STRATEGIC IMBALANCE

In this game due to my blunders I am a Rook up but my opponent has two extra pieces

As we go into the late middle game the question becomes how to win

GAME ANALYSIS

Just a quick game analysis.

Sharp Win Scotch Game

COMBATING THE SICILIAN

Sometimes a lot of people like to avoid the sicillian as white ,as I did for a long time but black doesn't always play so well with it and you don't always have to learn book loads of theory to be able to give it a good go....

In this opening black has responded with a common sicilian and played e5 to drive the white knight from its central posting,a common way to complicate play is as follows.

White can play the seemingly odd looking move b5 it looks as though the white knight can be easily kicked from there however black has to be careful.If after d6 to prevent (check on d6 bishop takes d6 creating a massive hole on d6 which would be problematic for black.)White can respond

White can bring his other knight to d5 tempting black to take his hanging pawn if black does so Qf3 wins the game,The knight it self is hanging and of course there is the threat of check on the c7 square,which is attacked by both white knights.

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This position can occur if instead of coming down to take the loose pawn the black knight takes the white knight on d5 and then after pawn takes the black knight on c6 moves to e7 .
White then reinforces his knight on b5 by c4 and any attempt to kick the knight staioned on b5 with a6 is met by Qa4.

If however black instead atempting to retreat his own knight on c6 simply attacks whites b5 knight we just take his knight on c6 ,then after he responds by taking ours we can just take again on b7 ,blacks bishop will then recapture on b7 and then we play Bxb5* and end up with the position below.

ROOK PLAY!

...Nice little Rook combo at the end gives me the win .

puzzle #2

In the last puzzle the corect move would've been the sharp Qf3 forcing the a almost inevitable loss of the white rook.


In the next puzzle there is a underlying theme that of pins and double attack or threats as well as the problematic back line threats.
I plan in later posts to display quite a few examples of this tactical motif as repetition makes for good learning as I am finding out,not a easy thing to do in practice however.

In the puzzle above white to play demonstrates a motif in a very basic form I will try to expand and add more complex variations of it later white wins from this position.

Puzzle #1

A puzzle that I failed to spot in one of my games started of from this position where I spotted a potential double attack.The knight was previously on g4 and has just taken a pawn on f2 with a double attack on the white rook which was on d1.I was playing black and,but what is the best continuation?

THE ULVESTAD VARIATION RESPONSE TO EARLY NG5

It always surprises me how little used this opening is in the two knights early knight to g5 opening (also wrongly refered to as the the fried liver attack by a lot of people.....

the classic beginning of the early knight g5 attack

Looks familiar doesn't it some people playing black even play h6 on their third move to prevent white from playing this opening which is absurd,when we have this wonderful opening at our disposal.

the game continues

white naturally takes

and now the b5 pawn move this is the position that is known as the ulvestad it looks a very odd move which is why it can trick a lot of unsuspecting people

if white takes the pawn as he often does then we capture the center pawn with our queen threatening the bishop and pawn on g2 it is here that white will often swap off pieces taking the white knight and then castling thinking that all is well being a pawn up and already castled

after white castles we then play bishop to b7 which threatens mate in one.Our other bishop can come across to be aimed at the white kingside later on white will have great difficulty in negotiating the middle game and we have excellent chances.

NOTES

It pays to go over some important themes

the importance of the dark squared bishop in creating a attacking diagonal against the white king if at all possible,such as in this position

FINISHING OFF THE OPPONENT AFTER A MISTAKE

The mistakes in question include the vunerability of the f7 square which is a key consideration in these kind of openings also the exchange of bishops was a mistake especially considering the careful use of my own bishop....Poor re routing of knights can be added to the list .

Its also important to see how the light sqared bishop can be used to devastating effect in these Ruy Lopez opennings and not just exchanged for a knight.

PLANNING HOW TO ATTACK DOWN A FILE WHEN CENTRE IS LOCKED

Here's a win that shows some of my thought processes and how I put together some of the things I have recently learned as in looking to understand more of the strategy of the game.
Also there's a bit at the end where tactics come into play in a decisive manner.....
In this game I took advantage of space, movability and also had a well thought out defensive plan that I was able to change to attack very quickly.

More then anything this is a game where I saw how to attack down a flank if the centre is locked and how to plan for this in advance

ANALYSING THE REASONS FOR DEFEAT

MY KINGDOM FOR A PAWN

I recently became aware of the fact that many of my defeats seem to result from similar oversights or mistakes and these then form patterns that are repeated..
It also seems apparently that many of my defeats result from either outright blunders,or miscalculations in tactical positions when I try something daring although some of my miscalculations could also be put interpreted as blunders,just not of the absolute howler variety.

I have gone through 20 of my most recent defeats to gain a statistical overview of my defeats as it always helps to see the facts in black and white ..

and I learnt something I didn't suspect that many of my defeats result from the lose of a single pawn..

THE LOSE OF A PAWN CAN SEEM TO BE INSIGNIFICANT IN THE EARLY STAGES.. BUT CAN LEAD TO STRATEGIC DIFFICULTIES AND WHICH ALSO PRESENT A LONG TERM DISADVANTAGE IN THE ENDGAME.

This may at first seem obvious but I think one of the things that would help my planning in the early stages of a game and on into the middlegame is to include the idea of the preservation of pawns as a theme .

TOO OFTEN PLAYERS OF MY RATING CONCENTRATE ON THE PRESERVATION OF MAJOR AND MINOR PIECES AND THE ATTACKS THAT CAN STEM FROM THEM.

Also passivity of pawn structure as from the riddiculos example in game 3 can be a trouble habit to get out of




GAME 1

Bad tactical play late middlegame ..

I was white and I eventually lost the passed pawn and the game.
















GAME 2

This in which I play black one has all the hallmarks of a strategic defeat relatively shattered pawn structure and a disjointed position .White manages to increases his small advantages and eventually win the game..

GAME 3

I was white and my passive pawns cost me the game even though I was a pawn up.I was actually a piece up as well until a couple of moves prior to this as well.