Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Evaluation Of Position

Black had just played 1... Qxc3.

I arrived at this position as White. Things are quite hairy on the board.

The questions to ask are:

1. How would you evaluate this position?

2. What are Black's general plans?

3. What should White's general plans be?

4. What should White play?

Note that in this position here, there is no right nor wrong answer.

I do not have a definite answer here.

All I do know is this:

1. White is definitely going to lose the d4-pawn as it cannot be defended.

A couple of things went through my mind.

2. In the end, I thought for a while and played 2. Qb1 (This was objectively not the best move).

My idea was to play Rc1 on the next move (utilising the pin on the King) but after 2... Qxd4. The position was still tedious and I still had a bit of a long fight ahead of me.

FEN position listed below.
[ 2kr3r/R5pp/1p6/1P3p2/3Pp3/2q2P1P/6P1/3Q1R1K w - - 0 28 ]

What would you do?

Find out what would you play then run this through Fritz/Rybka/your fav chess engine.
Posted by

10 comments:

  1. UnknownJanuary 27, 2009 at 7:24 PM

    Are you sure there isn't a mistake in the diagram? 1.Qa4 looks crushing. And 1.Qb1 Qxd4 2.Rc1+ Kb8 3.Qa2 also looks like a clear win.

    ReplyDelete
  2. From the patzerJanuary 27, 2009 at 7:36 PM

    Some thoughts as Aziridine. Qb1 looks the obvious move to play here after which Rc1 and then Q on the a-line where it cant be taken wins the game i think.

    ReplyDelete
  3. tanchJanuary 28, 2009 at 12:34 AM

    Hello Aziridine and chesstiger,

    Thank you very much for your comments.

    Yes, both of you are spot on. Qa4 was indeed the move I missed.

    My mind was so focused on the actual move played - Qb1 that I suffered "chess blindness".

    The old adage holds true,"When you find a good move, look for a better move."

    As you mentioned, Qa4 followed by Qa6+ wins outright and wins far much faster than what I played in the game.

    I am still kicking myself as to why I failed to find this move.

    cheers. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownJanuary 28, 2009 at 5:04 AM

    Well, you can't really be blamed if you saw a win with 1.Qb1. How did the game go after 1...Qxd4?

    ReplyDelete
  5. OzChess.comJanuary 28, 2009 at 7:47 PM

    I agree - 1. Qa4 is what I would play without thinking twice about it. Easily the best move.

    ReplyDelete
  6. tanchJanuary 30, 2009 at 3:43 AM

    Hi Aziridine:

    2... Qxd4
    3. Rc1+ Kb8
    4. Qa2 Qd5
    5. Qa6 Rd7
    6. Rxd7 Qxd7
    7. Qxb6+ Qb7
    8. Qd6+ and Black subsequently loses his Queen and was mated shortly after.

    OzChess.com: Well done if you spotted that! :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. UnknownJanuary 30, 2009 at 3:53 AM

    So you won easily anyway. What's all this about a "tedious", "long fight"? ;)

    ReplyDelete
  8. BlunderProneJanuary 30, 2009 at 12:42 PM

    I have to agree with Aziridine adn CT, I saw Qa4 right away.

    Being blunderprone, my first thought when I am about to drop a pawn: " I have the initiative, what can I do to compensate for my loss?" In that light, I see two things. 1) The black queen on c3 and his king on c8 could be a nice set up for a Rook on c1. But this would require a set up ...like the Qb1 line you went with. too slow.
    2) On Qa4, the dynamic changes to potential mating threats over mere pins.

    ReplyDelete
  9. UnknownJanuary 30, 2009 at 8:01 PM

    Well, 1.Qb1 is not "too slow" - I'm pretty sure it still wins. My first thoughts were "Black king on c8. White rook on a7, other majors coming in quickly. Open a- and c-files. Mate the sorry fool!" :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. tanchJanuary 31, 2009 at 7:29 AM

    Aziridine: It still wins but I could've saved myself at least 6 more moves and considering I had to recalculate after each move after Qb1, it just consumes more unnecessary brain power. :D

    Qa4 wins in 2 moves and the rest of the moves after that are fairly automatic and natural as they involve king checks.

    BlunderProne: :)

    ReplyDelete

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