12 Jan 13
Originally posted by vivifyI don't see where you gave up the center or had a weak king defense.
I'm not posting the whole game, I just want to discuss a position that came up. In this game, was going up to minor pieces at the beginning, worth not only giving up the center, but having a poor defense for my king? I did go on to win the game, but what do you think?
[pgn][Date "????.??.??"]
[Result "*"]
[FEN "rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBN ...[text shortened]... { Look at this position. Was giving up my center for two knights worth it? }
*[/pgn]
12 Jan 13
When you can trade 2 pawns for 2 knights while keeping your king safe and not allowing any killer passed pawns,you shouldn't worry about the rest of the position.
The real questions here are:
why do you think your king is unsafe?
why do you think you gave up the centre?
12 Jan 13
Originally posted by WilfriedvaBy allowing black's knight to capture the E pawn, didn't I give it up? Because as a result, I just have one lone, unprotected pawn in the center. Yes, it can be defended with the B knight; but that would keep me from using it. My queen is in the center, but Greenpawn has said that the queen (typically) shouldn't be used for defense, only attacking.
When you can trade 2 pawns for 2 knights while keeping your king safe and not allowing any killer passed pawns,you shouldn't worry about the rest of the position.
The real questions here are:
why do you think your king is unsafe?
why do you think you gave up the centre?
The king seems unsafe, because it doesn't have any pawns nearby to protect it. Meanwhile, black's king has a neat row of pawns nearby, especially on black's queen-side. I can still castle, but even then, it won't be as tucked-away as castling typically makes it.
Basically, just looking at white's pawn structure, vs. black's, white looks terrible. And if black castle's queen-side, he has a lot of pawns protecting his king. Maybe I just have to get out of my head, that pawns aren't the only pieces that should protect the king.
12 Jan 13
Originally posted by paulbuchmanfromficsWow, Qa4. That's burned into my head now.
[pgn] 1.d4 Nc6 {Playable but not common} 2.d5 {an aggressive attempt at refutation} Nb4 {already a minor mistake ... e5 or even b8 are better ... The knight is just exposed on b4.} 3.e4 {Nice move} e6 4.c4 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 {A blunder, allowing a tactic - 6.Qa4+ wins the exposed b4 knight.} 6.a3 {Missing Qa4} Nf6 {He had to play Na6 here. There j ...[text shortened]... t, but Qxe4 would force a queen trade too. It's virtually over now. Well played} [/pgn]
Thanks for pointing that out. I'm positive I won't ever miss that again. Thanks.
12 Jan 13
Black compensation: White think he already won, and think nothing can prevent him from winning.
White compensation: Material advantage, slightly more active pieces, extreme pressure on the black centre.
Remember, piece activity helps defending the king. It's easy to have more piece activity if you are 2 pieces up.