Dynamic piece count
We are familiar with the static piece count. But for an attack, you need the dynamic piece count. Which pieces can contribute to the attack?
The following game demonstrates this.
[Event "Voronezh op"]
[Site "Voronezh"]
[Date "1998.06.17"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Abashev, Denis"]
[Black "Chernyshov, Konstantin"]
[Result "1-0"]
[BlackElo "2485"]
[ECO "B48"]
[Opening "Sicilian"]
[Variation "Taimanov, 6.Be3 a6 7.Bd3 Nf6 8.O-O Bd6"]
[WhiteElo "2365"]
[TimeControl "300"]
[Termination "normal"]
[PlyCount "51"]
[WhiteType "human"]
[BlackType "human"]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 e6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 a6 {White is ahead in
development already. Look at the bishop at c8 which in turn blocks rook
a8.
White has more space.
The price white paid for this is that in the
long term he has a minority in the center. Black has a minority attack.} 6.
Be3 Qc7 7. Bd3 Nf6 8. O-O Bd6 {Black is provoking f4. But since he is two
pieces behind in development, that is a risky business.} 9. f4 Bc5 10. Nf5
Ne7 {Forcing white to sac a piece.} 11. Nxg7+ Kf8 12. Bxc5 Qxc5+ 13. Kh1
Kxg7 {White is a piece behind now. But that is based on a static piece
count. White has to open the LoAs now.} 14. e5 Nfg8 15. Ne4 Qc6 16. Nd6
{Based on a dynamic piece count though, white is two pieces ahead.
Stockfish agrees.} f5 17. Qh5 Ng6 18. Bxf5 exf5 19. Nxf5+ Kf8 20. Nd6 Nf6
21. Qh6+ Ke7 22. Qg7+ Kd8 23. Qxf6+ Kc7 24. f5 Rg8 25. Rf3 Qd5 26. fxg6 1-0
How quickly things can “go south” even for a world champion level GM!
ReplyDeleteFEN = r1bqk2r/ppppnpbp/2n3p1/3N2B1/2Pp4/5N2/PP2PPPP/R2QKB1R w KQkq - 4 7
Black had the opportunity to gain a slight advantage by properly blocking the most important LoA AND simultaneously retaining control of a key attacking square (by keeping the BNg8 on g8). Apparently, he did not “SEE” the ramifications in time.
It’s fairly easy to “SEE” a stock Bishop + Knight mating pattern on the Black kingside if the Black Bishop is removed. The “telltale sign” is the Black King having to move toward h8, with the White Bishop and Knight settling into the weak squares complex, notably the f6 and h6 squares. White has a significant advantage in dynamic piece count in the local area of tension around the Black King.
After 6. Bg5 GM Stockfish gives the following best 5 moves for Black (only the first one is actually “good” for Black) (35 minutes of analysis):
D38 +0.36 6...Nce7 7.Nxd4 c6 8.Nc3 h6 9.Bf4 d5 10.e3 Nf6 11.Be5 O-O 12.Be2 dxc4 13.Bxc4 Nf5 14.Nf3 Qe7 15.a4 Rd8 16.Qc2 b5 17.axb5 cxb5 18.Bxb5 Bb7 19.Be2 Bxf3 20.Bxf6 Bxf6 21.Bxf3 Nxe3 22.fxe3 Qxe3+ 23.Qe2 Bxc3+ 24.bxc3 Qxc3+ 25.Kf2 Qf6
D38 -0.16 6...Nf6 7.Nxd4 a6 8.e3 h6 9.Nxc6 dxc6 10.Nxf6+ Bxf6 11.Qxd8+ Bxd8 12.Bf4 h5 13.O-O-O f6 14.h4 Be6 15.Be2 Kf7 16.Kc2 Rc8 17.e4 Be7 18.b3 Bc5 19.Rhf1 Ba3 20.Be3 b6 21.Rd3 Be7 22.g3 a5 23.a4 f5 24.e5 Rcd8
D38 -0.26 6...f6 7.Bf4 d6 8.Nxd4 Nxd4 9.Qxd4 Kf7 10.Qd2 f5 11.g3 Be6 12.Bg2 c6 13.Bg5 Nf6 14.Nxf6 Bxf6 15.Bxf6 Qxf6 16.Qb4 Qe7 17.Rd1 Rhd8 18.Qa4 Rd7 19.O-O Rad8 20.Rd3 d5 21.cxd5 Bxd5 22.Bxd5+ Rxd5 23.Rxd5 Rxd5 24.Qxa7 Rd2 25.Qb6
D38 -1.18 6...Bf6 7.Nxf6+ Nxf6 8.Nxd4 h6 9.Bf4 g5 10.Nxc6 bxc6 11.Be3 Qe7 12.c5 Ba6 13.Qd2 O-O-O 14.Bd4 Rhe8 15.O-O-O d6 16.Qa5 Bb7 17.f3 dxc5 18.Qxc5 Qxc5+ 19.Bxc5 Rxd1+ 20.Kxd1 Nd7 21.Bf2 f5 22.h4 g4 23.h5 Ne5
D38 -2.53 6...Nge7 7.Nxd4 f6 8.Bxf6 Bxf6 9.Nxf6+ Kf7 10.Ne4 Re8 11.Nc3 d6 12.Nc2 Ng8 13.g3 Ne5 14.Bg2 c6 15.b3 Qa5 16.Qd4 Bh3 17.O-O Bxg2 18.Kxg2 Nf6 19.e4 Re7 20.Ne3 Rae8 21.Rad1 Kg8 22.f3 a6 23.Rf2 Ned7 24.Qd2 b5 25.cxb5 axb5 26.Ncd5 Nxd5 27.Nxd5
The problem position is from 1001 Chess Exercises for Club Players: The Tactics Workbook that Also Explains All the Key Concepts, by Frank Erwich, pg 9.
Master Erwich opines: ”(After 7.Nxd4) best is 7...f6, but after 8. Bxf6 Bxf6 9.Nxf6+ Kf7 10.Ne4 Black is a pawn down and his kingside is weakened.”
Andreikin, Dmitry (2683) vs Karjakin, Sergey (2760)
Date: 2010-11-16
Event: VI World Blitz, Moscow RUS
Round: 2.7
Result: 1-0
Opening: English Opening, King's English Variation, Three Knights System, General (A27)
1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Nf3 g6 4. d4 exd4 5. Nd5 Bg7 6. Bg5 Nge7?? 7. Nxd4! Bxd4 8. Qxd4!! O-O 9. Nf6+ Kh8 10. Ng4+
It is important to see that Nc6 is overloaded.
DeleteWhite has 4 attackers while black has 3 defenders. One of the denders is overloaded. So currently the dynamic piece count is 4:2. Usually that is a sign that IF there is a tactical opportunity, the time to strike is NOW.
DeleteThe pawn landscape tells you where the LoAs are and WHERE to strike. Attackers are only relevant in relation to the LoAs. Defenders are only relevant when they can contest the LoAs.
Time to fiddle around!
Here you can see that rules will put you easily on the wrong foot. "Invite all the pieces to the party". Is useless here. There is a temporary dynamic imbalance. The next move it will be gone. "To take is a mistake". Is totally nonsense here. What you need is a logical framework that guides your eyes to the relevant parts of the board, not rules! The lines of attack provide that logical framework. The pawns sculpt that landscape.
DeleteSorry, clarify the move: 1...Nge7??
DeleteVery weird! I can't seem to make the comment "stick" - I post it and then when I refresh the page, it's gone! I'll see if this one sticks.
DeleteOne more try, and I'll quit trying.
DeleteFEN:3qk1nr/1pp2p1p/2n3p1/p3P1B1/P2bN3/1P1p1NPB/R1B2P1P/5RK1 b k - 0 1
Another example (from lichess.org) illustrating the importance of avoiding setting up the lines of attack for your opponent.
Black to move. Black is significantly ahead in material (Queen for Rook). The Black King is stuck in the middle due to the lack of development of the kingside pieces. It is VERY IMPORTANT to not just try to develop the obvious BNg8. Try to SEE the stock mating pattern that might become available if Black is not careful.
Or, look at it from the viewpoint of “sculpting the LoA.” White’s Bishops restrain the Black King’s movement toward the queenside. There is a tantalizing “clue” with the Black kingside pawn structure: Black has a black square Bishop BUT it is not “filling the hole” from g7. Consequently, the BNg8 MUST restrain the WNe4 from jumping into f6.
So what does Black do? Ignore what was just stated and plays 1...Nge7?? It should be fairly obvious what White should play in response.
In conjunction with the previous very short game where GM Kramnik blundered into mate, this position illustrates that looking at the LoA is just as important for the defender as it is for the attacker.
SHEESH! NOT Kramnik: Karjakin
DeleteClarification (I hope):
DeleteThe posted comments are out of order. I posted the "One more try, and I'll quit trying." post BEFORE the "Sorry, clarify the move" post. Blogger "disappeared" the first two attempts to post the problem. The two comments should be inverted. In my original post, I typed 1...Ne7??, which is ambiguous. I corrected the original post about the problem and tried to repost it. Blogger "disappeared it again. That's how the posts got out of order. My apology for the confusion.
No worries.
DeleteThanks for reminding me. I have done 362 problems from this course before I skipped to the advanced course. But nowadays I think I'm better off studying problems I already know to some degree than problems which are totally new to me.
ReplyDelete"Sorry, clarify the move: 1...Nge7??"
ReplyDelete10. ... Nce7 makes that blacks queen protects Nc5, because the knight clears the c-file. White can no longer take the black bishop for free in return for saccing his knight. Because black can take back with check Qxc5+. White must now chose: save his bishop OR his knight.
I hope I understand you right, since there is no 1...Nge7 in the game from the post.
I assume now that you were talking about your position, not mine.
DeleteCorrect.
ReplyDelete