Pawns and piece activity
60% of the games are decided by an endgame, while 40% is decided by an early mate.
The area of interest is: what happens when that point of decision hasn't been reached yet? What are the strategic goals for that stage?
It seems that that stage is governed by the following:
- Increase your piece activity
- Restrain your opponents pieces
- The battle for the lines of attack
- Create an invasion square
I formulated the following question:
Currently I try to solve the following conundrum. I found two rules:
- The pawn structure dictates the piece placement (Seirawan)
- Pawn moves are dictated by piece placement (Kabadayi)
How to combine this?
After some investigation I found that they meant the same. It is about optimizing piece activity and creating an invasion square.
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| White to move |
r2q1rk1/pp1nb1pn/2ppb2p/4p3/2P1P3/1PN1BPP1/P2QN1BP/R4RK1 w - - 0 14
What's going on?
Nc3: restricted by c6. Can you get rid of c6? No
Nc3: blockaded by e4. Can you get rid of e4? Yes
Ne2: restricted by e5 and blockaded by g3. Can you get rid of e5 and g3? Yes
Be3: not restricted
Bg2: blockaded by f3 and e4. Can you get rid of f3 and e4? Yes
Rf1: blockaded by f3. Can you get rid of f3? Yes
Restricting: c6 e5
Blockading: e4 f3 g3
Which pawn move of white addresses most problems?
Does it free or restrict blacks pieces?
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| On which squares did the most exchanges happen in 300 games of high level players? |
Surface-level observation: White has more than sufficient superiority on f4 [5:2] to advance the f3-pawn immediately.
ReplyDeleteA different consideration:
Is it critical to force the pawn break immediately?
GM Stockfish vacillates on answering this question affirmatively.
“Do not wait to strike till the iron is hot; but make it hot by striking.” ― William Butler Yeats
Are there any additional preparations that can be done to improve ALL the piece positions before initiating the pawn break in the center?
Can the opponent relatively improve his position to prevent the pawn break or create threats somewhere else if time is spent improving our own piece positions?
That are very valid questions. I refrained from answering those because I want to develop a feel for this new approach first.
DeleteBut e5 en d6 are blockading blacks pieces, while c4 is restricting black.
Hence the question translates to: can black get rid of the c4 pawn? Or: is the d5 break beneficial for black?
There is also a question regarding committal moves. “Pawns do not move backwards.” Perhaps this is the “motivation” for 14.Nc1 as the highest rated move given below. Note that 14.h3, a “preventative” move gaining a little more space, setting up the pawn mass to advance on the kingside, while somewhat restricting the BBe6’s range, is rated equal to the immediate thrust with 14.f4.
ReplyDeletePerhaps it comes down to a subjective choice of what feels “comfortable.” There are times when I’m usually cautious with pawn moves; at other times, I will “throw the kitchen sink” at my opponent. It has more to do with what I think may prove to be more problematic for my specific opponent to handle than any specific predilection on my part for attacking or prophylactic moves.
GM Stockfish’s top 10 suggestions (after 1 day of analysis):
D40 +0.24 14.Nc1 a6 15.a4 b6 16.Nd3 Nhf6 17.Kh1 d5 18.exd5 cxd5 19.cxd5 Nxd5 20.Nxd5 Bxd5 21.b4 b5 22.Nf4 Nf6 23.Nxd5 Qxd5 24.Qb2 bxa4 25.Rxa4 Rab8 26.Rfa1 Kh8 27.Bg1 Rb5 28.Rxa6 Bxb4 29.Qc2 Rbb8 30.Rd1 Qf7 31.Rb1
D40 +0.17 14.f4 a6 15.a4 b6 16.h3 Qc7 17.Rad1 Nc5 18.Qc2 Bf7 19.Nc1 Nd7 20.Nd3 Rac8 21.Rc1 Nhf6 22.Kh2 Qb8 23.Qe2 Rfe8 24.Nd1 d5 25.cxd5 cxd5 26.fxe5 dxe4 27.exf6 exd3 28.Qxd3 Nxf6 29.Rxc8 Rxc8 30.Bf4 Rd8 31.Qxa6 Bd6 32.Ne3 Bxf4 33.Rxf4 Nh5
D40 +0.17 14.h3 a6 15.a4 Qc7 16.f4 b6 17.Rad1 Nc5 18.Qc2 Bf7 19.Nc1 Nd7 20.Nd3 Rac8 21.Kh2 Nhf6 22.Qd2 Rfe8 23.Rb1 Bf8 24.Nf2 b5 25.axb5 cxb5 26.Nd5 Qd8 27.Qe2 exf4 28.gxf4 Nc5 29.Nxf6+ Qxf6
D40 +0.15 14.Nd1 Nhf6 15.Nec3 a6 16.Bf2 b5 17.Ne3 Nb6 18.Qe2 Rb8 19.Rac1 bxc4 20.bxc4 Qe8 21.Rfd1 Nfd7 22.Rb1 a5 23.h4 Kh8 24.Kh2 Qh5 25.Nf5 Bxf5 26.exf5 Qxf5 27.f4 Qf7 28.Bxb6 Nxb6 29.fxe5 dxe5 30.Rf1 Qxc4 31.Rxf8+ Rxf8 32.Rxb6 Qxc3 33.Rxc6 Qd4 34.Rc2 Bc5 35.Qh5 Kh7
D39 +0.15 14.Rac1 a6 15.Nd1 Nhf6 16.f4 Rc8 17.Nf2 b5 18.Rfd1 bxc4 19.bxc4 Re8 20.h3 Bf7 21.g4 exf4 22.Bxf4 Nb6 23.Ng3 Nxc4 24.Qe2 g5 25.Nf5 Bf8 26.Bg3 Ne5 27.h4 Nh7 28.Nd3 Qa5 29.Nxe5 dxe5 30.Bf1 Rcd8 31.Rxd8 Rxd8
D39 +0.09 14.Kh1 a6 15.a4 Nhf6 16.h3 Nc5 17.Rab1 Bf7 18.f4 b6 19.g4 exf4 20.Bxf4 Nfd7 21.Nd4 Ne5 22.Qc2 Qe8 23.Nf5 Rd8 24.Ne2 Bg5 25.Rbd1 Bxf4 26.Nxf4 Kh7 27.b4 Nb7 28.Ne3 a5
D39 +0.08 14.a4 Nhf6 15.Nc1 b6 16.Nd3 Rb8 17.Qc2 Qe8 18.Rad1 Nc5 19.f4 Ng4 20.Bc1 d5 21.cxd5 cxd5 22.Nxd5 Nxd3 23.Nxe7+ Qxe7 24.Rxd3 Rbc8 25.Qe2 Qc5+ 26.Be3 Nxe3 27.Qxe3 Qxe3+ 28.Rxe3 Rfd8 29.Rfe1
D39 +0.07 14.Rfd1 a6 15.a4 Nhf6 16.h3 Qc7 17.f4 b5 18.axb5 axb5 19.cxb5 Bxb3 20.Rdb1 Rxa1 21.Rxa1 Rb8 22.bxc6 Qxc6 23.g4 exf4 24.Bxf4 Ne5 25.Kh1 Qc5 26.Ng3 Bd8 27.Be3 Qb4 28.Nf5 Nc4 29.Qe1 Nxe3 30.Qxe3 Qb6 31.Qxb6 Bxb6 32.Rb1 Bc5 33.e5 dxe5 34.Ne4 Nxe4 35.Bxe4 Rb4 36.Rxb3 Rxe4
D39 +0.06 14.Qb2 a6 15.a4 Nhf6 16.Kh1 b6 17.f4 Rb8 18.h3 Qe8 19.Qd2 Bf7 20.Rad1 Rc8 21.Rb1 Nc5 22.g4 b5 23.cxb5 axb5 24.axb5 Nxb3 25.Qd1 Na5 26.Ng3 Nc4 27.Nf5 Nxe3 28.Nxe3 exf4 29.Nf5 cxb5 30.Nxb5 Bc4 31.Nbxd6 Bxd6 32.Nxd6 Bxf1 33.Nxe8 Bxg2+ 34.Kxg2 Rcxe8
D39 +0.04 14.Rab1 a6 15.a4 Nhf6 16.h3 b5 17.axb5 axb5 18.cxb5 cxb5 19.Nxb5 d5 20.Rfc1 Bf7 21.b4 Nb6 22.Nc7 Rb8 23.Bxb6 Rxb6 24.Nxd5 Nxd5 25.exd5 Bxd5 26.Rd1 Bf7 27.Qxd8 Rxd8 28.Rxd8+ Bxd8 29.b5 Bg6 30.Rd1 Be7 31.f4 Rxb5 32.Bd5+ Kh7 33.fxe5 Bf5 34.g4 Bc2 35.Rd2 Bg5 36.Rxc2 Rxd5
The most important thing is to have a PLAN. Whether it is a good plan or a bad plan will be shown by the feedback from games.
ReplyDeleteIn the past tournament, I outplayed my opponents 5 times, just by having a plan. That I only collected 1.5 points from it is irrelevant. That was due to other factors.
So I'm going to experiment in OTB games with plans. Ridgid plans. Extreme plans. Since extremes are the fastest way to get to the middle.
Personally I had a light preference for 14.h3. But I noticed that if you pump up the speed, my opponents have difficulty to follow. On my level, everybody plays planless. In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.
Interesting post. I would want to play F4 here.
ReplyDeletePuzzle #iOIcj [lichess.org]
ReplyDelete2kr3r/ppq2pp1/2n1pn2/2p4p/P1N1P2P/2P3P1/1P2Q3/R1B1KB1R b KQ - 0 14
Game: 3+2 Rated Blitz
White: rubai2020 (2349)
Black: GMkivanokaznedaroglu (2629)
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c3 Nf6 4.d3 d5 5.Nbd2 Bg4 6.h3 Bxf3 7.Qxf3 dxe4 8.dxe4 e6 9.Qe2 Qc7 10.a4 Bd6 11.g3 h5 12.h4 O-O-O 13.Nc4 Bxg3 14.fxg3 Qxg3+ 15.Qf2 Rd1+ 16.Ke2 Qd3#
There were several places in this game I disagreed with the move choices, but I’m a lot lower rated than either of the players, so what do I know?
The puzzle solution isn’t particularly difficult to SEE in its entirety. However, I found myself making the first move WITHOUT SEEING THE ENTIRE SOLUTION! I was being “lazy,” making the first “obvious move” and then figuring out the remainder of the moves as I went along. I realized that I have been doing the same thing lots of times when solving tactical puzzles. That is the very essence of “hope chess” (as defined by Master Dan Heisman), and it stems from a bad habit: not being fully engaged and consciously focused when working on chess skill. It’s not a matter of merely “going through the motions” because I AM figuring out solutions as I go. However, it IS the WRONG way to develop skill!
Perhaps this old dog CAN learn a new trick or two after all.
We are so used to work in the sweat of our face on the one hand, which makes us lazy when we need to sweat on the other hand.
DeleteSweat the wrong way: there is no need to solve everything by ourselves. When a free lunch is offered: take it.
We must do SOME effort to see where we don't see the solution immediately. But we must NOT waste time and energy to find the solution by ourselves. It is enough to inform Houston that we DO HAVE a problem.
This is very contrary to common belief. It is not the finding of the solution ourselves that makes us better. It is the effort that you invest AFTER you know the solution that must do the work. The effort to completely understand what is going on. The effort to work out the logic.
It is silly to waste time and effort when we haven't found something NEW yet. Before you can learn a new trick, you first must learn what the trick is. Only AFTER you know what the trick is, you can learn it.
We are barking on the wrong tree.