...a5 18. a3 axb4 19. axb4 Ra3 would lose material to 20. Ne5 Re6 (20...Rc8 would lose the exchange after 21. Nc4.) 21. Qc2.} 17...Rac8 18. Qb3 Qe7 {Preparing ...c5.} 19. Rc2 c5 20. Rfc1 Ne4 21. bxc5 bxc5 22. Qa3 {So that 22...cxd4 would lose material to 23. Qxe7. And 22...Red8 (intending 23. dxc5 Rxc5 24. Rxc5 Nxc5 25. Qxc5 Qxc5 26. Rxc5 Rd1+) would lose prosaically to 23. h3 Rd5 24. Ne1, threatening 25. Nd3 or 25. f3.} c4 {Giving up a second pawn to land a rook on the seventh rank.} 23. Qxe7 Rxe7 24. Rxc4 Rxc4 25. Rxc4 Rb7 26. h3 Rb1+ 27. Kh2 Rb2 28. d5 {Intending 28...f5 29. Nh4 Nd6 30. Rc7 Rxa2 31. Rc6, as Black's rook can no longer safely retreat to the sixth rank to protect the knight.} Nd6 29. Rc7 Rxa2 30. Rc6 Nf5 31. d6 {With the decisive threats of 32. d7 or 32. Rc8+ Kh7 33. d7.}
What should White play if he wants to help Black dissolve the backward c-pawn? If you said 17. Ne5 (because the "overload" on White's d-pawn would permit 17...c5), you would be correct. I in fact played 17. Ne5, and Black naturally replied 17...c5.
The game continuation is shown in the next chess movie.
This PGN could not be parsed.
- move 1 could not be played: Invalid PGN : Error converting move Ne5
[fen "r3r1k1/pq3pp1/1pp2n1p/8/3P4/4PN2/PP3PPP/2RQ1RK1 w - - - -"] 17. Ne5 c5 {Now 18. Nc4, threatening 19. Nd6 or 19. dxc5 (to fracture Black's queenside pawn structure), would be met by 18...Rad8, pinning the d-pawn.} 18. Qf3 Qxf3 19. Nxf3 Ne4 20. dxc5 Nxc5 21. Rfd1 Kf8 22. Kf1 Rac8
In the position reached by the above chess movie after 22...Rac8,
what would happen on the "natural" 23. Ke2 to centralize White's king?
Black could answer 23...Na4, and being that 24. b3 would lose the exchange to 24...Nc3+, White can't both defend the b-pawn and keep control of the c-file. The game actually did go 23. Ke2 Na4, I opted for 24. Rxc8 Rxc8 25. Rd2, and I was lucky to eventually win.
After 22...Rac8, White should have played 23. Rc2, and if 23...Na4, then 24. Rdc1, retaining control of the c-file while keeping b2 protected. Then White could have improved his position by bringing the king to e2, the knight to d4, etc.
Here's a position that arose in one of my other games from that tournament, against Alex Leech (1514). The following position was reached after 26...Qf6-e7.
White has sacrificed a pawn for an attack, and now 27. Qh3! would threaten 28. Rh6 Kf8 29. Rh8+ Bxh8 30. Qxh8 mate; 27...Kf8 would allow 28. Qh8+! Bxh8 29. Rg8 mate. The continuation might be as depicted in the next chess movie.
This PGN could not be parsed.
- move 1 could not be played: Invalid PGN : Error converting move Qh3
[fen "r5k1/1pp1qrb1/p2p2R1/3Ppp2/2P5/2NQ4/PP3P2/2K3R1 w - - - -"] 27. Qh3 {If Black now made an inconsequential move (such as 27...b6) and answered 28. Rh6 by moving the f7-rook, then 29. Rh8+ Kf7 30. Rxg7+ would be decisive.} Qd8 {27...Qd7 would loses a piece after 28. Rh6 Kf8 29. Rh8+ Bxh8 30. Qxh8+ Ke7 31. Qxa8.} 28. Rh6 Kf8 29. Rh7 {Threatening 30. Rhxg7 Rxg7 31. Qh8+. If 29...Bf6, then 30. Rxf7+ Kxf7 31. Qh7+.} Qf6 30. Rhxg7 Rxg7 31. Qh8+ Kf7 32. Rxg7+ Qxg7 33. Qxa8 Qg1+ 34. Nd1 Qg4 {Intending to harrass White's king after 35. b3 Qf4+ 36. Kc2 Qe4+ 37. Kd2 Qf4+ 38. Ke2 Qe4+ 39. Kf1 (39. Ne3 would walk into 39...f4.) Qh1+.} 35. Qxb7 Qxc4+ 36. Kd2 Qd4+ 37. Ke1 Qe4+ 38. Ne3 f4 39. Qxc7+ {Intending 39...Ke8 40. Qc8+ Ke7 (40...Kf7 41. Qf5+) 41. Qe6+, and Black's d-pawn will fall with check.} Kg8 40. Qc8+ Kg7 41. Qg4+ {Pinning Black's f-pawn.} Kf6 42. Ke2 {Depriving Black of any useful check.} Qb4 43. Qe6+ {Intending 43...Kg7 44. Nf5+ and mate in two.} Kg5 44. Qf5+ Kh6 45. Ng4+ Kg7 46. Kf1 Qxb2 47. Qd7+ {The start of a maneuver to deprive Black's queen of the g6-square. Now 47...Kg6 or 47...Kf8 would lose the d-pawn with check; 47...Kg8 would allow 48. Nf6 with check.} Kh8 48. Qe8+ Kg7 49. Qe7+ Kh8 50. Qf8+ Kh7 51. Qf7+ Kh8 52. Nf6 Qb1+ 53. Kg2 {Thanks to White's queen maneuver, 53...Qg6+ would simply hang Black's queen.} f3+ 54. Kh2 {Black has pawn moves, so there's no stalemate by giving up the queen.}
Returning to the position after 26...Qf6-e7,
what did White play? 27. R1g5, wrongly playing to reestablish material equality instead of pursuing his already strong attack.
Another critical decision arose a few moves later, after 33...Kxg8.
Had White played 34. Kd3, then 34...Kf7 35. Ke4 Kg6 would seem necessary to keep White's king from f5. Then 36. a4 would begin a campaign to create a passed pawn, such as by b4..., a5..., b5..., bxa6..., Na2..., Nb4..., and finally Nxa6... The following chess movie illustrates how White might win against imprecise defense.
This PGN could not be parsed.
- move 1 could not be played: Invalid PGN : Error converting move Kd3
[fen "6k1/1pp5/p2p1b2/3Pp3/2P5/2N5/PPK2P2/8 w - - - -"] 34. Kd3 Kf7 35. Ke4 Kg6 36. a4 Bg5 37. Nb1 Bc1 38. b4 Bb2 39. b5 a5 40. Nd2 b6 41. Nb3 {Black should now reply 41...Ba3, to answer 42. c5 by 42...Bxc5.} Bc3 42. c5 {Intending 42...(either)xc5 43. Nxc5, because if Black then takes it, d6... would create a winning passed pawn. If Black ignores the knight at c5, then Black's c-pawn soon falls.} Bb4 43. c6 Kg5 44. Nc1 Bd2 45. Nd3 Bc3 46. Nc5 {Threatening to take the c-pawn in two moves. If Black takes the knight, then White soon promotes.}
Instead of 34. Kd3, I played 34. Ne4, and then traded minor pieces after 34...Kf7, which led to a draw. I did not appreciate the superiority of White's knight in this position or the potential for creating a passed pawn on the queenside.
(A list of the threads I've initiated at this forum is available at http://www.davidlevinchess.com/chess/RHP_my_threads.htm .)