Capablanca rulez

 Capablanca:

1. Start with e4 or d4
2. Anchor at least one pawn in the center and give it support
3. Knights before bishops to f3 and c3
4. Moves with threat first
5. Move each piece only once
6. Max two pawn moves
7. Let bishops and knights control the center
8. Keep the queen close to home sot it cannot be kicked away
9. No pawn grabbing
10. Castle early on the kingside

There are quite a few caveats with these rules, to the extent that these rules are close to useless in practice. In the diagram in the previous post I violated rule 6 by playing 5 pawn moves instead of 2. Of course my opponent violated a few rules too, like 5 and 2. Which might be the reason why I could come away with my own violations. The rules in themselves contain a core of truth, ofcourse. But without the necessary stipulations you can't make use of them.

This means that the rules are too coarse to be of much practical value. I need a coherent logical framework to judge the moves instead.

At least I have a begin now:

• The center contains the most important squares that form the pivotal points of the LoAs (lines of attack) that end on a focal point near the king or at an invasion square in the enemy camp.
• Use pawns to build the LoA landscape
• Use statistics for the piece placement (pawns before pieces)
• Ignore pawn structures that are designed for the endgame for now, in order to reduce complexity

Building the LoA landscape

This is probably the most complex part.

• When the pawns are in contact, the open lines can change in the blink of an eye.
• When the pawns are not in contact yet, like in the Hedgehog, the center can be blown open and the pieces behind it spring into live. He who has developed his pieces to the right places will dominate the LoAs. A difference in development is inclined to increase.
• When the pawns are fixed, other rules come into play. Like bad bishops and knights that cannot move.

Ad 1: with statistical piece placement I mean that pieces can choose to enter the most useful LoAs when they appear. Flexibility is another word. Or elastic moves.

Fighting for the center includes:

• Clear the LoA
• Annihilate the defenders of the LoA
• Put your pieces where they can reach the pivotal squares in the center

Ad 2: that is why Nimzowitsch considered the pin of knight f6 as a stratetigal feature.

Scholar's mate

Black to move

This simple example shows what happens when your pieces enter the LoAs too soon. The idea in itself is good, ofcourse, but black has three moves to defend the focal point.

• g6, gaining a tempo on the white queen
• Qe7
• Qf6

This demonstrates that it is a fight between the attackers and the defenders of a LoA. A fight is about creating imbalances between attackers and defenders.

Most likely places to develop your pieces to

According to Capablanca, you should develop your pieces with only one move. This means that you can predict where the pieces will be most likely after development.

The knight

The bishop

The rationale behind rule 3 "develop the knights before the bishops" is that you already know where the knights should go, while you can make the places for your bishop dependent on what your opponent does with his bishops.

The rook

Inspiration

I need every inspiration I can get. Let your associations run freely, maybe I can use them. Don't feel offended when I seem to do not.