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When I want to judge if a bishop is good or bad, I look at the pawn structure. But not every pawnstructure is suited for such verdict, I realized today. Only when the pawns are fixed such judgement has a long term value.
If there is a fixed state of pawns, there must be a pre-fixed stage. Usually that is a state where the pawns are under tension. Solution of the tension can go in two directions. Either the pawns become fixed or the position becomes open. When the position becomes open, the habitual look for good and bad pieces is often useless because all pieces have become active to a certain degree. In those positions it is more important if there are targets and who has the initiative. Tempo's start to count again, so it is in essence a second round of development which has started.
If there is a state of tension. there must be a pre-tension stage for the pawns. This is what we usually call development. In order to design development, one must know which tension-states are benificial and which are not.
And I have no idea about that.
That's one of the primary reasons I choose to play openings with a dynamic pawn structure (open/semi-open).
ReplyDeleteIf you're interested, Ivan Sokolov's book Winning Chess Middlegames covers a lot of 1.d4 openings/pawn structures etc. and how to use them to your advantage. :)
I am (=will start again after the summer)working on Sokolovs book.
ReplyDeleteIt's a very good book, but a difficult read.
This is why Chinese Chess is fun; there's none of this "pawn structure" stuff to worry about.
ReplyDelete