I liked the suggestion of a thread like this, so I thought I would get the ball rolling...

An Opening Problem: What to do here? Last move Qa4xc4. Black to play



A (different) Mid-game problem: What to do here? Last move O-O. Black to play for advantage

thanks, i will give it a try later, have to go home now...

but just as a side note, are these meant to be pure positional only?

The first is positional only (and intended to generate debate because it is an open opening)

2nd: There is a good move(s) for black here, and not necessarily positional... 😉

And pulling in GP's puzzle from the skeeter thread...




If I was black I would be looking at Nb6a4, then Bd4xa4 in response to Bb3xa4. White has still a fair amount of defence possibilities but I like the two bishops on the diagonals pointing towards the king side with the queen having a bit of freedom to move around.
If I was white I would want to stop that, so would think about playing Bd2c3 and stopping the forced knight-bishop swap that would be coming from black...

By the way, all I did was I went through my recent finished games at points where I remembered I spent a long time thinking about what to do. It might be a good way to get more examples, if people find their "just before the killer move" or "if only I'd spotted the sneaky danger" FENs from their games...


Anything to divert attention from this other thread, please, for the love of....

Originally posted by morgski
Anything to divert attention from this other thread, please, for the love of....

For the love of Chess?

Originally posted by morgski
For the love of Chess?

Originally posted by morgski
I liked the suggestion of a thread like this, so I thought I would get the ball rolling...

An Opening Problem: What to do here? Last move Qa4xc4. Black to play

[fen]r1b1kbnr/pppqpppp/2n5/8/2Q3P1/8/PP1PPPBP/RNB1K1NR b KQkq - 0 5[/fen]

A (different) Mid-game problem: What to do here? Last move O-O. Black to play for advantage

[fen]r2r2k1/1p3pbp/p1b2qp1/4p3/1QPnB1P1/P3B2P/1P1N1P2/1R3RK1 b - - 8 20[/fen]

Reveal Hidden Content

Originally posted by SwissGambit

Reveal Hidden Content

Originally posted by morgski
I liked the suggestion of a thread like this, so I thought I would get the ball rolling...

An Opening Problem: What to do here? Last move Qa4xc4. Black to play

[fen]r1b1kbnr/pppqpppp/2n5/8/2Q3P1/8/PP1PPPBP/RNB1K1NR b KQkq - 0 5[/fen]

A (different) Mid-game problem: What to do here? Last move O-O. Black to play for advantage

[fen]r2r2k1/1p3pbp/p1b2qp1/4p3/1QPnB1P1/P3B2P/1P1N1P2/1R3RK1 b - - 8 20[/fen]

Reveal Hidden Content

Originally posted by tomtom232
[hidden]It seems like 1...Nc2 is pretty crushing.

2.Bxc2 Rxd2! Threats: The bishop is hanging and 3...Qf3 and mate the next move.

2.Qc3 Rxd2! 3.Qxd2 Bxe4 and white looks pretty bad here.[/hidden]

Originally posted by morgski
White can get out of the Nc2 queen-bishop fork by playing g5, threatening the queen swap and avoiding the mate potentials... There is a better move for black 🙂

[fen]r2r2k1/1p3pbp/p1b2qp1/4p3/1QPnB1P1/P3B2P/1P1N1P2/1R3RK1 b - - 8 20[/fen]

Originally posted by tomtom232
[pgn] [FEN "r2r2k1/1p3pbp/p1b2qp1/4p3/1QPnB1P1/P3B2P/1P1N1P2/1R3RK1 b - - 8 20"] 1...Nc2 2.g5 Qe6 3.Bxc2 {don't know what to do after this yet... but there has to be something}[/pgn]



[pgn] [FEN "r2r2k1/1p3pbp/p1b2qp1/4p3/1QPnB1P1/P3B2P/1P1N1P2/1R3RK1 b - - 8 20"] 1...Nc2 2.g5 Qe6 3.Qc3 Rxd2 4.Bxc2 Qxh3[/pgn]

[pgn] [FEN "r2r2k1/1p3pbp/p1b2qp1/4p3/1QPnB1P1/P3B2P/1P1N1P2/1R3RK1 b - - 8 20"] 1...Nc2 2.g5 Qe6 3.Qc3 Rxd2 4.Qxd2 Bxe4[/pgn]

Originally posted by tomtom232
[pgn] [FEN "r2r2k1/1p3pbp/p1b2qp1/4p3/1QPnB1P1/P3B2P/1P1N1P2/1R3RK1 b - - 8 20"] 1...Nc2 2.g5 Qe6 3.Bxc2 Rxd2 4.Qxd2 Bf3 5.Kh2 e4 {threatening 6...Be5} 6.Bd4 Qd6 7.Kg1 Be5 {!!}[/pgn]

Reveal Hidden Content