attacker:defender balance
We are making the next step.
We already have extensively treated the first two ways to gain profit from tactics:
- double (duplo) attack
- trap (mate)
The double attack is based on time (tempi). The trap is based on space.
Function
Now it is time to get a better idea about function. In the previous post I discovered that function revolves around the balance between attackers and defenders of a target. What do we know?
When is a piece hanging?
[1:0] 1 attacker, 0 defenders.
[2:1] 2 attackers, 1 defender
In general when there is 1 attacker more than defenders
LPDO
[0:0] 0 attackers, 0 defenders
In general a target is vulnerable for tactics when it is not defended
B.A.D. (Barely Adequate Defended)
[1:1] 1 attacker, 1 defender
[2:2] 2 attackers, 2 defenders
[3:3] 3 attackers, 3 defenders
A target is B.A.D. when the amount of attackers and defenders are in balance.
The target with the most defenders is the most vulnerable, The more defenders, the higher the chance that one of the defenders can be annihilated.
Restriction
A defender can be restricted in its mobility due to its functions. The restriction due to function has a few flavors:.
- Pin
- Overloading
- Obligation to defend
 |
| White to move |
1r6/3nk1pp/p3pp2/2b5/B1P5/4BP2/P4P1P/5RK1 w - - 0 23
- Here you see a B.A.D. (Barely Adequate Defended) target piece Bc5 [1:1]
- It is defended by a BAD knight Nd7. A simple 1.Bxd7 doesn't work though, because black can first trade his problem piece Bc5 away by Bc5xe3
- It can only work when the black Nd7 is captured with tempo. This is a general rule. Remove the defender with tempo.
1.Rd1 Now white has changed the balance of defender Nd7 [2:1]. Black can try to defend the defender, but if the defender is removed, then the target becomes undefended. Notice how function changes the balance.
Most tactics that have some complexity revolve around these changes in balance due to function.
As Robert noted, what you have to SEE is negative. You have to SEE what a defender cannot do anymore due to its function.
THAT IS AN EXCELLENT SUMMARY!
ReplyDeleteThe insight regarding the importance of "SEEing" negative spaces initially came to me from Dr. Betty Edwards’ book Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain: A course in enhancing creativity and artistic confidence. In her work as an artist and art instructor, she found that the verbal System 2 usually predominates over the nonverbal System 1. System 2 focuses on positive (foreground) issues; System 1 focuses on negative (background) issues. Our educational system elevates System 2 processes and deprecates System 1 processes (almost to the point of extinction). This is a major reason why we adults have such a difficult time learning HOW to rely upon our intuition—which is at the core of the “Trick.” Her training program is designed around the idea of integrating the two Systems as a complete system, using the strengths of both Systems and thereby mitigating the weaknesses of the two Systems when operating independently.
IMHO, points of pressure, lines of attack AND functions can all be processed by System 1 with proper training. It was SCARY for me when I first started trying to use intuition rather than a step-by-step verbally-based thinking process. It was like trying to ride a bicycle without training wheels.
(Actually, I don’t remember ever using training wheels because I learned how to ride a bike without them at a very young age. [There’s a correlation to starting chess training at an early age in that.] My Dad simply put us on a bike scaled to our size, walked alongside us until we began to get a “feel” for balancing and then gave us a push and off we went. Pain can be instructive [“If it hurts when you do THAT, don’t do THAT again!”] but the pleasure of exercising acquired SKILL is a much more powerful motivator over the long haul.)
Dr. Gary Klein [provided the final impetus for my trust in System 1 and intuition for decision-making, based on pattern matching and mental simulation. Instead of touting the usual rational choice strategy (the usual step-by-step methodical approach taught in almost all academic courses on decision making and emphasized by GM Kotov and his acolytes), he emphasized making decisions based on intuition developed through experience and stored as patterns and associated actions.
“Points of pressure” are described by Klein as “convergence” points: leverage points and choke points. A leverage point facilitates a favorable action. A choke point inhibits a favorable action. A line of attack (or defense) is a logical sequence of fundamental actions (moves, forks, pins, etc.) that converge on certain points (PoPs). Functions are the tasks accomplished by each and every piece/square in the situational environment (the board). The “chunks” stored in LTM are the more-or-less independent encapsulations of expectancies, relevant cues (including both the positive aspects [SEEing what positive things a piece can DO] and the negative aspects [SEEing what things a piece NO LONGER DOES] that trigger and are triggered by pattern recognition), reasonable goals and targeted actions appropriate to the concrete situation.