Hi,
I am showing a position (from one of the Silman's books) and I would like you to write an evaluation on it (to assess it, list the imbalances, to give some plan, some lines, etc) without looking to the others evaluations.
In the end you can look at the other players solutions, and in a couple of days I will also place Silman's solution...try not to peep to the other's solutions 😉...
(I think it will be interesting to see how different level players make different plans)
K as for the first... my idea of a 'plan' here would be to go for the king. White has a clever outpost for his knight and that also uncovers an attack on black's knight. The three key pieces are probably the queen, bishop and knight. Black has very little in the way of defensive potential and any check is probably lethal.
step two.. find the moves.. i'll get back to u in a second (i've only looked at the position for like 5 seconds atm).
1. Ng5! .. threatening a fork of the rook and queen and promising at least some material gain.
1... Ng7. Seems to be the only move... still working this out 😛.
Bd3 or Bf4 both look like reasonable continuations to the line. It's been about 2 minutes now. If this was an OTB game I'd probably play Bf4 after another 30 seconds of blunder checking and pointless staring (I find staring gives me these freaky ideas.. if you don't believe me i'll post a few games where I made a move with more than 10 minutes of pointless staring included.)
my assessment (I repeat, probably not the correct one) would be:
white has B pair and doubled pawns...I would like to create more space for the Bs...e6 is a weak square for black and e4 is a weak square for white right now...so something like e4 e5 or e4 and play on the semiopen e file next....might be a part of the plan...
now I will try to look at some concrete lines:
if Ng5 trying to jump on e6 then Ng7 is stoping this...
maybe Nd2 and after Nh5 goes away on f6 I can proceed with f3 and e4, if Nh5 goes to g7 I can go directly e4....
ok, I do not like this lines as black can go f4 and block my B...
maybe 1 g4 is nice...hunt away the N
No, I again like this: 1 Ng5 Ng7 2 f4 and black can not prevent white pushing e4 after white does moves like Qc2 , Bd3 or Nf3-d2...and again, after e4 white will be able to play on semiopen e file or even to try f4-f5 in some variations with K side attack...
After two mins (I know it deserves more so I will come back to it later if I get the chance)
1. Ng5 this is now threatening Ne6 - a juicy queen rook fork and a good supported outpost for the knight and also uncovering a double attack on blacks h file knight.
Presuming black moves either the queen or the rook away from the fork threat - then the next move:
Either play Ne6 to settle the knight on this outpost or
Bishop takes the knight on the h file...pawn recaptures, queen takes pawn leaving the black king alone and uncovered and then move the knight to e6 going in for the kill.
Seen some good possibilities for white here but I haven't properly considered blacks responses....
EDIT: As I'm observing the suggestion not to read any of the other posts - could you PM me when you've posted the resolution..thnxs
Originally posted by vipiuMaterial is even, white occupies more space, blacks knights are more suited to this position but if white can play Ne6 is an amazing outpost.
Find White's plan (including the nest 2 moves and beyond)
[fen]r2q1rk1/pb1np2p/1p1p2p1/2pP1p1n/2P5/2P1PN1P/P3BPPB/R2Q1RK1[/fen]
White to play
How to do it?
I am not sure as Ng4 is met by Ng7 defending the weak square and black will soon play h6 to toss the knight. It is my belief that Bf4 is the correct starting point as Nxf4, exf4 opens the e-file and Ng7 is met by Bh6.
I've been asked by vipiu to post in this thread so here are my preliminary ideas on the position:
White has the advantage of two bishops and strong controls the center (the weak spot is the "e4"-square as has been stated previously. Blacks further plans of play may be either a regroup of the knights placing them at "f6" and "g7" to cover the "e6" and prepare for a possible "e7-e5" turning the weakness of the "e7" pawn into an asset, or through moving the "b" pawn to b5 and placing the knight at "b6" to exert pressure on "c4" and "d5" (after proper preparation). In the light of that two plans deserve consideration:
1) 1.Ng5 (forcing 1...Ng7 since both threats of 2.Ne6 and 2.Bxh5 can be only avoided this way) 2.f4!? seems interesting but after 2...h6 3.Nf3 Nf6 although weakened Black maintain control of the "e4" spot. On the other hand after 2. e4?! h6 3.exf5 hxg5 4.fxg6 White have only two pawns for the piece but Black has a lot of weaknesses of the light squares near the king. Without thorough analysis I cannot say however if that would lead to something fruitful or will be negated.
2) 1. Rb1!? followed by 2.Re1 and Bd3 preparing the move of the pawn to e4; 1.Qb1!? threatening 2.e4 also looks promising in that regard.
Perhaps even 1.e4!? is possible without preparation. I will have to think some more on the best continuation.
Originally posted by vipiuI've been asked by vipiu to post in this thread so here are my opinion:
Find White's plan (including the nest 2 moves and beyond)
[fen]r2q1rk1/pb1np2p/1p1p2p1/2pP1p1n/2P5/2P1PN1P/P3BPPB/R2Q1RK1[/fen]
White to play
I would suggest 1.e4!? fxe4 (what else?) 2.Ng5 Ng7 (black have nothing better) 3.Nxe4 with intention to make pressure on e-file and/or black weakened king side.
Originally posted by Korche4?? would be met by f4 and then Bh2 would look like a big pawn.
I've been asked by vipiu to post in this thread so here are my opinion:
I would suggest 1.e4!? fxe4 (what else?) 2.Ng5 Ng7 (black have nothing better) 3.Nxe4 with intention to make pressure on e-file and/or black weakened king side.
Originally posted by vipiuokay, I'll give it a shot.
Find White's plan (including the nest 2 moves and beyond)
[fen]r2q1rk1/pb1np2p/1p1p2p1/2pP1p1n/2P5/2P1PN1P/P3BPPB/R2Q1RK1[/fen]
White to play
there's not much to do on queenside for either player. any moves there will just give an attack on the kingside.
black has left e6 open by Bb7, and is threatening the standard leningrad plan on pushing e5, opening for the bishop or getting a devastating attack if white doesn't take en passant. luckily, black has no time for that, as white blocks the e5 with
Ng5
threatening fork on the weak c6 and blocking the e5 push. what else can black do but defend with ...Ng7 and hope to chase the knight off with h6 afterwards.
not gonna happen, as white blocks the ...h6 with
Bf4
nailing the black f-pawn down while he's at it, and freeing a safe square for the king on the h2 if need arises. (white doesn't want the black f-pawn advancing or disappearing, as that'll open the file for black rook and queen as a follow-up.) so now white has all the muscle on the kingside, while black is watching the catastrophe unfold from the bound up queenside, and it's time to attack. nurse, please hand the can opener!
h4-h5
aiming up to open the black king position. if black tries to defend with Nf6-Nxh5 it'll make everything just that much worse, losing the few defenders he has, opening files towards the king and sucking the white pieces up to direct attacking position like a vacuum. after possible f4 white can bring the rooks on g or f files as need be.
I guess that would be my plan about there. no visualisation aids used, so there probably are some nasty problems I didn't even think about. but that's it, for better or worse. this is pretty much exactly how I'd treat a rhp-position, except with checking things on the analysis board. took about 5 minutes, although the basic idea came to me almost immediately (I play leningrad myself).
I have also messaged RECUVIC and Northern Lad about this thread...
so I will wait also for their reply before posting Silman's considerations. (I don't know any other top player here that uses to post in forums)
QUESTION:
If I would post similar problems would you be interested to again give your ideas? (even the problems seem dry-and not fun to play-as these are more like strategic problems, closer to the dry positions that we have in real games) I think it would be a good way to improve even for you, higher rated players (for me this is sure true as after solving many tactics problems I found easier now to spot tactics but when I get such dry positions sometimes I play planless, with 1-2 moves ahead ideas only...).