Mystery chess position
The position on the left is from one of my recent chess games against ChessSmith at ChessWorld after Black played 24. Rc7. A computer analysis with Crafty showed that up to this point the game was pretty balanced. This is actually pretty good for me (playing White) because my opponents can usually rely on me making some pretty bad decisions between move 15 and 20 (If anyone reading this has an idea why this happens to me most often between the 15th and 20th move, please leave me a comment. Suggestions on how to avoid this are of course even more welcome!). In the game, I played 24. ... g6 because I felt it would be a good idea to give my King some space. However, this defensive idea turned out to be the move that got me into trouble, and I ultimately failed to prevent a simple checkmate a few moves later. Any suggestions what to play here (and most importantly why)? The complete game can be found here.
posted by sciurus at 7:07 PM
7 Comments:
I think Black is just in a tough position. White is planning to double rooks on the 7th and Black can't do much about it. Here are two possible sequences that end in the same position:
24...Re8 25.Rdd7 Rf8 26.Rxa7 Rxa7 27.Rxa7
24...Ra4 25.Rdd7 Rf8 26.Rxa7 Rxa7 27.Rxa7
White is up a pawn, though since it's a rook endgame I suppose Black might have some drawing chances.
Thanks! The moves you suggest "feel" much more natural to me than the computer's suggestions (Crafty suggests 24 ... a5 25. Rb1 Re6 26. Rb7 Rc8 27. R1xb6 Rxb6 28. Rxb6), which ends up in a similar situation. Humans simply come up with moves in very different way than computers.
After 24...a5 25. Rb1, I think I like 25...Rb4 a lot better than ...Re6. Then if 26.Rxb4 axb4 27.Rb7 h5 28.Rxb6 Rxa2 29.Rxb4 is the famous "4-vs-3, all on one side" R+P ending; it is a draw, though Black will be tortured for a long time.
I'd play 25.Rdd7 instead. After 25...Rf8 the Rooks on the 7th give White some advantage, but it's not an automatic win by any means.
In the game continuation, Black should try 26...Ra4, followed by picking up the a2-pawn and pushing the a-pawn fast (sometimes the b-pawn, too, but later). Activity is the key in R+P endings. White should probably still win, but the counterplay of Black's passers should make things very interesting.
(This is all just analysing from the diagram, since I don't have a board with me; _caveat lector_.)
Ed: I see what you mean (after playing the moves on a board :-). It seems to me that endgame knowledge is very important for positions like this. Another motivation to look into that!
Hello I would like to respond to your question.
"If anyone reading this has an idea why this happens to me most often between the 15th and 20th move, please leave me a comment." I am sure you are aware of this but the early and middle game is the most complicated part of the game to play. Finding the right plan is where your having the most difficulty. In your game here I think you got off the path at move 7... c4. With the mistaken idea that White had "pressure on c4" and you needed to play c4. The following moves just followed your plan. Note: You had counter pressure on d4 should white think about playing c4. You needed to keep pressure on d4 to counter White's ideas of attacking on the kingside or center. Instead, you opened up the center when your opponent was better developed then you were. This is a common and bad mistake to make during this phase of the game. It's easier to commit this mistake playing black then it is with white. There is much more to say but, I hope this will give you some ideas about this part of the game. Good Chess!
Hello I would like to respond to your question.
"If anyone reading this has an idea why this happens to me most often between the 15th and 20th move, please leave me a comment." I am sure you are aware of this but the early and middle game is the most complicated part of the game to play. Finding the right plan is where your having the most difficulty. In your game here and think you got off the path at move 7... c4. With the mistaken idea that White had"pressure on c4" and you needed to play c4. Note: You had counter pressure on d4 should white think about playing c4. You needed to keep pressure on d4 to counter White's ideas of attacking on the kingside or center. Instead, you closed the queenside and opened up the center when your opponent was better developed then you were. This is a common and bad mistake to make during this phase of the game. It's easier to commit this mistake playing black then it is with white. A better plan was to keep the pressure and develop your pieces for a possible break with cxd4 or try to get in e5 when your pieces were ready. There is much more to say but, I hope this will give you some ideas about this part of the game. Good Chess!
Pechesscast: thanks for the input, your comments are really helpful! I see now what you mean with playing 7 ... c4 being a mistake altough I think it will take me more experience to see this during a game, too.
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