who stands better?

Originally posted by YUG0slav
I've been looking at this position from a game of mine for a while, and I'm still not sure if Black or White has a better position...

yes and it's not one i played on rhp anyways (it was fics)

edit: if you don't believe me then you can check my games...i only have 2 in progress anyways

At a glance I would say white has the better position. White's queen is mobile and white has more potential threats and a better chance for pieces to work in unison, while black's pieces are cramped and for the most part seperated. Black's rooks are doubled, but ineffectually. I'll look at the position some more and let you know if I see any surprises.

Edit: But the opposite color bishops could become interesting if and when the pawn structure breaks down. A lot of games with opp color bishops tend to wind up drawish.

in the actual game, I played 1.Rxe5 when 1. ...fxe5 wouldve prolly resulted in a long strenuous game that would end in a draw due to the opposite colored bishops

but black played 1. ...Rxe5?? and lost instantly to 2. Qb3

if one side were to have a knight instead of a Bishop then he would have a huge advantage

Originally posted by YUG0slav
[fen]4r3/6k1/pp3pq1/2pBrRp1/2PpPbPp/3P3P/PP6/3Q1R1K w - - 0 1[/fen]

I've been looking at this position from a game of mine for a while, and I'm still not sure if Black or White has a better position...

any thoughts?

edit: btw white to move

White, I think, can draw the game (at least) by locking down the two pawns on the left and then it's practically a draw there. But, yeah, Qa5 looks good, White's the only guy who can get to the Queenside fast enough to get control. So it's either a draw OR White can push for a win. Black would be suiciding if he tried to play for a win, IMO.

In fact it takes Black's Queen SIX moves to get to a5, so that proves how useless Black's Queen is. It's like White's up a Queen.

Originally posted by thesonofsaul
But the opposite color bishops could become interesting if and when the pawn structure breaks down. A lot of games with opp color bishops tend to wind up drawish.

White has the better position mainly because he's got a better bishop. All he has to do is break the queenside on the a and b ranks and he's got the game won.